Books like Israel-Palestine

Many authors will know the question of where to start the story. I think that this is particularly true in any discussion of Israel-Palestine.

Sometimes Israelis like to start it 3000 years ago in a mythical Biblical state, sometimes in an equally chimerical version of Israel’s acceptance of what the UN agreed to in 1947 – and sometimes, with the perennial bias of news, it is started as though history began last week. 

Israel’s ability to control the narrative has long characterised the conflict. To declare unchallenged that: “The Balfour Declaration gave Israel a legal right to Palestine:” or “In 1948, Israel was attacked by all surrounding Arab armies:” or “In 1967, we were only defending ourselves.” 

So, it is in an effort to correct this, to tell the Palestinian story, that Ramzy Baroud’s book is written. At times angry, more often poignant and disturbing, it is a tale about… show more.

I didn’t know much about Syria before picking up this book.

But reading it, I discovered that Syria is a place where international politics, ideology, colonial legacy, religion, economics, and ordinary human survival all collide at once, which makes it both incredibly important and incredibly difficult to understand, let alone sum up simply. Hence, this book demands quite a commitment from the reader.

Nonetheless, at the end of it, I was left with a better understanding of how today’s Syria is the result of the interplay between many global processes. Time and time again, he says, we see how developments in Syria are never determined by purely domestic factors but are instead shaped by the powerful forces they have no control over. You have to feel for this long-suffering nation!

As a gloomy Capricorn, I’m not very optimistic about the future, and so I am always happy to read a disaster book, and at first glance, the contents list of John Hand’s tale of what awaits humanity promises to be just that.

But after only a few pages of Hand's talking about space rocks hitting the Earth, the gloomy reader will already be a bit puzzled at what seems to be Hand’s indefatigable spirit of technological optimism. On the wonderfully awful prospect of huge space rocks hitting the planet, we’re told that, thanks to NASA scientists:

“…we now know that there are no comparably large asteroids (diameter greater than 5km) in orbits that could potentially hit Earth.”

Well, how boring is that! But I’m sure the scientists have their reasoning principles. They usually do, which, like Groucho Marx, they also offer to swap for other ones later if need be. … show more.

I recommend this book as a bit of a gear change. Or, put another way, a different perspective on knowledge.

It’s not about Israel-Palestine, but it surely says something about how we shape the issue today. What do I mean? Well, consider, as the book challenges us early on: 

“When we say someone is smart—and especially in normal, everyday conversation—we often mean they are witty, funny, sharp, clever, entertaining, political, cagey, crafty, shrewd, sly, wary, wily, devious, sneaky, circumspect, cunning, tricky, biting, stinging, confident, popular, or a blast. These “smart”-associated terms have social implications...about how smartly we control and conduct ourselves among all the complex cooperative and competitive interactions with family, friends, enemies, and strangers. Our everyday use of “intelligent” usually concerns social intelligence.”

And that’s why, today, Mark and Tim think, social media has a surprisingly big role in how knowledge is really constructed even in the sciences.  

“You… show more.

My Promised Land is beautifully written, a story deeply informed by the author’s family history and the body of knowledge he built as an influential Israeli journalist.

Shavit loves the place of his birth but doesn’t retreat from hard questions. He tells a powerful, poignant story of a state-created out of tragedy and the brutal reality of what Jewish statehood has wrought for yet another disinherited group.

There are no easy answers, and Shavit offers none. But he presents the complexities and frustrations with intellectual rigor and literary grace.

This is an important collection of essays. It provides state-of-the-art understanding of Israeli society, its history, politics, and sociology. The book is wide-ranging and comprehensive. Its chapters were written by well-known authorities. The book includes important chapters on the Israeli electoral system, the Israeli Arab citizens, state and religion, gender in Israel, the Jewish ethnic divide and ethnic politics in Israel, the political economy of Israeli neoliberalism, Israel’s national security, the military in Israeli politics, political culture and Israeli politics, Israeli institutions and Israel’s position in the world.

I was invited to contribute to this volume but had to decline due to previous commitments.

The late Fred Halliday addressed in his book the most circulated myths of the Middle East and its people. It is an easy read and it sets straight many of the daily myths that we have picked up from western popular culture (mainly Hollywood) and Anglo-American media representation including news on the culture and religion of the people of the Middle East. 

The book captivatingly provides more than a peek into the legendary secret service organization – Mossad and its secretly executed high-stake operations. What would stun anyone is the sheer bravery of the Mossad agents who carry out their life-threatening assignments with clockwork precision. They are also men of flesh and blood, only they have steel nerves. They are the guardians of the Israeli nation and they do it literally with their sweat and blood. The readers would certainly get to feel the heartbeat of these amazing men on their onerous duty. Cannot miss reading this book.

Every nationalist struggle requires effective leaders. Zionism, in particular, faced such long odds and such peculiar circumstances, that success depended not only on effective, but ruthless and single-minded leadership. In this monumental biography of David Ben-Gurion, the single most dominant individual within the Zionist movement and in the first two decades of Israel’s existence, Tom Segev shows that Zionism did have such a leader. Contrary to official hagiography, Ben-Gurion offered no brilliant or innovative ideas about politics, history, or the human condition. What he contributed was a shrewd, consuming, and merciless dedication to wresting as much of Palestine, or the Land of Israel, from its Arab inhabitants as possible without risking the state he wanted by demanding more than the world could be forced to provide. 

Ben-Gurion’s model was Lenin, his modus operandi was Bolshevik. Everything for the cause, and nothing not for the cause, at least insofar as those… show more.

President Truman appointed James McDonald to be the first U.S. Ambassador to Israel. McDonald’s diaries of 1948-1951 offer fascinating insights into the key events surrounding the establishment of the Jewish state. The diaries offer revealing and astute observations of the personalities and policies of Truman, Secretary of State George Marshall, British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin, the Jewish Agency’s leading foreign policymaker, Moshe Shertok (later Moshe Sharett), and leader of the Jewish Agency and future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. McDonald was that unusual American diplomat who, in those years, supported Zionist aspirations. The McDonald diaries are required reading for anyone seeking a deeper grasp of the founding months and years of the state of Israel.