The Palestine-Israeli Conflict: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides): A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides): A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides)

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Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Dawoud Sudqi El Alami

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Pages: 256 (Paperback)

ISBN: 1851683321

Pub: Oneworld Publications

Pub date: 2003-07-01

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 243204

Editorial Review:

Of all the intractable and inflammatory world conflicts, those of the Middle East must rank fairly high. Cohn-Sherbok and El-Alami's Palestine-Israeli Conflict: a Beginner's Guide must be equally highly ranked as one of the best introductory guides to the issue. Author of a number of key titles on Judaism and Jewish issues, Dan Cohn-Sherbok uses the first half of the Beginner's Guide to give an overview, from his perspective, of the modern history of Israel/Palestine. Immediately the reader, through the unique dialogic format of this excellent title, is reminded that all history is a matter of perspective, not least in the Middle East when the name of the very country under discussion cannot be agreed upon. Cohn-Sherbok is a clear, unfussy writer. He explains the growth of Zionism through the late 19th century until its "victory" in the creation of a Jewish National Home called Israel in 1947 and then details the wars that have dogged the Jewish state since its inception.
Dawoud El-Alami then takes over and reviews the same period as his colleague but from the perspective of a Palestinian. From the legally questionable British Balfour Declaration of 1917 up until the first Intifada (1984-1992) and 1993's Oslo Peace Accords (so forcefully critiqued by Edward Said in his recent book The End of the Peace Process) and beyond. El-Alami describes the Palestinian struggles with the first Jewish settlers and then the State of Israel herself, the creation of the PLO and the troubled relationship with the rest of the Arab world.

The book ends with further debate between the two writers in response to each other's contributions. It would be idealistic to expect all the answers from such a book and the two writers certainly do not end the book on some forced, unrealistic meeting of minds. But the intrigued reader will learn from both sides and the publishers are to be congratulated for presenting such a difficult topic in such an eminently useful format.--Mark Thwaite

Reader Reviews:

Mixed feelings (4/4 people found this helpful)

This book appeared to be just what I was looking for - where an educated person from either side of the conflict gives their perspective on the events which led to what we have today.

It all started well, with a reasonably balanced (albeit, slightly biased) view from the Israeli side which includes many facts, figures and well researched (with plenty of citations) information. The Palestinian perspective, sadly, was much more of a self-righteous stance, relying less on fact and more on opinion.

This book could have been much better, but it's still worth a read - if only for half it.

Not as beginner's as u think (13/16 people found this helpful)

Being someone who's never understood the reasons for the conflict but seen it on the news nearly every day i thought this book would give a good background to the conflict. But don't be misled there's 200 pages full of facts, names , dates, numbers on casulties, costs and much more which can be become over bearing and it's easy to lost your place. There's two maps provided which miss half the places in the text. On the good side the information presented is pretty concise and i've learnt a great deal of the history of the region. Might try to find or write myself a Dummies guide to palestine - israeli conflict.

Disappointed (10/15 people found this helpful)

I had high hopes for this book but the book was in many ways a disappointment. The book is well laid out and the idea is good.
The idea of the book is to present a history and analysis of the Israel/Palestine problem from the perspective of a Palestinian and an Israeli. Afterwards there is a discussion between the two on the points raised. An academic is lined up for each side. It sounds like a good idea but it fails in the execution.
Firstly what this results in is two people giving the same history from admittedly different viewpoints but the same history still. Secondly the Israeli writer is nowhere near as successful in presenting the material well. This side comes out clear but rather dry. Feeling more like a list of pertinent points in history. The Palestinian side is more interesting read here. I am really not taking sides here and commenting on the writing style. The mayor failing though is that the end discussion is only 16 pages long in which each writer barely gets warmed up before the book ends.

Debating the undebatable (56/57 people found this helpful)

As opposed to most studies of contemporary international problems, this book offers a genuinely two-sided argument; Rabbi Cohn-Sherbok and Dr El-ALami are not merely academics exploring a particular issue, they are passionately involved in their subject, and if nothing else, the concluding debate illustrates that the current crisis in the Middle East is unlikely to be settled in the near, or even the distant, future.

Written as a "beginner's guide" the book is nonetheless worth reading for scholars, students, and laypeople and anyone else with an interest in trying to understand why there is constant coverage from the Middle East on news broadcasts.

With a view of making the reader make his or her own mind up about the arguments, the authors explore a number of historical events that have led to the present situation from their own particular viewpoint. The investigations are clear and well-structured and whilst the book is easily read during a day, it is nonetheless a book to come back to again and again for reference.

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