The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Parallel Discourses (UCLA Center for Middle East Development CMED)

The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is considered intractable by many, and is frequently characterised by the violence between the two sides. In attempts at peace, the starting point for negotiations is a cessation of violence; beneath this, however, lies a plethora of other issues to be addressed.

This unique text brings together Israeli and Palestinian viewpoints on a number of key issues and topics, making clear the points of agreement as well as the views that divide. The chapters deal first with three issues that require compromise and resolution for a peace treaty to be realized - water, refugees, and borders, territory and settlements – and then with three important concepts that can either impede or promote peace: democracy, human rights, and peace culture and education. Thus, the book provides an invaluable opportunity to understand, at least in part, the divergent and even convergent interests and understandings of Israelis and Palestinians on issues and concepts important to the peace process. As such, it will be a valuable resource for courses on conflict resolution, the Middle East peace process, and political science.

Elizabeth G. Matthews is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at California State University San Marcos, USA. She has written a number of books and articles on world politics and US foreign policy, and is co-editor of the Routledge UCLA Center for Middle East Development (CMED) series.

David Newman is professor of Political Geography in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben Gurion University, and co-editor of the International Journal of Geopolitics. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ben-Gurion University. His research focuses on Geopolitics, Borders and the territorial dimensions of ethnic and national conflict and he has written extensively on topics relating to territory and borders in Israel-Palestine.

Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi holds two doctorate degrees from the University of South Carolina at Columbia and the University of Texas at Austin. He is the founding director of the American Studies Center at al-Quds University, the Wasatia Movement – Palestine, and the Jerusalem Studies and Research Institute, and is the author of numerous books and academic articles in English and Arabic.