Lords of the Land: The War for Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007 - Hardcover

Idith Zertal; Akiva Eldar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1568583702 ISBN 13: 9781568583709

Publisher: Nation Books, 2007

Synopsis

Lords of the Land tells the tragic story of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the aftermath of the 1967 war and Israel’s devastating victory over its Arab neighbors, catastrophe struck both the soul and psyche of the state of Israel. Based on years of research, and written by one of Israel's leading historians and journalists, this involving narrative focuses on the settlers themselves — often fueled by messianic zeal but also inspired by the original Zionist settlers — and shows the role the state of Israel has played in nurturing them through massive economic aid and legal sanctions.

The occupation, the authors argue, has transformed the very foundations of Israel's society, economy, army, history, language, moral profile, and international standing. “The vast majority of the 6.5 million Israelis who live in their country do not know any other reality,” the authors write. “The vast majority of the 3.5 million Palestinians who live in the regions of their occupied land do not know any other reality. The prolonged military occupation and the Jewish settlements that are perpetuating it have toppled Israeli governments and have brought Israel's democracy and its political culture to the brink of an abyss.”

About this title

About the Author:

Professor Idith Zertal (Ph.D.) is a leading Israeli historian and essayist, the author of many books and articles on Jewish, Zionist and Israeli history. She has taught history and cultural studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. She has also been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and senior research fellow at research institutes in the United States, Europe and Israel. She currently teaches at the University of Basel, and is lecturing regularly in Germany, France, and Israel. Among her major publications: From Catastrophe to Power, Holocaust Survivors and the Emergence of Israel and Israel's Holocaust and the Politics of Nationhood.

Akiva Eldar is currently a chief political columnist and editorial writer for the prestigious Israeli national daily Ha'aretz. His columns also appear regularly in the Ha'aretz-Herald Tribune edition. In May 2006 The Financial Times selected him among the most prominent and influential commentators in the world.

Mr Eldar was previously (1993-1996) the Ha'aretz US Bureau Chief and Washington correspondent, covering the Peace Process, US-Israel relations, American issues and Israel-Diaspora relations. Prior to this, from 1983-1993 Mr. Eldar was diplomatic correspondent for Ha'aretz and its municipal correspondent covering Jerusalem (1978-1983).

He has appeared many times on news programm such as Nightline, The Lehrer Show, Charlie Rose Show, CNN News and CBS Morning News, current affairs programs on Israeli television, as well as NPR talk shows.

Mr Eldar contributes to the op-ed pages of The New York Times, LA Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Jewish Week. Mr. Eldar has lectured extensively for the Jewish community and on campuses throughout the US, Canada and Australia and has participated in various Israeli-Arab-European seminars.

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Review:

"In this thorough and eye-opening book, Idith Zertal, a historian, and Akiva Eldar, a journalist, explain how a few tens of thousands of people bent the state to their purpose. Settlements were not on the official agenda after Israel's surprise capture of the Palestinian territories in 1967. But pressure from ardent young religious Zionists found a secular echo among military men, who came to see security benefits to having Israelis live in the West Bank." -- The Economist

"[The] authors are well-informed experts...Lords of the Land is richly detailed." -- The New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Nation Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1568583702
• ISBN 13: 9781568583709
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 576