Preface
Introduction
SECTION I: BACKGROUND HISTORY
1. Ancient History: Canaan-Palestine | by Todd M. Ferry
From the First Foot Falls to Rome
2. Muhammad, Islam, and The Arab Empire
3. The Crusades to the Ottoman Empire
SECTION II: PRE–CONFLICT
4. Jewish Persecution and Zionism
5. Palestine
6. WWI to WWII
The Genesis of Conflict
SECTION III: CONFLICT
7. 1947–1967
Conflict: Partition, Statehood, and the Six-Day War
8. The 1970s to Lebanon 1982
The Continuation of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
9. The Intifada and the Peace Process
10. Current History
Camp David II to the Road Map
Suggested Reading
Bibliography
Index
Gregory Harms is a freelance writer and independent researcher. He frequently lectures on the Middle East and international affairs, and has traveled throughout Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Harms's academic background is in philosophy and chemistry, holding an MA in philosophy. Outside the realm of politics, his writing also appears in a recently published anthology entitled The Spoken Word Revolution, edited by Mark Eleveld (Sourcebooks, 2003). Todd Ferry began his studies in archaeology and Near East history at Indiana University. In 1997 he received his BA in anthropology specializing in
Gregory Harms' comprehensive, detailed, yet lively and readable
account of the Arab-Israeli conflict and its antecedents, from
ancient times until today, is a new and uniquely valuable resource.
The book provides both essentials to those unfamiliar with the
basic facts, and points of departure for challenging research for
others seeking greater expertise. I have seen no other recent work
that dispels persistent and misleading myths, such as that of the
'thousand-year violent conflict' and at the same time illuminates
all important aspects of today's central Palestine-Israel dilemma
and the related interstate issues between Israel and Arab and
Muslim states and societies. The book is a tour de force in the
depth and breadth of its research and in its clarity.
*John K. Cooley, veteran foreign correspondent and author on the
Middle East. *
Harms' is an indispensable, basic introduction to the topic of
Zionism, going back in history to provide the essential background
and carrying the account of the violence-wracked Arab-Jewish
conflict to the present time. There is no better single volume,
objective in every way as well as so informative, to equal it.
* Gabriel Kolko, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at York
University in Toronto and author of Another Century of War?*
This work, written with a relaxed informality that will allay the
anxiety of readers who do not already know about the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is especially good at highlighting
key issues. Sensitive to the perceptions and feelings of both
Israelis and Palestinians, the book becomes increasingly detailed
as its narrative reaches the contemporary conflict. It will be
especially helpful to students and to adult readers with no prior
knowledge of the Middle East in general or of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict in particular.
*Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. Professor Emeritus of Middle East History
at Penn State University and author of A Concise History of the
Middle East *
This book delves into the ancient history of Israel-Palestine. The
Palestinian peasants under the Ottoman Empire did not register
their land by themselves. Fearing taxation and conscription they
left ownership to Arab and Turkish notables. When Zionist Jews
started arriving in large numbers around 1900 they purchased the
land from the registered owners and proceeded to farm it themselves
using newly discovered agricultual methods that made the land much
more productive. After World War I more Jews arrived and the
violence began and continues to this day.
*Donald Epstein, History: Review of New Books*
Freelance writer and researcher Harms rightfully asks, "Where is
someone to go and get a basic understanding of the most notorious
conflict of the twentieth century?" His brief but carefully written
analysis, which offers clear definitions and deft explanations,
significant but not lengthy details, and appropriate annotated
suggestions for further reading, offers just that. Harms begins
with the background history of the region, showing that
Palestinians and Israelis share similar Canaanite origins; he then
outlines the development of the peoples themselves through the
Jewish Diaspora, the Islamic caliphates, and the emergence of
nationalisms to WWII. He concludes with the controversial evolution
of the conflict itself to the present time. The author cautiously
notes, however, that the background survey merely introduces
Arabs/Palestinians and Jews/Israelis, but that the actual conflict
over the land is a recent national struggle, not a historical
process. This superior and remarkably thorough, if brief, study of
the Holy Land enigma is strongly recommended as an introduction.
Summing up: Highly recommended.
*Choice*
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