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A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter examines the true history of the discord between Israel and Palestine with surprising results
Though the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict have traditionally been traced to the British Mandate (1920-1948) that ended with the creation of the Israeli state, a new generation of scholars has taken the investigation further back, to the Ottoman period. The first popular account of this key era, Jerusalem 1913 shows us a cosmopolitan city whose religious tolerance crumbled before the onset of Z ionism and its corresponding nationalism on both sides-a conflict that could have been resolved were it not for the onset of World War I. With extraordinary skill, Amy Dockser Marcus rewrites the story of one of the world's most indelible divides.
* Mp3 CD Format *. 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.
In Ottoman Jerusalem, families of different religions picnicked together at popular shrines and vouched for each other at the bank; Muslims and Jews were business partners and neighbors; and Arab children dressed in costumes for the Jewish holiday of Purim. How then did this city of ethnic diversity become a crucible of sectarian conflict? Marcus (The View from Nebo), a Pulitzer-winning former Wall Street Journalcorrespondent, focuses on the year 1913 as a turning point, when leaders at the Zionist Congress argued for both cultural and demographic domination of Palestine, while at the same time Jews and Arabs were negotiating a possible peace. Marcus also highlights three men who helped shape the destiny of the future Israeli capital. Albert Antebi was a non-Zionist Syrian Jew who advocated for Jewish economic solvency and strong relationships with Muslims; ardent Zionist Arthur Ruppin directed the establishment of Jewish settlements; and Ruhi Khalidi, a prominent Muslim , although not an Arab nationalist, actively opposed Jewish immigration and land purchases. Marcus masterfully brings a Jerusalem of almost a century ago to pungent life, and her political dissection of the era is lucid and well-meaning although she never explains the gulf between moderate Muslims of 1913 and today's Islamist and radical movements. (Apr. 23)
Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Anonymous
Posted January 29, 2012
This book is fantastic. Marcus is an amazing writer. The reader is right there inside the character (this being the real live person). I am reading this book for my history class and I am enjoying it, so much that it does not feel like reading an ordinary history book. Sometimes it is hard to wrap ones mind around the characters because their names are very similar. Great book. Would recommend to anyone who would like to know more about how the world works now in the Palestine. I do not condone how the Jews did things to get there nation. It does not really matter now. It is impossible to undo over an hundred event that was in the making for quite sometime.
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Posted December 5, 2009
This book gave me needed history of the Israel-Arab conflict.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 8, 2008
The book has its charms for evoking the memory of a time before electricity, but the author tries to make a case without sufficient proof. Her main claim is that the issues we face today in the Arab-Israeli dispute are basically the same that people grappled with back in the years around 1913, and that the same insensitivities and self-interest on the part of all parties involved condemned the peace process just as today. Her argument, however, is based on ignoring the elephant in the room. First of all she hardly discussed the role of religion and how that contributed to the conflict, except for the occasional mention of calls for jihad. Second, she never discussed Arab antisemitism and how it played out in the events of the time, such as the massacre of Jews in Hebron. Third, she seemed to equate the rise of Arab nationalism with the concurrent struggles of Zionism without explaining that 'Palestinian' nationalism did not exist then. The main problem is that she implies that the players could have reached a solution if they only seized the opportunities available then but she doesn't show us a picture of what that solution would entail.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 20, 2007
This book is outstanding. I would first recommend it to the Israeli and Arab current Leaders to read together and meet as a book club. Maybe they can learn from history and activities from the past while trying to negotiate an agreement to a better present and future for this region.
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Overview
A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter examines the true history of the discord between Israel and Palestine with surprising results
Though the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict have traditionally been traced to the British Mandate (1920-1948) that ended with the creation of the Israeli state, a new generation of scholars has taken the investigation further back, to the Ottoman period. The first popular account of this key era, Jerusalem 1913 shows us a cosmopolitan city whose religious tolerance crumbled before the onset of Z ionism and its corresponding nationalism on both sides-a conflict that could have been resolved were it not for the onset of World ...