From 3000 BC onwards, the area known today as Palestine has been successively controlled by Philistines, Jews, Romans, Arabs, Turks and the British. But for hundreds of years prior to the UN-mandated partition in 1947 and the creation of the state of Israel the majority of inhabitants were the ancestors of today's Arab Palestinians. In the thirty years (and three Arab-Israeli wars) that followed 700,000 Arabs were forced from their homes into refugee settlements on the West Bank, Gaza and further afield. Their desire to return to their homes on the land they feel is rightly theirs continues to create a political impasse. Karl Sabbagh was born to a British mother and a Palestinian father who was the lead broadcaster and war correspondent for the BBC Arabic service. When the war ended, Isa Khalil Sabbagh was sent to New York to cover the fateful UN vote of 1947. Karl Sabbagh's Palestine: A Personal History is an attempt to understand and come to terms with his father's, and his people's, turbulent past. It is also a panoramic political and cultural survey of Palestine which pinpoints psychological and religious barriers that have undermined two peoples' ability to create a lasting peace in the region.
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About the Author
Karl Sabbagh is a British writer, journalist and television producer, born to an English mother and Palestinian father. He has produced major documentaries for American and British broadcasters and has written for the Sunday Times, New Scientist, Guardian, Sunday Telegraph magazine and Scientific American. He is the author of several books including A Rum Affair, Power Into Art and Dr Riemann's Zeros.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Kevin Keenan
Format:Paperback
A very enjoyable story of a country which I knew very little about. Basically it follows the history of a reasonably well off family who can trace their history back many years in this particular part of Palestine. Having a poor understanding of the politics of this area it has helped to provide a view of the other side. Whilst obviously written from one perspective it has given me a desire to partake of further reading from both sides before reaching any firm conclusions!
Highly reccommended.
Highly reccommended.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is easy to imagine, when faced with modern daily news items, that there is no longer such a place as Palestine. Karl Sabbagh's book refutes this assumption by bringing to life the place and its people as they used to be when they lived as one of the most civilised nations on earth, before they were designated a "land without people" , free for the taking by the"people without land". The Palestine he describes reflects faithfully the Palestine I remember - a land of fruit and flowers and love - and describes vividly the struggle to restore the country to both its former Statehood and its state of mind.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Karl Sabbagh, a writer and television producer, has produced a convincing refutation of the Zionists' biggest lie - that they took over `a land without a people'. As he recounts in detail, the Sabbagh family, like the vast majority of the Arab population, have lived in Palestine for more than 300 years. This fascinating book traces Palestine's history from 1900 to 1948 and examines the original injustice of the Zionists' theft of the land.
Over the last 400 years, documented evidence proves the continuing presence of Palestinian Arabs as a large majority in the territory of Palestine. 16th-century Ottoman censuses showed that Palestine had about 300,000 inhabitants, 90% of whom were Muslim Arabs.
But in the early 20th century, the British state gave crucial support to a tiny foreign political movement, Zionism, which wanted to colonise Palestine, claiming a right derived from a work of fiction. The Zionists always intended to uproot and expel the country's original inhabitants.
Yet during the First World War, the British state had also promised Palestine its independence. As the Foreign Office admitted, in a secret document, "With regard to Palestine, His Majesty's Government are committed by Sir H. McMahon's letter to the Sherif on the 24th October 1915, to its inclusion in the boundaries of Arab independence."
In spite of this promise, the British state, with the Balfour Declaration, gave away the Palestinian people's country to the Zionist movement. There is a long pro-Zionist tradition in the British ruling class, from Balfour to Brown, based presumably on the odd belief that the Zionists would serve the British ruling class's interests.
When the British state ran Palestine under the Mandate, it allowed ever-increasing Jewish immigration.... Read more ›
Over the last 400 years, documented evidence proves the continuing presence of Palestinian Arabs as a large majority in the territory of Palestine. 16th-century Ottoman censuses showed that Palestine had about 300,000 inhabitants, 90% of whom were Muslim Arabs.
But in the early 20th century, the British state gave crucial support to a tiny foreign political movement, Zionism, which wanted to colonise Palestine, claiming a right derived from a work of fiction. The Zionists always intended to uproot and expel the country's original inhabitants.
Yet during the First World War, the British state had also promised Palestine its independence. As the Foreign Office admitted, in a secret document, "With regard to Palestine, His Majesty's Government are committed by Sir H. McMahon's letter to the Sherif on the 24th October 1915, to its inclusion in the boundaries of Arab independence."
In spite of this promise, the British state, with the Balfour Declaration, gave away the Palestinian people's country to the Zionist movement. There is a long pro-Zionist tradition in the British ruling class, from Balfour to Brown, based presumably on the odd belief that the Zionists would serve the British ruling class's interests.
When the British state ran Palestine under the Mandate, it allowed ever-increasing Jewish immigration.... Read more ›
0 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If palestine arabs (jews were also called 'palestinians' 1917-1948)had not tried to ethnically cleanse jews from Palestine in 1947-8 then they would all still be living there.
Five arab armies invaded and were supported by palestinians living within the country, falling upon the jewish communities living there.
As a result of the war many left the country yet many thousands of arabs who did not take up arms against the new jewish state stayed and became Israeli citizens. They now are over a million strong, are around 20% of the population of Israel and have full rights there.
Palestinians need to look to the future rather than the past now, to finally decide to live in peace with their jewish neighbours, to establish their state of Palestine and give up on terror and other attempts to undermine the jewish state.
Five arab armies invaded and were supported by palestinians living within the country, falling upon the jewish communities living there.
As a result of the war many left the country yet many thousands of arabs who did not take up arms against the new jewish state stayed and became Israeli citizens. They now are over a million strong, are around 20% of the population of Israel and have full rights there.
Palestinians need to look to the future rather than the past now, to finally decide to live in peace with their jewish neighbours, to establish their state of Palestine and give up on terror and other attempts to undermine the jewish state.
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