A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Indiana Series in Arab and Islamic Studies) - Softcover

Tessler, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253208734 ISBN 13: 9780253208736

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 1994

Synopsis

""This is the best book on the subject at present. Highly recommended."" -- Library Journal (starred review)

""[Mr. Tessler is] thoughtful, well-informed and resolutely fair-minded... rigorous and commiserative alike, and his gloss on the fallout from the creation of Israel, which included a counterflow of millions of Jewish immigrants from the Arab world, is among the best things in the book."" -- David Schoenbaum, New York Times Book Review

""A dense, well-annotated portrait of Jewish and Arab histories, national aspirations, and conflicts, focusing on the origins of modern Zionism and Arab nationalism with a view to the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace."" -- Kirkus Reviews

""Most will profit from the careful scholarship and the balanced judgments and will hope that [Tessler] is right in concluding that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute may finally be on its way to resolution."" -- Foreign Affairs

.."". fascinating and enlightening.""A -- Booklist

.."". a truly monumental yet easy to read work of scholarship."" -- Hadassah Magazine

""I consider Tessler's work a real breakthrough in the systematic and in-depth analysis of the Arab-Jewish conflict in its historical context. The volume is well balanced, objective, and comprehensive. His conclusion that the conflict is solvable for the benefit of all parties is anchored in a careful and well-documented piece of research."" -- Baruch Kimmerling

""Mark Tessler's new book is an authoritative source on the evolution and the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is one of the few books that offers a balanced, enlightened, and thorough analysis of the various aspects of the conflict and the politics of the region. A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is a must for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses on the Middle East."" -- Emile Sahliyeh

""This timely study is the most comprehensive history to date of the century-old struggle between Zionists (and, later, Israelis) and Palestinians for historic Palestine. Based on the best works of recent scholarship, Mark Tessler's History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is a major contribution. Sensitive to the viewpoints of the protagonists, Tessler transcends partisanship and presents a largely balanced and detailed analysis. This work is a rare example of how the history of the conflict should be written.""A -- Philip Mattar

""The main characteristic of Mark Tessler's book is 'objectivity without detachment.' It is this and much more -- a work of unprecedented empathy for both sides... [Tessler] has put together a very readable and cogent narrative of historical developments spanning more than a century. His balanced analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from 1948 to the Declaration of Principles of 1993 forms the core of his perceptive book which is certain to remain the definitive study on this conflict for some time."" -- Jacob M. Landau

""Teachers and students alike, after some understandable initial hestitation as to the need for 'yet another' volume on the Arab-Israeli conflict, will quickly discover the many merits of this carefully crafted, well-written, and nuanced treatement of its complex and highly charged subject."" -- International Journal of Middle East Studies

""Thoroughly researched and comprehensive in scope, this book is an impressive achievement by any measure."" -- Journal of Church and State

This timely, comprehensive, and objective history provides a constructive framework for thinking realistically about the prospects for peace. Highlighting the historic symmetry of the two peoples and emphasizing the potential for cooperation between them, Tessler presents the case for mutual recognition and a two-state solution.

About this title

About the Author

MARK TESSLER is Professor of Political Science, Director of the Centerfor Middle Eastern Studies, and Head of the Department of Near EasternStudies. He has spent more than six years in the Middle East, conducting research in Tunisia, Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, and Morocco. He is co-author of Political Elites in Arab North Africa and (with Ann Mosely Lesch) of Israel, Egypt, the Palestinians: From Camp David to Intifada.

From the Back Cover

Mark Tessler's timely, comprehensive, and balanced history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from earliest times to the present provides a constructive framework for thinking realistically about the prospects for peace. Drawing upon a wide array of documents and on research by Palestinians, Israelis, and others, Tessler assesses the conflict on both the Israelis' and the Palestinians' terms.

Reviews

"Objectivity without detachment" is the author's self-proclaimed goal, and his detailed account of this intractable 20th-century conflict is certainly more even-handed than many. Part of the Indiana Series in Arab and Islamic Studies, Tessler's work provides a useful review of the numerous failed diplomatic solutions over the years concluding on a cautiously optimistic note with the September 1993 handshake between Rabin and Arafat. It is a fallacy, however, to believe that the "truth" of any contested issue must always reside dead center between the two sides--and this work is unlikely to sway any reader who already holds a considered opinion. Tessler (coauthor of Israel, Egypt, the Palestinians ) is closest to achieving his goal when he devotes two long opening chapters to sympathetic histories of the Jews and the Arabs, respectively. Yet even here the symmetry is flawed, and he must engage in a song and dance to explain why he gives the history of the Arab world rather than the Palestinians specifically if, as he asserts, "the Palestinians are descendants of two ancient peioples, the Canaanites and the Philistines." A technique the author frequently employs is to set forth the arguments--including audacious propaganda--before stepping in to evaluate them critically or, more often, to equivocate. In this regard, he cites a touching anecdote recounted by Arafat, only pointing to its spurious character in a footnote. Although similar lapses throughout partially erode the credibility of the author's objective stance, one has to admire his herculean effort, and current events ensure that this is a timely history.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tessler, a political scientist, provides a thorough historical and political analysis of the current Arab-Israeli conflict. Going back to ancient times, he juxtaposes the history of the ancient Hebrews with that of the Arabs, bringing their respective developments up through time to the present. With a great deal of clarity, the author describes the origins of modern political Zionism and Arab nationalism, their emergence and evolution through the period of the British mandate, and the establishment of the State of Israel with the commensurate Arab opposition efforts. Tessler's analysis is made current by a discussion of the intifadah. His method of presenting complementary histories of the two peoples leads to the author's thesis that a solution to the conflict can come only with mutual recognition of the respective histories of the Israelis and Palestinians and the establishment of two states. This is the best book on the subject at present. Highly recommended.
Sanford R. Silverburg, Catawba Coll., Salisbury, N.C
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0253208734
• ISBN 13: 9780253208736
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 928