I am just about finished with "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" by Ilan Pappe from Haifa University. It is the most enlightening book on the creation of the state of Israel I have ever read. Pappe unearthed mounds of fascinating information from the Israeli archives and from people who were present in the area in 1948. If you want to know why there are so many problems in this region, start with this book.
-Andy Trimlett
www.alternatefocus.org
MUST READ: Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948, by Tanya Reinhart - fascinating take on the occupation of Palestine from the eyes of an Israeli journalist.
http://www...2100716180 ALSO:
The Middle East and Islamic World Reader; edited by:
Gettleman and Stewart Schaar. Amazingly detailed history of the Middle East.
http://boo...Ok#PPP1,M1
The Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel's Wars by Yaacov Lozowick (Doubleday, 2003).
Lozowick, an Israeli historian, explores the roots of Zionism and traces the long struggle to establish and defend the Jewish state in the face of Arab resistance and international hostility. Lozowick examines each of Israel's wars from the perspective of classical "just war" theory. He concludes that Israel is neither the pristine socialist utopia its founders envisioned, nor the racist colonial enterprise portrayed by its enemies. Refuting dozens of pernicious myths about the conflict, “Right to Exist” is an impassioned moral history.
Arafat's War: The Man and his Battle for Israeli Conquest by Efraim Karsh (Grove Press, 2003).
The author, a renowned historian and Director of the Mediterranean Studies Department at King's College, London, draws on Arabic, Hebrew and English-language sources to give what may be the most comprehensive account of Arafat's life. The book is also a review of the Oslo years and Arafat's role in the collapse of the peace effort. Well argued, fast-paced and engaging.
The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land by Donna Rosenthal (Free Press 2003, paperback 2005) Through lively, fascinating vignettes and human interest stories, Rosenthal explores the panorama of Israel's Persity: religious, secular, Russians, Ethiopians, Muslims, Christians, Ashkenazim, Mizrahim, soldiers, and high techies.
O Jerusalem by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre (Touchstone Books, 1988).
The events that led to the establishment of the State of Israel beginning with the inter-war years up to the United Nations resolution of 1948 form the core of this exciting and balanced narrative. Told from both the Jewish and Arab viewpoints, the story is rich in historical data and yet riveting in its personal approach.
Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Michael Oren (Oxford Press, 2002).
The effects of the Six Day War continue to be felt today, with misinformation widespread about how it began and proceeded, and what the international community required of Israel and the Arabs in its aftermath. Oren's book is essential reading about this pivotal war.
ONE COUNTRY: A Bold Proposal to end the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, by Ali Abunimah. Abunimah devotes the first half of the book detailing reasons why the Two State Solution won't work. Many folks won't like his view of the last 60 years but it is a view we must acknowledge if we are - after 2008! - to get back into the position of 'honest broker'.
I've already recommended ONE COUNTRY by Ali Abunimah, but there is another book I much enjoyed. HONEYMOON IN PURDAH by Alison Wearing is an account of her voyage through Iran meeting and living with the ordinary people of Iran. She speaks of extraordinary hospitality and generosity from strangers as well as the horrible heat of the hijab in warm weather. She surprises us with her insight, as when she also speaks of the protection that costume offers.
I'm so glad to know someone else loved "Honeymoon in Purdah". When I listed my favorites, I was thinking Israel/Palestine, but broadening that I'll add: William Langewiesche's "Sahara Unveiled", Elizabeth Fernea's "A Street in Marrakesh". Even broader: Khalid Hosseini's magnificent "Kite Runner".
What happened to "fair and balanced"? I have yet to see or hear a program on your radio or TV shows that gives TWO sides.
Three favorites spring immediately to mind:
FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL, by Joan Peters
MYTHS AND FACTS A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Mitchell G. Bard
IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT by Mitchell G. Bard
I don't know the books you refer to, so i don't know your position, but I think it's important to move away from the view that there are only 2 sides - there are multiple perspectives to the issue of Israel/Palestine.
my favorite would have to be john allegro's "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross" you must give allegro his due he has the creds, no clown off the street here-- there is a lot of evidence to suggest that ingesting psycho active substances
was a big part of Shamanism and the practice presisted in ancient Zionism. read the 16th chapter of Exodus as it explains the substance called Manna----it is that of a mushroom.
As time goes on more and more Bibles are changing the wording in this chapter and its meaning.
Wonder why?
Jimmy Carter's "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" is worth reading. Also Ali Abunimah's "One Country" which argues strongly AGAINST the two state solution. A refresher is always handy, such as Tom Friedman's "From Beirut to Jerusalem". A novel I read recently also paints a picture seldom seen in the US, Richard North Patterson's "Exile". Finally, "So What?" - the collected poems of Taha Muhammad Ali, will break your heart!
i recently saw Taha Mohammad Ali read his poetry - very touching indeed. I think the tender almost father-son relationship betwen him and his Israeli-American translator touched me just as much as the poetry. It gave me hope that people can respect and care for each other - that all is not lost.
"broken verses" by Kamila Shamsie. A young woman whose mother was an activist in Pakistan searches for understanding about her mother's death. Set in modern-day Pakistan the novel tells the story of a woman's search to understand the forces that pushed her mother to oppose the government and the consequences of her mother's actions.
David Aaron Miller's book "The Too Much Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace." After reading it, I can only hope that our next president, whoever that may be, adds him to his or her cabinet.
06/28/2007 4:00:20 PM
