Israel / Palestine
5. Edition February 2023
272 Pages, Softcover
Textbook
Short Description
What explains the peculiar intensity and evident intractability of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Of all the ""hot spots"" in the world today, the apparently endless clash between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East seems unique in its longevity and resistance to resolution. Is this conflict really different from other ethnic and nationalist confrontations, and if so, in what way?
In this fully revised and expanded fifth edition of his highly respected introductory text, Alan Dowty demystifies the conflict by putting it in broad historical perspective, identifying its roots, and tracing its evolution up to the current impasse. His account offers a clear analytic framework for understanding transformations over time, and in doing so, punctures the myths of an ""age-old"" conflict with an unbridgeable gap between the two sides. Rather than simply reciting historical detail, this book presents a clear overview that serves as a road map through the thicket of conflicting claims. Updated to include recent developments, such as the recent Israeli elections and the debate over the two-state solution, the new edition presents in full the opposed perspectives of the two sides, leaving readers to make their own evaluations of the issues. The book thus expresses fairly and objectively the concerns, hopes, fears, and passions of both sides, making it clear why this conflict is waged with such vehemence - and how, for all that, the gap between the two sides has narrowed over time.
What explains the peculiar intensity and evident intractability of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Of all the ""hot spots"" in the world today, the apparently endless clash between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East seems unique in its longevity and resistance to resolution. Is this conflict really different from other ethnic and nationalist confrontations, and if so, in what way?
In this fully revised and expanded fifth edition of his highly respected introductory text, Alan Dowty demystifies the conflict by putting it in broad historical perspective, identifying its roots, and tracing its evolution up to the current impasse. His account offers a clear analytic framework for understanding transformations over time, and in doing so, punctures the myths of an ""age-old"" conflict with an unbridgeable gap between the two sides. Rather than simply reciting historical detail, this book presents a clear overview that serves as a road map through the thicket of conflicting claims. Updated to include recent developments, such as the recent Israeli elections and the debate over the two-state solution, the new edition presents in full the opposed perspectives of the two sides, leaving readers to make their own evaluations of the issues. The book thus expresses fairly and objectively the concerns, hopes, fears, and passions of both sides, making it clear why this conflict is waged with such vehemence - and how, for all that, the gap between the two sides has narrowed over time.
Maps, Figures, and Tables
1. Introduction: Two Worlds Collide
2. The Jewish Story to 1914
3. The Arab Story to 1914
4. The Emergence of Israel, 1914-1967
5. The Re-Emergence of the Palestinians, 1967-1988
6. The First Pass at Peace, 1988-2001
7. The Fourth Stage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2001-2009
8. The Downward Spiral since 2009
9. The Impasse That Remains
10. The Perfect Conflict
Chronology
Further Reading
Internet Links
References
Index
--Asaf Siniver, University of Birmingham
"This updated edition of Alan Dowty's book comprehensively and chronologically covers a complicated and intractable conflict in a manner that is clear, concise, compelling, accessible, and, above all, impartial. Dowty assiduously and judiciously presents the perspectives of both sides and does so in a clear-eyed and sober fashion while giving the reader hope that a solution is still possible. Dowty's book is required reading for students and specialists alike."
--Eric Lob, Florida International University
