Alex Alvarez --- it is difficult to find unbiased books on Israel, the Palestinians or the Arab Israeli conflict. I started by reading the history of the legal justifications that the British and the United Nations came up with, especially after the second world war, to get a legalistic perspective. For understanding the Israeli side of the conflict better, google the 1948 Israeli War for Independence (especially the declaration of independence, which provides the argument for why a Jewish state is necessary), UN resolution 181, the Oslo Accords, and the Camp David Accords. For understanding the Arab-Palestinian side better, see the 1939 White Papers, UN resolution 194 (specifically the Right of return), and the Goldstone Report. Of course first you have to know the historical background and period contexts. We know the biblical argument that Evangelicals follow, (Jews must return to Judea, rebuild the Temple and usher in the second coming of Christ). You have to know the development and history of Zionism. You need to read the Balfour act and the changing demographics over time of Palestine and especially the increased Jewish immigration during the British occupation. If you have the time, and you really like history: History of the Arabs, Revised: 10th Edition by Philip Hitti and Walid Khalidi (Sep 6, 2002) helps one to understand the complex historic cultural evolution of Arab identity and its redefinition after the rise of Islam. Palestinians are Arabs, although interestingly enough they have always been an interesting amalgamation of people, including a sizable non islamic segment; composed of numerous pseudo-islamic minorities, Christians, some Shia, Druze and other sects. The area referred to as Palestine means different things to different people depending on which Palestine youre talking about: The Roman Palestine, the Byzantine Palestine and Levant, The Turkish/Ottoman Palestine, the British Palestine, the modern UN chartered Palestine and the Palestinian territories of today. There has never been a Palestinian Kingdom, or any National State with clearly demarcated territory. There has always been a Palestinian people which at times included Hebrew speaking Jews. Now regardless of what your ultimate goal is, I must honestly tell you that I while I read a dizzying number of articles, and essays written by the Left, Right and moderates on the conflict, I often found myself agreeing with directly opposing views. This was confusing to me at first but eventually I have calmly found my niche in this issue. I refuse to justify either sides injustices. Israeli and Palestinians dont even agree on the history of the conflict much less on how to solve it. The only constant I have seen is that both Israelis and Palestinians have evolved on their positions over time, with the Palestinians seeming to give up more of their prior arguments in order to achieve independence from Israel, and the Israelis moving forward with ever more land grabbing, and re-settlement of Jews into Palestinian territory that is supposed to be returned to them. Sorry but that is the conclusion I have arrived at. The Right Wing elements of Jewish society have dominated the political process in Israel since Ronald Reagans presidency. AS it stands now, hard line Palestinians that support Hamas are actually in the minority overall. The Palestinian leadership under Al Fatah has recognized Israels right to exist, has toned down considerably (actually it is hardly brought up) the Right to Return of the 1 million Palestinians expelled or who left Israel between 1948 and 1967. The Palestinian authority is down to just wanting what is left of the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza) be granted sovereignty by Israel and end to the occupation Jerusalem still is a problem. The Israelis have not talked a peace accord or about the two state solution since the death of Yitzchac Rabin and the loss of influence of the Peace Doves in the Labor Party. A challenging suggestion to you is to read some Ilan Pappé, especially The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1947–1951 and A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples He is an exponent of One bi-national Palestinian state with Jews and Arabs governing equally. This is very unlikely but his take on the issue is deeply intellectual and allegoric. You learn a lot about Palestinians from this Jewish Israeli. Another very interesting but long and expensive book is A History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (6th Edition) by Ian J. Bickerton (Author), Carla L. Klausner (Author). But essays and research papers will provide more scientific and less biased facts in chronological order without providing context. These articles you can google but you will have to do additional research on the authors of the papers to figure out where they might be coming from. Right now the US is too caught up in the process. It is too staunch of an Israeli ally to be completely credible in the eyes of most Arabs. We must always keep in mind that Palestinians are Arab, however, although they have their very unique history, culture, and idiosyncrasy, they remain for the most part of the Arab Islamic world. It takes a long time to really grasp this mess. For me, the fact that I am neither Arab, nor Jewish freed me from any guilt or emotional loyalty to one or the other. The fact that I am more Leftist, lead me to question our (USA) unconditional support of Israel. The fact that I loath war, violence and bloodshed, lead me to reject any warlike tactics to promote either side in this issue. However, I believe Peace is achievable if leadership in Israel is willing to withdraw from the Palestinian territories, give them Independence and be willing to tolerate some break away groups committing acts of terrorism on their territory. Sounds unfair, and it is. It is a price to pay to have the Arab World concentrate on re-structuring their societies to a rapidly changing world where they will be left behind if they dont somehow stop the growth of Islamic fundamentalism which is a threat to the world. They will be too busy to attack Israel and they will no longer have a Cause. Israel now exists after 2000 years of waiting for the Jews. It will be at Peace with its neighbors. Palestinians and Israelis will find common ground for peaceful coexistence. Coexistence is the only hope for both peoples. Genocide of one by the other is not the solution, and neither is expulsion. Two States, cooperating economically and militarily is the best paradigm. Now you come to your own conclusions. Good luck. Gabriel Anthony Peña Bofill---- Andrew, I hope i am very wrong,but I see the path the govt of Israel is following as ending just there... at ethnic cleansing...as a humanity-loving Jew this disturbs me beyond words...
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 18:52:21 +0000
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