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 fourth 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 clashes in the Gaza Strip and the latest diplomatic initiatives, 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.
Author(s): Alan Dowty
Edition: 4
Publisher: Polity Press
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 352
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
1 Introduction: Two Worlds Collide
Dispelling Myths
Defining the Conflict
The Setting: Ottoman Palestine
2 The Jewish Story
A Fossilized Relic?
The Theme of Persecution
“Come, Let Us Go”
Herzl and the Second Aliyah
First Encounters
3 The Arab Story
The Glory of Islam
The Rise of the West
Palestine and Palestinism
First Encounters
The Debut of Arab Nationalism
4 The Emergence of Israel
The British Mandate
A Mischievous Pretence?
Holocaust and Partition
The War of Independence/An-Nakba:The Second Stage of the Conflict
Nasser and Nationalism
5 The Re-emergence of the Palestinians
The War that No One Wanted?
The Peculiar Legacy of 1967
The Decade of Sadat: Entering the Third Stage of the Conflict
The Lebanese Tangle
Shaking Things Up: The First Intifada
6 The First Pass at Peace
The Oslo Breakthrough
The Rocky Road to Peace
What Went Wrong?
The Roof Falls In
7 The Fourth Stage of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict
The End of the Arafat Era
Israel Turns to Unilateralism
A Turning Point: Ideology Prevails
8 The Downward Spiral
Palestinian Unilateralism
The Arab Spring
The Second Round in Gaza
The Kerry Initiative
Third Round in Gaza: The Gap Widens
9 The Impasse that Remains
The End of the Two-State Solution?
Territory and Settlements
Jerusalem
Security Issues
Refugees
A General Prognosis
10 The Perfect Conflict
Right against Right?
A Practical Solution
Building Foundations: Extremists and Illusions
Reflections
Chronology
Further Reading
Internet Links
References
Index
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