The Palestinian People: A History

by Baruch Kimmerling, Joel S. Migdal

Overview

In a timely reminder of how the past informs the present, Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal offer an authoritative account of the history of the Palestinian people from their modern origins to the Oslo peace process and beyond.

Palestinians struggled to create themselves as a people from the first revolt of the Arabs in Palestine in 1834 through the British Mandate to the impact of Zionism and the founding of Israel. Their relationship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel has been fundamental in shaping that identity, and today Palestinians find themselves again at a critical juncture. In the 1990s cornerstones for peace were laid for eventual Palestinian-Israeli coexistence, including mutual acceptance, the renunciation of violence as a permanent strategy, and the establishment for the first time of Palestinian self-government. But the dawn of the twenty-first century saw a reversion to unmitigated hatred and mutual demonization. By mid-2002 the brutal violence of the Intifada had crippled Palestine's fledgling political institutions and threatened the fragile social cohesion painstakingly constructed after 1967. Kimmerling and Migdal unravel what went right—and what went wrong—in the Oslo peace process, and what lessons we can draw about the forces that help to shape a people. The authors present a balanced, insightful, and sobering look at the realities of creating peace in the Middle East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674011298
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	03/27/2003
Series:	Simultaneous Editions Series
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	540,397
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Baruch Kimmerling was George S. Wise Professor of Sociology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto.

Joel S. Migdal is Robert F. Philip Professor of International Studies, University of Washington.

Table of Contents

Maps

Preface

Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration

Introduction

PART ONE FROM REVOLT TO REVOLT:THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE EUROPEAN WORLD AND ZIONISM

1. The Revolt of 1834 and the Making of Modern Palestine

2. The City: Between Nablus and Jaffa

3. Jerusalem: Notables and Nationalism

4. The Arab Revolt, 1936-1939

PART TWO DISPERSAL

5. The Meaning of Disaster

PART THREE RECONSTITUTING THE PALESTINIAN NATION

6. Odd Man Out: Arabs in Israel

7. Dispersal, 1948-1967

8. The Feday: Rebirth and Resistance

9. Steering a Path under Occupation

PART FOUR ABORTIVE RECONCILIATION

10. The Oslo Process: What Went Right?

11. The Oslo Process: What Went Wrong?

Conclusion

Chronological List of Major Events

Notes

Index

What People are Saying About This

This remarkable book recounts how the Palestinians came to be constituted as a people. The authors offer perceptive observations on the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the successes and failures of the Oslo process, and the prospects for both Palestinians and Israelis of achieving a peaceful future
together. A dispassionate and balanced analysis that provides essential background for understanding the complexities of the Middle East.

Rashid Khalidi

This remarkable book recounts how the Palestinians came to be constituted as a people. The authors offer perceptive observations on the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the successes and failures of the Oslo process, and the prospects for both Palestinians and Israelis of achieving a peaceful future together. A dispassionate and balanced analysis that provides essential background for understanding the complexities of the Middle East.
— Rashid Khalidi, University of Chicago

Editorial Reviews

This new history updates [Baruch Kimmerling's and Joel S. Midgdal's] 1993 book, Palestinians: The Making of a People, with two new analyses, one judging the effect of the Oslo peace talks and another focusing on the difficult situation of the Palestinians in Israel…In their preface, the authors immediate reject both the common claim by Palestinians that their history as a "singular people" reaches back to ancient times and the Israeli denial of any such entity before it was created by Zionist successes. Instead a "self-identified Palestinian people" evolved only in the last two centuries, as a result of European economic and political pressures and of Jewish settlement…An excellent chronology and full notes enhance a book that deserves the widest possible readership.

Magill's Literary Annual - Frank Day

This remarkable book recounts how the Palestinians came to be constituted as a people. The authors offer perceptive observations on the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the successes and failures of the Oslo process, and the prospects for both Palestinians and Israelis of achieving a peaceful future together. A dispassionate and balanced analysis that provides essential background for understanding the complexities of the Middle East.

Rashid Khalidi

A fine general history of the Palestinians now usefully updated with a history of the decade after Oslo.

Foreign Affairs - L. Carl Brown

This new history updates [Baruch Kimmerling's and Joel S. Midgdal's] 1993 book, Palestinians: The Making of a People, with two new analyses, one judging the effect of the Oslo peace talks and another focusing on the difficult situation of the Palestinians in Israel In their preface, the authors immediate reject both the common claim by Palestinians that their history as a "singular people" reaches back to ancient times and the Israeli denial of any such entity before it was created by Zionist successes. Instead a "self-identified Palestinian people" evolved only in the last two centuries, as a result of European economic and political pressures and of Jewish settlement An excellent chronology and full notes enhance a book that deserves the widest possible readership.--Frank Day "Magill's Literary Annual" (6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM)

A fine general history of the Palestinians now usefully updated with a history of the decade after Oslo.--L. Carl Brown "Foreign Affairs" (9/1/2003 12:00:00 AM)

This remarkable book recounts how the Palestinians came to be constituted as a people. The authors offer perceptive observations on the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the successes and failures of the Oslo process, and the prospects for both Palestinians and Israelis of achieving a peaceful future together. A dispassionate and balanced analysis that provides essential background for understanding the complexities of the Middle East.--Rashid Khalidi, University of Chicago

From the Publisher

This new history updates [Baruch Kimmerling's and Joel S. Midgdal's] 1993 book, Palestinians: The Making of a People, with two new analyses, one judging the effect of the Oslo peace talks and another focusing on the difficult situation of the Palestinians in Israel…In their preface, the authors immediate reject both the common claim by Palestinians that their history as a "singular people" reaches back to ancient times and the Israeli denial of any such entity before it was created by Zionist successes. Instead a "self-identified Palestinian people" evolved only in the last two centuries, as a result of European economic and political pressures and of Jewish settlement…An excellent chronology and full notes enhance a book that deserves the widest possible readership.
— Frank Day

Magill's Literary Annual

A fine general history of the Palestinians now usefully updated with a history of the decade after Oslo.
— L. Carl Brown

Foreign Affairs

Established scholars who have written extensively on the Middle East and Arab-Israeli issues, Kimmerling (George S. Wise Professor of Sociology, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) and Migdal (international studies, Univ. of Washington) here offer a timely and comprehensive history of the Palestinian people. They trace the history of the Palestinian Arabs and their struggle for self-determination from the first Arab revolt in Palestine in 1834 to the recent intifada, detailing all the emergence of Palestinian nationalism and analyzing intra-Palestinian divisions. The authors also describe Palestinian-Israeli relations, the causes and consequences of the failed peacemaking efforts, and the dilemma of Palestinian citizens of Israel, who are dually marginalized. Also providing a useful chronological list of major events in Palestinian history, this balanced and well-researched book is highly recommended for public and academic libraries.-Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, AL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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