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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoroughly absorbing and revelatory work, 30 Oct 2005
This excellent and highly readable narrative traces the origins and course of the Arab-Israeli conflict from the history of the Ottoman period, through the birth of Israel, the 1967 and Yom Kippur Wars. It places many problems in perspective, like the refugees on both sides, the origins of the dispute and the restoration of the land. The most shocking revelation is the part played by the British Foreign Office throughout the 1920s up until the establishment of Israel in 1948. The role of the UK was highly ambiguous to say the least. Further disillusionment came in the revelations of the role of the US State Department, particularly the delay in sending assistance to Israel during the 1973 war. It seems that Israel cannot really trust any other government to safeguard its people, not even allies. As played out in the 20th century the game of realpolitik shows that any state puts it own interests first. The book demolishes many romantic myths, such as the so-called war of Arab liberation against the Ottoman Empire. In truth, no such thing ever occurred in any real sense and the myth of Lawrence of Arabia is thoroughly exposed for the fraud that it is. Katz also documents the real cause of the conflict, which should be clear by now to the objective observer. It is not about land or about a Palestinian state, but about the destruction of Israel. He details the propaganda war against Israel in its various manifestations. There was the one conducted by the Soviet Union until its collapse in the early 1990s, there is the one conducted by Liberal/Left media like the BBC and the New York Times from the beginning, and there is the relentless campaign of hatred in the Arab media. Western politicians and media have ignored this last one, so crass, so blatant and so downright evil, for many decades. In our Internet age, however it cannot be concealed anymore. The continuing bias against Israel is explored by Stephanie Gutmann in her book The Other War. Battleground does a tremendous job of providing the verifiable facts in a highly readable text. In reading this book, I once again realized that Israel is a miracle, established by the hand of Providence. Despite all the betrayals and broken promises, the olive tree was planted and is thriving. And Zionism is the only one of the great ideological “isms” that was successful and bore good fruit. If it had not been for the many obstacles and betrayals, many of those who perished in the Holocaust would have found refuge in Israel. The book Auschwitz And The Allies by Martin Gilbert documents this shameful history in great detail. The enormity of the betrayal fills one with revulsion and despair. But Israel has already become a blessing to the world, as shown in the book Israel In The World: Changing Lives Through Innovation, by Douglas and Helen Davis. For further understanding of the background to the conflict, I recommend Dream Palace Of The Arabs by Fouad Ajami. And for further disturbing revelations, this time relating to European policy towards Israel, the book Eurabia by Bat Ye’or is essential reading. But there is no better book than Battleground to expose the lies, the distortions and the root causes of the conflict. The book concludes with indices of relevant documents, a bibliography and an index.
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