The war in the Middle East is the most long-lasting, most bitter and most intractable in the world. In a short pithy volume, the most distinguished historian of the Middle East explains the conflict. A new interpretation of the historical and contemporary realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bernard Wasserstein challenges the conventional view of the struggle as driven primarily by irrational, nationalist and religious ideologies. Instead he focuses on hitherto relatively neglected dimensions -- population, land, labour, and the social dynamics of political change. He maintains that Israelis and Palestinians live today in 'Siamese twin societies'. However much they may wish to, neither side can escape the impinging presence and influence of the other. In spite of the current diplomatic impasse and continuing bloodshed and hate-mongering, Wasserstein offers a realistic and persuasive basis for optimism. He argues that demographic, economic and social imperatives are driving the two sides willy-nilly towards some form of symbiosis and accommodation. This startlingly original view of relations between Jews and Arabs in Palestine and Israel over the past century offers hope for the success of current efforts towards peace in the Middle East.
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A fresh approach to an old dispute. Wasserstein argues that in the end Israelis and Palestinians are going to have to live together because as 'Siamese twin societies' their demographic, economic and social needs leave them no alternative. They can't escape one another, so they might as well learn to get along together. Wasserstein is a well-connected and prolific journalist and this polemical history will attract plenty of media coverage. But like all books on current affairs it runs the risk of being eclipsed by the events it describes. Also, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hardly an under-published territory. And why should the two sides live together if extreme Palestinians want to destroy Israel and extreme Israelis won't even think about creating a Palestinian state? A valuable contribution to the debate, but it won't stop the fighting.
About the Author
Bernard Wasserstein was born in London and educated at Balliol and Nuffield Colleges in Oxford. His many books include The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln (Penguin), which won the Golden Dagger Award for Non-fiction and was acclaimed as a tour de force of historical detection. His most recent book was the controversial Vanishing Diaspora (Penguin). He is currently working on a history of Europe in the twentieth century for Oxford University Press.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
The author looks at the underlying strategic situation of Israel and Palestine: demographics, land, nationalism, water etc.
His historical research and use of data is impeccable: he summarises a lot of historical debate and research, dating back to the Mandate Period, succinctly and authoritatively.
His (somewhat optimistic to my mind) conclusion is that the demographic and other trends will absolutely force the two sides together. Neither the right wing (military occupation followed by transfer or ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians) nor the left wing (separation via a cordon sanitaire) solutions are long run feasible in his view.
If I had one small criticism it is that the maps seem to lack detail: but they make the points he is trying to raise, so this is largely a niggle.
This is an excellent and rational summary of what is going on in the Middle East. The last (and very different) book on the subject I enjoyed this much was David Hare's Via Dolorossa.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was looking for something which hit me with the basic concepts of this whole conflict, which in a way this book did.
However intertwined with that is an incredible amount of detail, some of which is necessary and some which I got lost in quite frankly.
You have to be on the ball to pick out the main points as to the source of the current situation, but I would suggest that there must be a better publication for:
'giving it to you straight'.
This is perhaps for the more informed commentator.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By R. M. Doney
Format:Paperback
This short book is targeted at the well-informed layman, who perhaps follows events in the Israel/Palestine conflict and peace process and wants to know more about how things came to be the way they are.
I was particularly impressed by Prof Wasserstein's balanced approach; I never felt he was grinding an axe for one side or the other.
The only slight criticism I would make is that I wanted more on the "Can They Stop?" thread of his argument.
For all that it is a slim volume, it is packed with interesting information, and plenty of sources and references for further reading.
I was particularly impressed by Prof Wasserstein's balanced approach; I never felt he was grinding an axe for one side or the other.
The only slight criticism I would make is that I wanted more on the "Can They Stop?" thread of his argument.
For all that it is a slim volume, it is packed with interesting information, and plenty of sources and references for further reading.
Format:Paperback
I think this book has the wrong title - it doesn't really answer the question it poses. An ignoramus on the subject, I was hoping for a lucid potted history of the conflict (in so far as its complexity makes that possible). Instead, the author assumes a fair level of knowledge on the reader's part and answers a quite different question: can Israel sustain itself as an ethnically Jewish state? (His answer seems to be no: mainly because of relative birth rates and shrinking natural resources). It's briskly and dispassionately written (I think), but if it's an introduction you're looking for, look elsewhere. This should probably be, say, the third book you read on the subject, not the first.
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