Arab Conflict

The complex and intransigent conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians has dominated the 20th century. While British support of Zionism facilitated the creation of the Jewish State, it is unclear whether a lack of British support would have prevented it. Nevertheless, following World War II, the British, deeply in debt, transferred world superpower status to the United States, which moved into Greece and Turkey and immediately recognized the Jewish state in 1948. Since then, the US influence has been beneficial towards Israel. Even so, in the 1990’s, the drive to broker a peace ...

In Enemies and Neighbors, Ian Black, who has spent over three decades covering events in the Middle East and is currently a fellow at the London School of Economics, offers a major new history of the Arab-Zionist conflict from 1917 to today. Laying the historical groundwork in the final decades of the Ottoman Era, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in the Holy Land, Black draws on a wide range of sources - from declassified documents to oral histories to his own vivid on-the-ground reporting - to recreate the major milestones in the most polarizing conflict of the modern age from both sides.

When the establishment of the State of Israel was announced on May 14, 1948, it seemed to many people that the new nation could not survive for long. The haste with which it was created meant that Israel lacked the infrastructure of government, and its armed forces consisted of little more than a handful of lightly armed former guerilla fighters. Ranged against it were some of the most powerful nations in the Arab world, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.

In the last sixty years, Israel has faced seven different wars. During that time, the country has been under immense scrutiny and been the recipient of false accusations. This leaves the public with many questions: Does Israel want peace with the Arab nations? How do Islamic views affect Israel? Using a number of sources, Mitchell G. Bard uncovers Israel’s true history. His book includes the following: · A discussion of various wars involving Israel (including the war of 1948) · Multiple maps that help the reader visualize the wars · An analysis of terrorism directed at Israel · An ...

In this definitive biography, Israel's leading journalist-historian, Tom Segev, uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around Ben-Gurion. Segev's probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion's relentless activity across six decades.

Noted journalist Yardena Schwartz draws on her extensive research and wide-ranging interviews with both sides to tell a timely, eye-opening story. She expertly weaves the war between Israel and Hamas into a historical framework, demonstrating how the conflict today cannot be understood without the context of ground zero of this century-old war, which began long before the occupation, the settlements, or the state of Israel ever existed.

After 24 years of service in the Israel Defense Forces and the Civil Administration, Lt. Colonel Avi Shalev (Ret.) set out to experience the Arab world from a different perspective—by studying Arabic and Education at Al-Qasemi College. As the first Jewish student at this Arab Islamic (Sufi) college located in the Arab Israeli town of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Shalev gained an intimate view of Israel's Arab Palestinian society. Through vivid journal entries, he introduces us to the many young women and men who studied alongside him—learning of their hardships, personal strengths, hopes and ...

In the early months of 2011, a wave of protests swept across the Middle East and North Africa, challenging entrenched authoritarian regimes, and sparking hopes for political reform, social justice, and democratic governance. What began as localized demonstrations against corruption, economic hardship, and political repression quickly evolved into a regional uprising of unprecedented scale and significance. The Arab Spring, as it came to be known, captured the world's attention and ignited debates about the future of the region and the prospects for democratic change. Through a comparative ...

Issued in London in 1917, the Balfour Declaration was one of the key documents of the 20th century. It committed Britain to supporting the establishment in Palestine of "a National Home for the Jewish people", and its reverberations continue to be felt to this day. Now the entire fascinating story of the document is revealed in this impressive work of modern history.

This original and deeply provocative book was the first to make Palestine the subject of a serious debate--one that remains as critical as ever. "A compelling call for identity and justice." —Anthony Lewis "Books such as Mr. Said's need to be written and read in the hope that understanding...

WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NONFICTION Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Economist, Time, The New Republic, and the Financial Times. Immersive and gripping, an intimate story of a deadly accident outside Jerusalem that unravels a tangle of lives, loves...

One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century The extraordinary new novel from the acclaimed author of Bad Behavior and Two Girls, Fat and Thin, Veronica is about flesh and spirit, vanity, mortality, and mortal affection. Set mostly in Paris and Manhattan in the desperately...

In this succinct account, the author reveals the threads that weave the controversial legacy of the Egyptian military leader and head of state Anwar Al-Sadat, prying into his motivations that led him to war against Israel and that saw him shortly afterwards become an iconic leader for peace in the Middle East by stirring his country onto a path that not only began the transformation of Egypt into a modern state, but that equally alienated Egypt from the rest of the Arab world. The unequivocal nature of Janvier T. Chando’s account sheds a unique light into the legacy of one of Africa’s ...

In six days, the 1967 Arab-Israeli War dramatically changed the geopolitical structure of the Middle East, as Israel occupied the Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula. Surrounded by hostile armies, the Israeli Defense Forces launched a preemptive strike that destroyed their adversary’s air power and paved the way for an overwhelming victory on the ground. Today, the region and the world continues to struggle over Israel’s occupation of these areas. Because the Arab states and the United Nations do not acknowledge Israel’s right to ...

Following his #1 New York Times bestseller, Our Endangered Values, the former president, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, offers an assessment of what must be done to bring permanent peace to Israel with dignity and justice to Palestine. President Carter, who was able to negotiate peace between...

In EVEN HIS ENEMIES CRIED: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, Janvier T. Chando provides the reader with a succinct and insightful account of Yitzhak Rabin that helps us understand his world, the turbulent region he was born in, the complexity of geopolitics and what leadership entails ― confidence, courage, compassion, inspiration, knowledge, understanding, integrity, fairness, motivation. The mind-blowing account takes us through Yitzhak Rabin's journey as a shy boy pushed by the exigencies of his time to become a soldier and play an outstanding role on the battlefields in ...

Searching for the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict, historians for years focused on the British Mandate period (1920-1948). Amy Dockser Marcus, however, demonstrates that the bloody struggle for power actually started much earlier, when Jerusalem was still part of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism laid the groundwork for the battles that would continue to rage nearly a century later.

New York Times Bestseller “A clarion call, not to arms but to empathy. . . a profound and original book.”—Wall Street Journal Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses...

This book explains the historical roots of the conflict between Jews and Arabs, which has lost none of its explosiveness to the present day, in a comprehensive and easy-to-understand manner. The question of who owns the Holy Land is more relevant today than ever. The debates on this topic are often characterized by ignorance and strong emotions, while partiality and power interests still obscure the view on the political situation in the Middle East.

A landmark new history of Syria—a country forged in conflict, cursed by civil war and dictatorship, and pivotal to the future of the Middle East “A masterful history of Syria that is both sweeping in scope and brimming with vivid detail...a riveting and insightful book.” —Wendy Pearlman...