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Palestine History: A Complex and Contested Narrative
The history of Palestine is a tapestry woven with threads of ancient civilizations, religious significance, and enduring conflict. Understanding this history is crucial, not just for appreciating the region's rich past, but also for navigating the complexities of the present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This comprehensive guide delves into the key periods and events shaping Palestine's story, offering a nuanced perspective on a subject often simplified or misrepresented. We will explore the region's diverse past, from its earliest inhabitants to the modern era, aiming to provide a balanced and informative account.
Ancient Palestine: A Crossroads of Civilizations (Pre-7th Century CE)
The land we know today as Palestine has witnessed human settlement for millennia. Archaeological evidence points to continuous habitation since the Paleolithic era. The region became a crucial crossroads for trade and cultural exchange, attracting various empires and populations.
Canaanite Civilization: Before the arrival of major empires, Canaanite city-states flourished, leaving behind impressive archaeological remains. Their culture and religious practices significantly influenced later inhabitants.
Iron Age and the Rise of Kingdoms: The Iron Age saw the emergence of powerful kingdoms like Israel and Judah, whose histories are intertwined with biblical narratives. These kingdoms, however, eventually fell under the sway of larger empires.
Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Rule: Palestine subsequently became part of successive empires – Persian, Hellenistic (under Alexander the Great), and finally, Roman. Roman rule brought periods of both prosperity and oppression, culminating in major Jewish revolts. The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE marked a significant turning point.
Byzantine, Islamic, and Crusader Periods (7th-13th Centuries CE)
The Byzantine Empire followed Roman rule, but its reign was relatively short-lived in the region.
The Rise of Islam: The Islamic conquest in the 7th century CE ushered in a new era. Palestine became an integral part of the rapidly expanding Islamic empire, experiencing a period of relative peace and cultural flourishing. Jerusalem, a holy city for three major religions, assumed immense religious significance under Islamic rule.
The Crusader Period: The arrival of the Crusaders in the 11th century marked a turbulent period. Their conquests led to conflict and instability, before ultimately being expelled by the Mamluks.
Ottoman Rule and the Rise of Zionism (16th-20th Centuries CE)
The Ottoman Empire ruled Palestine for over four centuries.
Ottoman Administration: Under Ottoman rule, Palestine experienced varying degrees of prosperity and decline. While the Ottomans weren’t oppressive rulers, administration was often decentralized and inefficient.
The Emergence of Zionism: The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed the rise of Zionism, a movement advocating for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This coincided with increasing Jewish immigration to the region. This period saw growing tensions between the Jewish and Arab populations.
The British Mandate and the Path to Partition (1920-1948)
After World War I, Palestine came under British control as a League of Nations mandate.
British Administration and Growing Tensions: The British Mandate period was fraught with conflict. The British struggled to reconcile the competing claims of Jewish and Arab populations, leading to escalating violence.
The 1947 UN Partition Plan: The United Nations proposed a partition plan dividing Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states. This plan, however, was rejected by Arab leaders and ultimately failed to prevent the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
The 1948 War and its Aftermath
The 1948 Arab-Israeli War resulted in the establishment of the State of Israel and the displacement of a large number of Palestinians, an event referred to as the Nakba ("catastrophe"). This event profoundly shaped the Palestinian identity and remains a highly contentious issue to this day.
The Six-Day War and its Consequences: The Six-Day War in 1967 saw Israel capturing the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, Golan Heights, and the Sinai Peninsula from surrounding Arab nations. This significantly altered the geopolitical landscape of the region.
The Oslo Accords and Subsequent Conflicts: The Oslo Accords in the 1990s represented a brief period of hope for peace negotiations, but they ultimately failed to resolve the underlying issues, and subsequent conflicts and uprisings have further complicated the situation.
Conclusion
The history of Palestine is a complex and often tragic narrative, marked by conflict, displacement, and the struggle for self-determination. Understanding this history, with its diverse perspectives and layers of interpretation, is essential for fostering informed discussions about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and working towards a lasting peace. It is a story that demands continued study and critical engagement to fully grasp its intricacies and lasting impact.
FAQs
1. What is the difference between Palestine and Israel? The term "Palestine" historically refers to the geographical region encompassing modern-day Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Israel is a sovereign state established in 1948, while the status of the Palestinian territories remains disputed.
2. What is the Nakba? The Nakba (catastrophe) refers to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It remains a central element of Palestinian national identity and a source of ongoing conflict.
3. What are the Oslo Accords? The Oslo Accords were a series of agreements signed in the 1990s between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), aimed at establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. While initially promising, they ultimately failed to achieve a lasting peace.
4. What are the key religious sites in Palestine? Palestine is home to numerous sites of immense religious significance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, including the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Dome of the Rock.
5. Where can I learn more about Palestinian history? Numerous books, academic journals, documentaries, and online resources provide diverse perspectives on Palestinian history. It is crucial to consult a variety of sources to gain a comprehensive understanding, considering different viewpoints and interpretations.
| palestine history: The Hundred Years' War on Palestine Rashid Khalidi, 2020-01-28 A landmark history of one hundred years of war waged against the Palestinians from the foremost US historian of the Middle East, told through pivotal events and family history In 1899, Yusuf Diya al-Khalidi, mayor of Jerusalem, alarmed by the Zionist call to create a Jewish national home in Palestine, wrote a letter aimed at Theodore Herzl: the country had an indigenous people who would not easily accept their own displacement. He warned of the perils ahead, ending his note, “in the name of God, let Palestine be left alone.” Thus Rashid Khalidi, al-Khalidi’s great-great-nephew, begins this sweeping history, the first general account of the conflict told from an explicitly Palestinian perspective. Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members—mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists—The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. He highlights the key episodes in this colonial campaign, from the 1917 Balfour Declaration to the destruction of Palestine in 1948, from Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon to the endless and futile peace process. Original, authoritative, and important, The Hundred Years' War on Palestine is not a chronicle of victimization, nor does it whitewash the mistakes of Palestinian leaders or deny the emergence of national movements on both sides. In reevaluating the forces arrayed against the Palestinians, it offers an illuminating new view of a conflict that continues to this day. |
| palestine history: A History of Modern Palestine Ilan Pappe, 2004 Pappe's history of Palestine is a unique contribution to the history of a troubled land. |
| palestine history: Palestine Nur Masalha, 2018-08-15 This rich and magisterial work traces Palestine's millennia-old heritage, uncovering cultures and societies of astounding depth and complexity that stretch back to the very beginnings of recorded history. Starting with the earliest references in Egyptian and Assyrian texts, Nur Masalha explores how Palestine and its Palestinian identity have evolved over thousands of years, from the Bronze Age to the present day. Drawing on a rich body of sources and the latest archaeological evidence, Masalha shows how Palestine’s multicultural past has been distorted and mythologised by Biblical lore and the Israel–Palestinian conflict. In the process, Masalha reveals that the concept of Palestine, contrary to accepted belief, is not a modern invention or one constructed in opposition to Israel, but rooted firmly in ancient past. Palestine represents the authoritative account of the country's history. |
| palestine history: Watershed Stephen C. Lonergan, David B. Brooks, 2014-05-14 Watershed describes the water crisis faced by Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories today; a crisis that will have much to do with the design and the success of the current peace proposals. The authors examine the geopolitics of water in the region, the economic importance, problems of water supply and water quality, and regional conflicts over water. |
| palestine history: A History of Palestine Gudrun Krämer, 2011-02-22 Krämer focuses on patterns of interaction amongst Jews and Arabs (Muslim as well as Christian) in Palestine, an interaction that deeply affected the economic, political, social, and cultural evolution of both communities under Ottoman and British rule. |
| palestine history: A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Mark Tessler, 2009-03-24 Mark Tessler's highly praised, comprehensive, and balanced history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the earliest times to the present—updated through the first years of the 21st century—provides a constructive framework for understanding recent developments and assessing the prospects for future peace. Drawing upon a wide array of documents and on research by Palestinians, Israelis, and others, Tessler assesses the conflict on both the Israelis' and the Palestinians' terms. New chapters in this expanded edition elucidate the Oslo peace process, including the reasons for its failure, and the political dynamics in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza at a critical time of transition. |
| palestine history: Dear Palestine Shay Hazkani, 2021-04-13 In 1948, a war broke out that would result in Israeli independence and the erasure of Arab Palestine. Over 20 months, thousands of Jews and Arabs came from all over the world to join those already on the ground to fight in the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces and the Arab Liberation Army. With this book, the young men and women who made up these armies come to life through their letters home, writing about everything from daily life to nationalism, colonialism, race, and the character of their enemies. Shay Hazkani offers a new history of the 1948 War through these letters, focusing on the people caught up in the conflict and its transnational reverberations. Dear Palestine also examines how the architects of the conflict worked to influence and indoctrinate key ideologies in these ordinary soldiers, by examining battle orders, pamphlets, army magazines, and radio broadcasts. Through two narratives--the official and unofficial, the propaganda and the personal letters--Dear Palestine reveals the fissures between sanctioned nationalism and individual identity. This book reminds us that everyday people's fear, bravery, arrogance, cruelty, lies, and exaggerations are as important in history as the preoccupations of the elites. |
| palestine history: The Israel-Palestine Conflict James L. Gelvin, 2021-03-11 The fourth edition of this award-winning account of the conflict between Israel and Palestine for students and general readers. |
| palestine history: A History of Palestine Gudrun Krämer, 2008-02-03 It is impossible to understand Palestine today without a careful reading of its distant and recent past. But until now there has been no single volume in English that tells the history of the events--from the Ottoman Empire to the mid-twentieth century--that shaped modern Palestine. The first book of its kind, A History of Palestine offers a richly detailed interpretation of this critical region's evolution. Starting with the prebiblical and biblical roots of Palestine, noted historian Gudrun Krämer examines the meanings ascribed to the land in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. Paying special attention to social and economic factors, she examines the gradual transformation of Palestine, following the history of the region through the Egyptian occupation of the mid-nineteenth century, the Ottoman reform era, and the British Mandate up to the founding of Israel in 1948. Focusing on the interactions of Arabs and Jews, A History of Palestine tells how these connections affected the cultural and political evolution of each community and Palestine as a whole. |
| palestine history: Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict Phyllis Bennis, 2012-12-28 If you have ever wondered “Why is there so much violence in the Middle East?”, “Who are the Palestinians?”, “What are the occupied territories?” or “What does Israel want?”, then this is the book for you. With straightforward language, Phyllis Bennis, longtime analyst of the region, answers basic questions about Israel and Israelis, Palestine and Palestinians, the US and the Middle East, Zionism and anti-Semitism; about complex issues ranging from the Oslo peace process to the election of Hamas to the Goldstone Report and the Palestinians’ UN initiatives. Together her answers provide a comprehensive understanding of the longstanding Palestinian–Israeli conflict. This new edition includes sections on the continuing settlement crisis, the UN statehood bid and UNESCO, Palestine in the Arab Spring, BDS and the Palestinian nonviolent movements, the Israeli elections, and what’s ahead. Sections include: The Crisis; The Other Players: The Role of the US, the UN, the Arab States, and Europe; Recent History: Rising Violence; Looking Backward (1900-1991); The Future. |
| palestine history: The War for Palestine Eugene L. Rogan, Avi Shlaim, 2001 The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most intense and intractable international conflicts of modern times. This book is about the historical roots of that conflict. It re-examines the history of 1948, the war in which the newly-born state of Israel defeated the Palestinians and the regular Arab armies of the neighbouring states so decisively. The book includes chapters on all the principal participants, on the reasons for the Palestinian exodus, and on the political and moral consequences of the war. The chapters are written by leading Arab, Israeli and western scholars who draw on primary sources in all relevant languages to offer alternative interpretations and new insights into this defining moment in Middle East history. The result is a major contribution to the literature on the 1948 war. It will command a wide audience from among students and general readers with an interest in the region. |
| palestine history: A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict Ilan Pappe, 2024-10-03 An indispensable guide to understanding the Israel–Palestine conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it An indispensable guide to understanding the Israel–Palestine conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it. 'Ilan Pappe is the most original, radical and hard-hitting of Israel’s new historians.' Avi Shlaim, author of Three Worlds The devastation of 7 October 2023 and the horrors that followed astounded the world. But the Israel–Palestine conflict didn’t start on 7 October. It didn’t start in 1967 either, when Israel occupied the West Bank, or in 1948 when the state of Israel was declared. It started in 1882, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in what was then Ottoman Palestine. Ilan Pappe untangles the history of two peoples, now sharing one land. Going back to the founding fathers of Zionism, Pappe expertly takes us through the twists and turns of international policy towards Israel–Palestine, Palestinian resistance to occupation, and the changes taking place in Israel itself. |
| palestine history: A History of Palestine, 634-1099 Moshe Gil, 1997-02-27 Moshe Gil's history of Palestine from the Muslim conquest to the Crusades was the first comprehensive survey of its kind. Based on an impressive array of sources, the author examines the lives of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities of Palestine against a background of the political and military events of the period. |
| palestine history: The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine: From Zionism to Intifadas and the Struggle for Peace (Shortest History) Michael Scott-Baumann, 2023-02-28 An accessible chronicle of how the Israel-Palestine conflict originated and developed over the past century. The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read. The ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine is one of the most bitter conflicts in history, with profound global consequences. In this book, Middle East expert Michael Scott-Baumann succinctly describes its origins and charts its evolution from civil war to the present day. Each chapter offers a lucid explanation of the politics and ends with personal testimony from Palestinians and Israelis whose lives have been impacted by the dispute. While presenting competing interpretations, Scott-Baumann examines the key flash points, including the early role of the British, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the Six-Day War of 1967, and the Trump administration’s peace plan, pitched as “the deal of the century,” in 2020. He delineates both the nature of Israeli control over the Palestinian territories and Palestinian resistance—going to the heart of the clashes in recent decades. The result is an indispensable history, including a time line, glossary, and analysis of why efforts to restore peace have continually failed and what it will take to succeed. |
| palestine history: Preventing Palestine Seth Anziska, 2020-03-24 For seventy years Israel has existed as a state, and for forty years it has honored a peace treaty with Egypt that is widely viewed as a triumph of U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East. Yet the Palestinians - the would-be beneficiaries of a vision for a comprehensive regional settlement that led to the Camp David Accords in 1978 - remain stateless to this day. How and why Palestinian statelessness persists are the central questions of Seth Anziska's groundbreaking book, which explores the complex legacy of the agreement brokered by President Jimmy Carter. Based on newly declassified international sources, Preventing Palestine charts the emergence of the Middle East peace process, including the establishment of a separate track to deal with the issue of Palestine. At the very start of this process, Anziska argues, Egyptian-Israeli peace came at the expense of the sovereignty of the Palestinians, whose aspirations for a homeland alongside Israel faced crippling challenges. With the introduction of the idea of restrictive autonomy, Israeli settlement expansion, and Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the chances for Palestinian statehood narrowed even further. The first Intifada in 1987 and the end of the Cold War brought new opportunities for a Palestinian state, but many players, refusing to see Palestinians as a nation or a people, continued to steer international diplomacy away from their cause. |
| palestine history: The Forgotten Palestinians Ilan Pappe, 2011-06-28 Examines how Israeli Palestinians have fared under Jewish rule, revealing both Israels attitude toward minorities and Palestinians attitudes toward the Jewish state and analyzes the Israeli state's policy towards its Palestinian citizens. |
| palestine history: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Ilan Pappe, 2007-09-01 The book that is providing a storm of controversy, from ‘Israel’s bravest historian’ (John Pilger) Renowned Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe's groundbreaking work on the formation of the State of Israel. 'Along with the late Edward Said, Ilan Pappe is the most eloquent writer of Palestinian history.' NEW STATESMAN Between 1947 and 1949, over 400 Palestinian villages were deliberately destroyed, civilians were massacred and around a million men, women, and children were expelled from their homes at gunpoint. Denied for almost six decades, had it happened today it could only have been called 'ethnic cleansing'. Decisively debunking the myth that the Palestinian population left of their own accord in the course of this war, Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population. Indispensable for anyone interested in the current crisis in the Middle East. *** 'Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian.' JOHN PILGER 'Pappe has opened up an important new line of inquiry into the vast and fateful subject of the Palestinian refugees. His book is rewarding in other ways. It has at times an elegiac, even sentimental, character, recalling the lost, obliterated life of the Palestinian Arabs and imagining or regretting what Pappe believes could have been a better land of Palestine.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'A major intervention in an argument that will, and must, continue. There's no hope of lasting Middle East peace while the ghosts of 1948 still walk.' INDEPENDENT |
| palestine history: The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction Martin Bunton, Martin P. Bunton, 2013-08-29 The conflict between Palestine and Israel is one of the most highly publicized and bitter struggles of modern times, a dangerous tinderbox always poised to set the Middle East aflame, and to draw the United States into the fire. In this volume the author illuminates the history of the problem, reducing it to its very essence. He explores the Palestinian-Israeli dispute in twenty-year segments, to highlight the historical complexity of the conflict throughout successive decades. Each chapter starts with an examination of the relationships among people and events that marked particular years as historical stepping stones in the evolution of the conflict, including the 1897 Basel Congress, the 1917 Balfour Declaration and British occupation of Palestine, and the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan and the war for Palestine. Providing an exploration of the main issues, the author explores not only the historical basis of the conflict, but also looks at how and why partition has been so difficult and how efforts to restore peace continue today--OCLC |
| palestine history: The Palestinian People Baruch Kimmerling, 2009-07-01 In a timely reminder of how the past informs the present, Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal offer an authoritative account of the history of the Palestinian people from their modern origins to the Oslo peace process and beyond. Palestinians struggled to create themselves as a people from the first revolt of the Arabs in Palestine in 1834 through the British Mandate to the impact of Zionism and the founding of Israel. Their relationship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel has been fundamental in shaping that identity, and today Palestinians find themselves again at a critical juncture. In the 1990s cornerstones for peace were laid for eventual Palestinian-Israeli coexistence, including mutual acceptance, the renunciation of violence as a permanent strategy, and the establishment for the first time of Palestinian self-government. But the dawn of the twenty-first century saw a reversion to unmitigated hatred and mutual demonization. By mid-2002 the brutal violence of the Intifada had crippled Palestine's fledgling political institutions and threatened the fragile social cohesion painstakingly constructed after 1967. Kimmerling and Migdal unravel what went right--and what went wrong--in the Oslo peace process, and what lessons we can draw about the forces that help to shape a people. The authors present a balanced, insightful, and sobering look at the realities of creating peace in the Middle East. |
| palestine history: Gaza Jean-Pierre Filiu, 2023-10-26 Through its millennium–long existence, Gaza has often been bitterly disputed while simultaneously and paradoxically enduring prolonged neglect. Jean-Pierre Filiu’s book is the first comprehensive history of Gaza in any language. Squeezed between the Negev and Sinai deserts on the one hand and the Mediterranean Sea on the other, Gaza was contested by the Pharaohs, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Fatimids, the Mamluks, the Crusaders and the Ottomans. Napoleon had to secure it in 1799 to launch his failed campaign on Palestine. In 1917, the British Empire fought for months to conquer Gaza, before establishing its mandate on Palestine. In 1948, 200,000 Palestinians sought refuge in Gaza, a marginal area neither Israel nor Egypt wanted. Palestinian nationalism grew there, and Gaza has since found itself at the heart of Palestinian history. It is in Gaza that the fedayeen movement arose from the ruins of Arab nationalism. It is in Gaza that the 1967 Israeli occupation was repeatedly challenged, until the outbreak of the 1987 intifada. And it is in Gaza, in 2007, that the dream of Palestinian statehood appeared to have been shattered by the split between Fatah and Hamas. The endurance of Gaza and the Palestinians make the publication of this history both timely and significant. |
| palestine history: The Israel-Palestine Conflict Neil Caplan, 2019-09-11 One of the 10 Must-Read Histories of the Palestine-Israel Conflict —Ian Black, Literary Hub, on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration The new edition of the acclaimed text that explores the issues continuing to define the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Numerous instances of competing, sometimes incompatible narratives of controversial events are found throughout history. Perhaps the starkest example of such contradictory representations is the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine. For over 140 years, Israelis, Palestinians, and scores of peacemakers have failed to establish a sustainable, mutually-acceptable solution. The Israel-Palestine Conflict introduces the historical basis of the dispute and explores both the tangible issues and intangible factors that have blocked a peaceful resolution. Author Neil Caplan helps readers understand the complexities and contradictions of the conflict and why the histories of Palestine and Israel are so fiercely contested. Now in its second edition, this book has been thoroughly updated to reflect the events that have transpired since its original publication. Fresh insights consider the impact of current global and regional instability and violence on the prospects of peace and reconciliation. New discussions address recent debates over two-state versus one-state solutions, growing polarization in public discourse outside of the Middle East, the role of public intellectuals, and the growing trend of merging scholarship with advocacy. Part of the Wiley-Blackwell Contested Histories series, this clear and accessible volume: Offers a balanced, non-polemic approach to current academic discussions and political debates on the Israel-Palestine conflict Highlights eleven core arguments viewed by the author as unwinnable Encourages readers to go beyond simply assigning blame in the conflict Explores the major historiographical debates arising from the dispute Includes updated references and additional maps Already a standard text for courses on the history and politics of the Middle East, The Israel-Palestine Conflict is an indispensable resource for students, scholars, and interested general readers. |
| palestine history: Intoxicating Zion Haggai Ram, 2020-10-27 “Masterfully illuminates the social and cultural fissures left by colonialism in the Levant as hashish trade transgressed new national borders.” —Paul Gootenberg, Stony Brook University, author of Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug When European powers carved political borders across the Middle East following World War I, a curious event in the international drug trade occurred: Palestine became the most important hashish waystation in the region and a thriving market for consumption. British and French colonial authorities utterly failed to control the illicit trade, raising questions about the legitimacy of their mandatory regimes. The creation of the Israeli state, too, had little effect to curb illicit trade. By the 1960s, drug trade had become a major point of contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and drug use widespread. Intoxicating Zion is the first book to tell the story of hashish in Mandatory Palestine and Israel. Trafficking, use, and regulation; race, gender, and class; colonialism and nation-building all weave together in Haggai Ram's social history of the drug from the 1920s to the aftermath of the 1967 War. The hashish trade encompassed smugglers, international gangs, residents, law enforcers, and political actors, and Ram traces these flows through the interconnected realms of cross-border politics, economics, and culture. Hashish use was and is a marker of belonging and difference, and its history offers readers a unique glimpse into how the modern Middle East was made. “A fascinating and revelatory tale.” —Ted R. Swedenburg, University of Arkansas “[A] singular, original work of research.” —Yossi Melman, Haaretz “Informative, though (pun intended) sobering, this book is suited for academic libraries.” —Hallie Cantor, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews |
| palestine history: The Israel-Palestine Conflict Neil Caplan, 2019-09-11 One of the 10 Must-Read Histories of the Palestine-Israel Conflict —Ian Black, Literary Hub, on the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration The new edition of the acclaimed text that explores the issues continuing to define the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Numerous instances of competing, sometimes incompatible narratives of controversial events are found throughout history. Perhaps the starkest example of such contradictory representations is the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine. For over 140 years, Israelis, Palestinians, and scores of peacemakers have failed to establish a sustainable, mutually-acceptable solution. The Israel-Palestine Conflict introduces the historical basis of the dispute and explores both the tangible issues and intangible factors that have blocked a peaceful resolution. Author Neil Caplan helps readers understand the complexities and contradictions of the conflict and why the histories of Palestine and Israel are so fiercely contested. Now in its second edition, this book has been thoroughly updated to reflect the events that have transpired since its original publication. Fresh insights consider the impact of current global and regional instability and violence on the prospects of peace and reconciliation. New discussions address recent debates over two-state versus one-state solutions, growing polarization in public discourse outside of the Middle East, the role of public intellectuals, and the growing trend of merging scholarship with advocacy. Part of the Wiley-Blackwell Contested Histories series, this clear and accessible volume: Offers a balanced, non-polemic approach to current academic discussions and political debates on the Israel-Palestine conflict Highlights eleven core arguments viewed by the author as unwinnable Encourages readers to go beyond simply assigning blame in the conflict Explores the major historiographical debates arising from the dispute Includes updated references and additional maps Already a standard text for courses on the history and politics of the Middle East, The Israel-Palestine Conflict is an indispensable resource for students, scholars, and interested general readers. |
| palestine history: Justice for Some Noura Erakat, 2019-04-23 “A brilliant and bracing analysis of the Palestine question and settler colonialism . . . a vital lens into movement lawyering on the international plane.” —Vasuki Nesiah, New York University, founding member of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) Justice in the Question of Palestine is often framed as a question of law. Yet none of the Israel-Palestinian conflict’s most vexing challenges have been resolved by judicial intervention. Occupation law has failed to stem Israel’s settlement enterprise. Laws of war have permitted killing and destruction during Israel’s military offensives in the Gaza Strip. The Oslo Accord’s two-state solution is now dead letter. Justice for Some offers a new approach to understanding the Palestinian struggle for freedom, told through the power and control of international law. Focusing on key junctures—from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to present-day wars in Gaza—Noura Erakat shows how the strategic deployment of law has shaped current conditions. Over the past century, the law has done more to advance Israel’s interests than the Palestinians’. But, Erakat argues, this outcome was never inevitable. Law is politics, and its meaning and application depend on the political intervention of states and people alike. Within the law, change is possible. International law can serve the cause of freedom when it is mobilized in support of a political movement. Presenting the promise and risk of international law, Justice for Some calls for renewed action and attention to the Question of Palestine. “Careful and captivating . . . This book asks that the Palestinian liberation struggle and Jewish-Israeli society each reckon with the impossibility of a two-state future, reimagining what their interests are—and what they could become.” —Amanda McCaffrey, Jewish Currents |
| palestine history: Palestine and the Palestinians Samih K. Farsoun, Naseer Aruri, 2009-04-28 Palestine and the Palestinians is a sweeping social, economic, ideological, and political history of the Palestinian people, from antiquity to the Road Map to Peace. This second edition is thoroughly revised and updated, including entirely new chapters on the most current issues confronting Palestine today, including: Palestinians in Israel; the Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada; Palestinian refugees and the right to return; Jerusalem; the diplomatic peace process and two-state/single-state solutions. |
| palestine history: Side by Side Sāmī ʻAbd al-Razzāq ʻAdwān, Dan Bar-On, Eyal J. Naveh, Peace Research Institute in the Middle East, 2012 In 2000, a group of Israeli and Palestinian teachers gathered to address what to many people seemed an unbridgeable gulf between the two societies. Struck by how different the standard Israeli and Palestinian textbook histories of the same events were from one another, they began to explore how to disarm the teaching of the history of the Middle East in Israeli and Palestinian classrooms. The result is a riveting dual narrative of Israeli and Palestinian history. Side by Side comprises the history of two peoples, in separate narratives set literally side-by-side, so that readers can track each against the other, noting both where they differ as well as where they correspond. The unique and fascinating presentation has been translated into English and is now available to American audiences for the first time. An eye-opening--and inspiring--new approach to thinking about one of the world's most deeply entrenched conflicts, Side by Side is a breakthrough book that will spark a new public discussion about the bridge to peace in the Middle East. |
| palestine history: The Palestine-Israel Conflict Gregory Harms, Todd M. Ferry, 2017 A balanced and accessible introduction to the Palestine-Israel conflict |
| palestine history: The Israel-Palestine Conflict James L. Gelvin, 2007-10-02 The conflict between Israelis and their forebears, on the one hand, and Palestinians and theirs, on the other, has lasted more than a century and generated more than its share of commentaries and histories. James L. Gelvin's account of that conflict offers a compelling, clear-cut, and up to date introduction for students and general readers. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, when the inhabitants of Ottoman Palestine and the Jews of eastern Europe began to conceive of themselves as members of national communities, the book traces the evolution and interaction of these communities from their first encounters in Palestine through to the present, exploring the external pressures and internal logic that has propelled their conflict. The book, which places events in Palestine within the framework of global history, skillfully interweaves biographical sketches, eyewitness accounts, poetry, fiction and official documentation into its narrative, and includes photographs, maps and an abundance of supplementary material. Now in a revised edition, Gelvin's award-winning book takes the reader through the 2006 Summer War and its aftermath. |
| palestine history: Palestinians and Israelis Michael Scott-Baumann, 2021-11-09 Newly updated, this accessible history explores the origins and development of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Why has it proved so intractable, and what are the implications of escalating tensions for both the Middle East and the world? The ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians is one of the most bitter conflicts of modern times, with profound global consequences. In this comprehensive and stimulating overview, Middle East expert Michael Scott-Baumann charts its history from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Each chapter offers a lucid explanation of the politics and includes personal testimony of Israelis and Palestinians whose lives have been marked by conflict. By presenting competing interpretations from both sides, Scott-Baumann examines key flashpoints of the twentieth century, bringing this new edition up to date with a consideration of the war ignited by Hamas's surprise attacks on Israel in 2023. He delineates both the nature of Israeli control over the Palestinian territories and Palestinian resistance – going to the heart of recent clashes. The result is an indispensable account for anyone seeking to understand the context behind today's headlines, including analysis of why international efforts to restore peace have continually failed. |
| palestine history: Black Power and Palestine Michael R Fischbach, 2018-11-20 A study of how the Arab-Israeli conflict affected the American civil rights movement. The 1967 Arab–Israeli War rocketed the question of Israel and Palestine onto the front pages of American newspapers. Black Power activists saw Palestinians as a kindred people of color, waging the same struggle for freedom and justice as themselves. Soon concerns over the Arab–Israeli conflict spread across mainstream black politics and into the heart of the civil rights movement itself. Black Power and Palestine uncovers why so many African Americans—notably Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali, among others—came to support the Palestinians or felt the need to respond to those who did. Americans first heard pro-Palestinian sentiments in public through the black freedom struggle of the 1960s and 1970s. Michael R. Fischbach uncovers this hidden history of the Arab–Israeli conflict’s role in African American activism and the ways that distant struggle shaped the domestic fight for racial equality. Black Power’s transnational connections between African Americans and Palestinians deeply affected US black politics, animating black visions of identity well into the late 1970s. Black Power and Palestine allows those black voices to be heard again today. In chronicling this story, Fischbach reveals much about how American peoples of color create political strategies, a sense of self, and a place within US and global communities. The shadow cast by events of the 1960s and 1970s continues to affect the United States in deep, structural ways. This is the first book to explore how conflict in the Middle East shaped the American civil rights movement. Praise for Black Power and Palestine “An indispensable read on the civil rights and Black Power era, shedding new light on just how deeply the Arab-Israeli conflict has shaped black domestic politics. Anyone interested in why conflict in the Middle East continues to cast its long shadow over U.S. foreign and domestic policy should read this book.” —Cynthia A. Young, The Pennsylvania State University, author of Soul Power: Culture, Radicalism, and the Making of a U.S. Third World Left “Michael R. Fischbach explores one of the most important international ramifications of the political awakening of African Americans in the 20th century: how movements ranging from the Black Muslims and Black Panthers to SNCC and the NAACP related to the Palestinian struggle. Original and timely, Black Power and Palestine offers fascinating insight into a vital issue in the self-definition of the African American community, one that continues to have great relevance today in the growing linkages between the Black Lives Matter movement and Palestinian activism.” —Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University, author of Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East |
| palestine history: A History of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Erik Skare, 2021-01-28 Using a wealth of primary sources, this book traces the history of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), one of the most important yet least understood Palestinian armed factions from its origins in the early 1980s to today, exploring its continued presence despite its more powerful sister movement Hamas. |
| palestine history: Israel-Palestine Omer Bartov, 2021-09-17 The conflict between Israel and Palestine has raised a plethora of unanswered questions, generated seemingly irreconcilable narratives, and profoundly transformed the land’s physical and political geography. This volume seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the links between the region that is now known as Israel and Palestine and its peoples—both those that live there as well as those who relate to it as a mental, mythical, or religious landscape. Engaging the perspectives of a multidisciplinary, international group of scholars, it is an urgent collective reflection on the bonds between people and a place, whether real or imagined, tangible as its stones or ephemeral as the hopes and longings it evokes. |
| palestine history: Rockaby and Other Short Pieces Samuel Beckett, 1981 We find in Beckett's masterful, exquisite prose, the familiar themes from his earlier works here expressed in the anguished murmurings of the solitary human consciousness. |
| palestine history: Palestine Nur Masalha, 2018-08-15 This rich and magisterial work traces Palestine's millennia-old heritage, uncovering cultures and societies of astounding depth and complexity that stretch back to the very beginnings of recorded history. Starting with the earliest references in Egyptian and Assyrian texts, Nur Masalha explores how Palestine and its Palestinian identity have evolved over thousands of years, from the Bronze Age to the present day. Drawing on a rich body of sources and the latest archaeological evidence, Masalha shows how Palestine's multicultural past has been distorted and mythologised by Biblical lore and the Israel–Palestinian conflict. In the process, Masalha reveals that the concept of Palestine, contrary to accepted belief, is not a modern invention or one constructed in opposition to Israel, but rooted firmly in ancient past. Palestine represents the authoritative account of the country's history. |
| palestine history: Palestinian Village Histories Rochelle Davis, 2011 This book chronicles the local histories written by modern Palestinians about their villages that were destroyed in the 1948 war. |
| palestine history: Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict Norman G. Finkelstein, 2016-03-15 This acclaimed study surveys the dominant popular and scholarly images of the Israel–Palestine conflict. Finkelstein opens with a theoretical discussion of Zionism, locating it as a romantic form of nationalism that assumed the bankruptcy of liberal democracy. He goes on to look at the demographic origins of the Palestinians, with particular reference to the work of Joan Peters, and develops critiques of the influential studies of both Benny Morris and Anita Shapira. Reviewing the diplomatic history with Aban Eban‘s oeuvre as his foil, Finkelstein closes by demonstrating that the casting of Israel as the innocent victim of Arab aggression in the June 1967 and October 1973 wars is not supported by the documentary record. This new edition critically reexamines dominant popular and scholarly images in the light of the current failures of the peace process. |
| palestine history: On Palestine Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappé, 2015-05-07 On Palestine is Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe's indispensable update on a suffering region. What is the future of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement directed at Israel? Which is more viable, the binational or one state solution? Ilan Pappé and Noam Chomsky, two leading voices in the struggle to liberate Palestine, discuss these critical questions and more in this urgent and timely book, a sequel to their acclaimed Gaza in Crisis. 'Chomsky is a global phenomenon . . . he may be the most widely read American voice on foreign policy on the planet' The New York Times Book Review 'Ilan Pappé is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian' John Pilger 'This sober and unflinching analysis should be read and reckoned with by anyone concerned with practicable change in the long-suffering region' Publishers Weekly (on Gaza in Crisis) |
| palestine history: Social Justice and Israel/Palestine Aaron Hahn Tapper, Mira Sucharov, 2019-07-04 This book critically assesses a series of complex and topical debates helping readers to make sense of the politics surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. Each chapter considers one topic, represented by two or three essays offered in conversation with one another. Together, these essays advance different perspectives; in some cases they are complementary and in others they are oppositional. Topics include scholarly and activist interpretations of narratives in the context of Israel/Palestine; the concept of self-determination for Jewish Israelis and Palestinians; the debate over settler-colonialism as an appropriate framework for interpreting the history of Israel/Palestine; and questions surrounding Jewish and Palestinian refugees and the impact of displacement, among others. Through these foundational and contemporary topics, readers will be challenged to critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of each position in light of scholarly debates rooted in social justice and helped to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians in order to see a path forward toward justice for all. |
| palestine history: Memories of Revolt Ted Swedenburg, 2003-07-01 “This wonderful monograph treats a subject that resonates with anyone who studies the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and particularly Palestinian nationalism: that how Palestinian history is remembered and constructed is as meaningful to our understanding of the current struggle as arriving as some sort of ‘complete empirical understanding’ of its history. Swedenburg . . . studies how a major anti-colonial insurrection, the 1936–38 strike and revolt in Palestine [against the British], is remembered in Palestinian nationalist historiography, western and Israeli ‘official’ historical discourse, and Palestinian popular memory. Using primarily oral history interviews, supplemented by archival material and national monuments, he presents multiple, complex, contradictory, and alternative interpretations of historical events. . . . The book is thematically divided into explorations of Palestinian nationalist symbols, stereotypes, and myths; Israeli national monuments that simultaneously act as historical ‘injunctions against forgetting’ Jewish history and efforts to ‘marginalize, vilify, and obliterate’ the Arab history of Palestine; Palestine subaltern memories as resistance to official narratives, including unpopular and controversial recollections of collaboration and assassination; and finally, how the recodification and revival of memories of the revolt informed the Palestinian intifada that erupted in 1987.” —MESA Bulletin |
| palestine history: The History of Ancient Palestine from the Palaeolithic Period to Alexander's Conquest Gösta Werner Ahlström, Gary Orin Rollefson, Diana Vikander Edelman, 1993 |
History of Palestine - Wikipedia
History of Palestine. Situated between three continents, the region of Palestine has a tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region was among the earliest to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization.
History of the State of Palestine - Wikipedia
From prehistory to the Ottoman era. Situated between three continents, the region of Palestine has a tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region was among the earliest to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization.
Palestine - World History Encyclopedia
Oct 25, 2018 · Palestine in the ancient world was part of the region known as Canaan where the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah were located. The term `Palestine' was originally a designation of an area of land in southern Canaan which the people known …
Israel-Palestine Conflict Explained: History, Maps, & Dates
The Israel-Palestine conflict is a long-standing dispute over land and sovereignty, with deep religious and political tensions leading to ongoing violence.
History of Palestine | Britannica
In Palestine: History of Palestine. The Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age) in Palestine was first fully examined by the British archaeologist Dorothy Garrod in her excavations of caves on the slopes of Mount Carmel in 1929–34. The finds showed that….
Palestine Timeline - World History Encyclopedia
Timeline. Nomads settle the region and initiate agriculture during the Early Bronze Age. Cities develop and trade expands in the region during the Middle Bronze Age. Palestine becomes important trade hub. Palestine is absorbed by the Egyptian Empire, flourishes in trade.
Gaza: The History That Fuels the Conflict | HISTORY
May 30, 2018 · Thousands of Palestinian refugees settled in the Gaza Strip. Many were essentially trapped between two countries—Egypt and Israel—that wouldn’t grant them easy passage.
History of Palestine - Wikipedia
History of Palestine. Situated between three continents, the region of Palestine has a tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region was among the earliest to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization.
History of the State of Palestine - Wikipedia
From prehistory to the Ottoman era. Situated between three continents, the region of Palestine has a tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region was among the earliest to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization.
Palestine - World History Encyclopedia
Oct 25, 2018 · Palestine in the ancient world was part of the region known as Canaan where the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah were located. The term `Palestine' was originally a designation of an area of land in southern Canaan which the people known as the Philistines occupied a …
Israel-Palestine Conflict Explained: History, Maps, & Dates
The Israel-Palestine conflict is a long-standing dispute over land and sovereignty, with deep religious and political tensions leading to ongoing violence.
History of Palestine | Britannica
In Palestine: History of Palestine. The Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age) in Palestine was first fully examined by the British archaeologist Dorothy Garrod in her excavations of caves on the slopes of Mount Carmel in 1929–34. The finds showed that….
Palestine Timeline - World History Encyclopedia
Timeline. Nomads settle the region and initiate agriculture during the Early Bronze Age. Cities develop and trade expands in the region during the Middle Bronze Age. Palestine becomes important trade hub. Palestine is absorbed by the Egyptian Empire, flourishes in trade.
Gaza: The History That Fuels the Conflict | HISTORY
May 30, 2018 · Thousands of Palestinian refugees settled in the Gaza Strip. Many were essentially trapped between two countries—Egypt and Israel—that wouldn’t grant them easy passage.
