Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict“An impressive analysis of Zionist ideology and a searing . . . indictment of Israel’s treatment of the Arabs since 1948” through a survey of popular and scholarly images (London Review of Books) “The most revealing study of the historical background of the conflict.” —Noam Chomsky Finkelstein opens this acclaimed study with a theoretical discussion of Zionism, locating it as a romantic form of nationalism that assumed the bankruptcy of liberal democracy. He goes on to look at the demographic origins of the Palestinians, with particular reference to the work of Joan Peters, and develops critiques of the influential studies of both Benny Morris and Anita Shapira. Reviewing the diplomatic history with Aban Eban‘s oeuvre as his foil, Finkelstein closes by demonstrating that the casting of Israel as the innocent victim of Arab aggression in the June 1967 and October 1973 wars is not supported by the documentary record. This new edition critically reexamines dominant popular and scholarly images in the light of the current failures of the peace process. |
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Common terms and phrases
Abba Eban according American apartheid April Arab exodus Arab flight Arab villages Arab world Archives Area attack Bank and Gaza Bantustans Ben-Gurion Benny Morris Birth British Camp David Chap cited claim conflict conquered conquest crucial Dayan defensive demographic diplomatic document Eban Eban's Egypt Egyptian evidence expelled expulsion force Golan Golan Heights Haaretz Haganah Haifa historian Hitler illegal Arab immigrants Immemorial indigenous Arab population Israel Israeli Jarring's Jerusalem Jewish Jewish settlement Jews Jordan June killed labor Zionism land leaders Mapam massacre memoir ment Middle East military moral Morris's Nasser Nazi observes October official Oren Oslo Palestine Palestinian Arabs Palestinian exodus Palestinian refugees Personal Witness Peters Peters's Plan political Quandt quotes Rabin recalled reports resolution Sadat Security Council Shapira Sharm-el-Shaykh Sinai Straits of Tiran Syria territory Thant transfer Transkei treaty UNEF United Nations Weitz West Bank withdrawal Yishuv York Zionist movement
Popular passages
Page ix - The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
Page xvi - Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force; 2.
Page 4 - Whether I knew or did not know, or how much or how little I knew, is totally unimportant when I consider what horrors I ought to have known about and what conclusions would have been the natural ones to draw from the little I did know. Those who ask me are fundamentally expecting me to offer justifications. But I have none. No apologies are possible.