I gave this book a five star rating not just because it arrived in very good condition, though second hand, as advised and well on time but also for the content. I lived in Israel for four years in the seventies before the government turned from left to right and became...
Ver másI gave this book a five star rating not just because it arrived in very good condition, though second hand, as advised and well on time but also for the content. I lived in Israel for four years in the seventies before the government turned from left to right and became increasingly hardline in a very obvious way, initially with Begin and then Sharon at its head and the latter not a man I would respect! I think Flapan has done a service to Israel in its relatively short history by publishing data, letters, communications of all kinds previously protected for the proscribed period. All this information gives a very clear picture of the complex mess politically that the Brits walked out on in 1947 and all the political shenanigans that went on after that to ensure that the Jews, small in number, annexed as much land as possible through warfare under Ben Gurion and thereafter to ensure the survival of the state and its increasing territory, at the expense of the indiginous Arab population, a process which continues to today. The Palestinians, post 1947, were split and undecided about which way was best to achieve either a fair partitition agreed by both parties of an autonomous state. There was so much double-dealing by everyone involved including Brits, French, Americans and Russians as well as the Jews and Arabs so that in the end, with the West in the throes of a Cold War with Russia, Ben Gurion took the country to war to gain what it wanted, which it did. However, in the light of history revealed, like any history revealed, idealistic feelings one might once have had must be reviewed in the light of pragamatism, with individual opinion based on what one feels is right and proper. I am only glad that my husband came from a left of left kibbutz under the only decent organisation at that time, HaShomerHazair. They did their best and I admire them for that so I can be proud of my father and mother-in-law who arrived in Israel in the mid-thirties, surviving the holocaust and did not want to treat other human beings, Arabs living in Palestine, as second, third or no-class citizens whose land could be taken at will. Thank you Mr. Flapan for having the courage to write what would have been extremely painful to any Jew/Israeli of your generation. I salute you, your honesty and integrity and that at least give some hope for the future ... but that seems a long way off as I see it at the moment. What a sad and worsening situation it is for both Israelis and Palestinians when significant different choices might once have been made. Sadly many of the young know and care little of their past history beyond which of it they are taught or are led to believe ... plus ca change. But they should all READ THIS BOOK. Maggie Goren.
I gave this book a five star rating not just because it arrived in very good condition, though second hand, as advised and well on time but also for the content. I lived in Israel for four years in the seventies before the government turned from left to right and became increasingly hardline in a very obvious way, initially with Begin and then Sharon at its head and the latter not a man I would respect! I think Flapan has done a service to Israel in its relatively short history by publishing data, letters, communications of all kinds previously protected for the proscribed period. All this information gives a very clear picture of the complex mess politically that the Brits walked out on in 1947 and all the political shenanigans that went on after that to ensure that the Jews, small in number, annexed as much land as possible through warfare under Ben Gurion and thereafter to ensure the survival of the state and its increasing territory, at the expense of the indiginous Arab population, a process which continues to today. The Palestinians, post 1947, were split and undecided about which way was best to achieve either a fair partitition agreed by both parties of an autonomous state. There was so much double-dealing by everyone involved including Brits, French, Americans and Russians as well as the Jews and Arabs so that in the end, with the West in the throes of a Cold War with Russia, Ben Gurion took the country to war to gain what it wanted, which it did. However, in the light of history revealed, like any history revealed, idealistic feelings one might once have had must be reviewed in the light of pragamatism, with individual opinion based on what one feels is right and proper. I am only glad that my husband came from a left of left kibbutz under the only decent organisation at that time, HaShomerHazair. They did their best and I admire them for that so I can be proud of my father and mother-in-law who arrived in Israel in the mid-thirties, surviving the holocaust and did not want to treat other human beings, Arabs living in Palestine, as second, third or no-class citizens whose land could be taken at will. Thank you Mr. Flapan for having the courage to write what would have been extremely painful to any Jew/Israeli of your generation. I salute you, your honesty and integrity and that at least give some hope for the future ... but that seems a long way off as I see it at the moment. What a sad and worsening situation it is for both Israelis and Palestinians when significant different choices might once have been made. Sadly many of the young know and care little of their past history beyond which of it they are taught or are led to believe ... plus ca change. But they should all READ THIS BOOK. Maggie Goren.
