The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex and one that can be told in different ways depending on the perspective taken. Looking at the labels that are used to describe key events nicely illustrates this dynamic. For instance, the Israelis call the events that transpired in 1948 the “War of Independence (Milhemet Haatzma’ut),” because they view it as the moment when Israel became a state and took possession of territory that rightfully belonged to them. The Palestinians, however, call it “The Catastrophe (al-Nakbah),” because they view it as the moment when Palestinians lost nearly 500 villages and around 700,000 of them had to leave their homes (approximately 80% of the Arab population). In order to introduce you to this conflict a few books are provided to give you some background, others are grouped according to which perspective they reflect and the rest will help orient you to the peace process.
Background
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, by Ross Stewart
This brief, yet comprehensive, book covers the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis from ancient times to the modern day.
The Balfour Declaration: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by Jonathan Schneer
This book recounts in dramatic detail the public and private battles in the early 1900s for a small strip of land in the Middle East.
City of Oranges: An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa, by Adam LeBor
Through intimate personal interviews and generations-old memoirs, letters and diaries, this book gives us a crucial look at the human lives in the conflict and how their relationships with each other have changed over time.
Palestinian Perspective
The Palestinian People: A History, by Baruch Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal
In a timely reminder of how the past informs the present, Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal offer an account of the history of the Palestinian people from their modern origins to the Oslo peace process and beyond.
Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel’s War against the Palestinians, by Ilan Pappé and Noam Chomsky
This book surveys the fallout from Israel's conduct in Gaza, including their latest incursions, and places these events in their historical context.
The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza, by Max Blumenthal
In this work, Blumenthal from his firsthand account of events, reveals the harrowing conditions and cynical deceptions that led to the ruinous war in Gaza. He brings the battles in Gaza to life, detailing the ferocious clashes that took place when Israel's military invaded the besieged strip.
Israeli Perspective
My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, by Ari Shavit
This book examines the complexities of the Israeli condition, asking difficult questions, such as: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? Can Israel survive?
Death as a Way of Life: Israel Ten Years after Oslo, by David Grossman
From one of Israel’s great fiction writers comes a series of passionate essays and articles in which he describes his disappointment with the leaders on both sides of the conflict and shows us an inside Israeli point of view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz.
This book takes up the challenges typically marshaled against Israel for their malfeasance in the conflict and issue-by-issue (32 questions in all) makes a defense as to why they are wrong.
Peace Process
Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, by Jimmy Carter.
President Carter shares his intimate knowledge of the history of the Middle East and his personal experiences of the principal actors in addressing sensitive political issues and pointing toward a path to peace.
The Two-State Delusion: Israel and Palestine -- A Tale of Two Narratives, by Padraig O’Malley
O’Malley approaches the key issues in the conflict pragmatically, arguing that the two state solution is not possible given the current circumstances. He contends that we must find new frameworks for reconciliation if there is to be lasting peace between Palestine and Israel.
DVDs
Six Days in June: The War that Redefined the Middle East
Arab & Jew: Return to the Promised Land
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