Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations

by Avi Shlaim

Overview

With characteristic rigor and readability, Avi Shlaim reflects on a range of key issues, transformations and personalities in the Israel-Palestine conflict. From the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the 2008 invasion of Gaza, Israel and Palestine places current events in their proper historical perspective, and assesses the impact of key political and intellectual figures, including Yasir Arafat and Ariel Sharon, Edward Said and Benny Morris. It also re-examines the United States' influential role in the conflict, and explores the many missed opportunities for peace and progress. Clear-eyed and meticulous, Israel and Palestine is an essential tool for understanding the fractured history and future prospects of the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844676569
Publisher:	Verso Books
Publication date:	11/08/2010
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	410,346
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Avi Shlaim is a Fellow of St. Anthony's College and a professor of international relations at the University of Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2006. His books include Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace; War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History; The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World; and Israel and Palestine: Reappraisals, Revisions, Refutations. He lives in Oxford.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chronology xvii

Maps xxii

Part I 1948 and After

1 The Balfour Declaration and its Consequences 3

2 The Civil War in Palestine 25

3 The Rise and Fall of the All-Palestine Government in Gaza 37

4 Did They Leave or Were They Pushed" 54

5 Husni Zaim and the Plan to Resettle Palestinian Refugees in Syria 62

6 All the Difference 77

7 Israel's Dirty War 84

8 The Struggle for Jordan 93

9 Abu Nidal, Abu Shmidal 104

10 Sleepless Afternoons 114

Part II To Oslo and Beyond

11 The Face that Launched a Thousand MiGs 123

12 Arab Nationalism and its Discontents 128

13 Israel and the Gulf 141

14 Changing Places: The Madrid Peace Conference 152

15 Prelude to the Oslo Accord: Likud, Labour and the Palestinians 168

16 The Rise and Fall of the Oslo Peace Process 187

17 Woman of the Year 210

18 Overtaken by Events 224

19 The Likud in Power: The Historiography of Revisionist Zionism 235

20 Capital Folly 253

Part III The Breakdown of the Peace Process

21 The Lost Steps 263

22 George W. Bush and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 277

23 Ariel Sharon's War Against the Palestinians 285

24 Palestine and Iraq 296

25 Israel's War Against Hamas: Rhetoric and Reality 307

Part IV Perspectives

26 His Royal Shyness: King Hussein and Israel 321

27 Edward Said and the Palestine Question 343

28 Four Days in Seville 357

29 Benny Morris and the Betrayal of History 361

30 Free Speech" Not for Critics of Israel 366

Notes 373

Acknowledgements 381

Index 383

Editorial Reviews

"Highly recommended: Everyone interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--general readers and academics alike--will want to consult this book."--Choice

"A valuable collection."--The Economist

"Shlaim ... provides a realpolitik reading of the history, demolishing the heroic and innocent image of Israel in its relations with the Palestinians."--Foreign Affairs

"Wonderful ... Not often today do we find historians who are this honest and this bleak and this able to express truth so simply."--Robert Fisk, The Independent

"Shlaim does not aim at a comprehensive overview of the conflict so much as a running rebuttal of Israel's version of it; an insurgency in the public relations war."--Rafael Behr, Observer

"... a welcome and timely addition to the continuing debate on the Palestine-Israel conflict and its possible resolution."--Journal of Palestine Studies

From the Publisher

Wonderful … Not often today do we find historians who are this honest and this bleak and this able to express truth so simply.

Robert Fisk - The Independent

Shlaim … provides a realpolitik reading of the history, demolishing the heroic and innocent image of Israel in its relations with the Palestinians.

Foreign Affairs

Avi Shlaim is the sort of historian every country needs. An exposer of national myths, the supreme scholar of Arab–Israeli negotiations.

Philip Mansel - The Spectator

A valuable collection.

The Economist

Highly recommended: Everyone interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—general readers and academics alike—will want to consult this book.

Choice