Dan Cohen Sherbok: The Palestinian State: Solving the Unsolvable
354731
The Palestinian State by Rabbi Dan Cohen Sherbok provides a vital and timely contribution toward the search for justice and peace in the Middle East, from a religious Jewish perspective. Written by a Jewish Rabbi, the title is intentionally provocative but sums up his hopes for peace with justice for Jews and Palestinians. Security for Israel is linked to justice for Palestinians.

When the Zionist colonisation of Palestine is increasingly being driven by Orthodox settlers who claim divine authority for their exclusive and expansionist agenda, Dan Cohen Sherbok draws attention to an alternative and beautiful Jewish liberation theology, rooted firmly in the Hebrew scriptures.

Dan Cohen Sherbok shows that at the heart of the Hebrew canon is an ethical tradition that respects human dignity, and recognises the intrinsic equality of Jews and Palestinians since both are created in the image and likeness of God. The Passover not only looks back to the liberation of the Hebrews from slavery, but points forward and should inspire compassion for Palestinians who long to escape from exile too. Similarly, the imperative of the Hebrew prophets demands equality for all, which today requires justice and mercy toward Palestinian aspirations for self determination and a homeland of their own.

Time is running out to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, in part because people tend to hold polarised and entrenched positions. It is therefore difficult to hear the cry, or feel the pain felt by the other side. Empathy is in short supply. Pessimism is common currency. Distrust in diplomacy is growing. Interminable peace negotiations are leading to cynicism. Hopelessness and despair, especially among the young, is breeding radicalism and fermenting violent extremism on both sides.

For those holding entrenched positions, this book may well make for uncomfortable reading because Dan Cohen Sherbok presents the history and aspirations of both sides with fairness and compassion. It is therefore essential reading for those who believe the unsolvable can be solved.

I share Dan Cohen Sherbok's view that an inclusive and lasting peace in the Middle East is truly possible because it reflects the heart and will of God.

Revd Dr Stephen Sizer
January 2012
1587064
I'm sorry professor Dershowitz but The Case For Israel has been dismissed by reality: Israel is the oppressor and like all oppressors throughout history, it too will be overcome by the truth. The only way out for Israel is the two state solution, but even that is out of the question now because of the settlements in the west bank, and lack of political will (read: courage) in both Israel and the US to face reality in the face.
992230
Wel. I just completed reading both the essays of journals and Rejections of Palestinian to self determination... And quite frankly now I am ready to be the next secretary general of the United nations. When finding out about the historic truth, of the root causes of the Palestinian and Israeli conflicts, it is imperative to stand up and defend it on all fronts...It is an internatinational human right problem that belongs to us all. Mr. Hammod, you have woke me up and gave me confidence that the Palestinian/Israeli conflicts will get resolved soon. Many of us need the plain truth before getting involved and you are doing a great job about it...God bless. Keep it up and stay strong as I would do too. FREE PALESTINE FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA...
1117209
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most emotionally charged conflict in the entire specter of global conflict. Sadly, the passion and emotion of the conflict is often translated to many of the books written on the conflict. This creates books that tend to lean towards one side or the other, and in some cases have proven downright hostile to the other side. Alan Dowty in the third edition of Israel and Palestine has done something that I truly thought impossible in writing a book that is fairly balanced between the two sides.

Dowty acts as a neutral observer, standing on an imaginary line that divides the two sides. He lays out the Israeli side and Palestinian side without taking sides. Many common myths are dispelled including the myth that the conflict is centuries old, and perhaps most importantly that the conflict is unsolvable. Indeed, Israeli-Palestinian leaders have come tantalizingly close. If you want a solid book to provide the nuts and bolts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, start here.
856252
Not much doubt exists outside the USA that Israel is an apartheid state. Even Israelis are more honest about this than their surrogates in America (as represented by AIPAC, Dershowitz, et al.). And yet it is Mr. Carter's use of the word apartheid that seems to have stuck in the craw of the Israel lobby.

Some telling quotes from Israelis themselves below. But to the substance of the book first.

This is a tepid response to Israeli colonialism and its numerous violations of international laws, most especially in its apartheid policies in the Occupied Territories. The book merits reading only in that it comes from a former President of the USofA. Mr. Carter is quite dishonest when he frequently insists that he uses the word "apartheid" only with respect to the Occupied Territories. Conveniently forgetting the second-class Israel-Palestinians "citizens" who live in Israel proper.

The Israel-Palestinian conflict and its solution are really quite simple, as Mr. Carter points out. Withdrawal of Israel to its original UN sanctioned borders, dismantling all the illegal settlements, and allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state. There may be sticking points such the right of return of Palestinians displaced during wars and by Israeli ethnic cleansing. But the broad outlines of peace have always been and continue to be quite clear. Israel does not want such a peace: it instead wants the Palestinians to settle for a set of isolated Bantustans on the South Africa model.

Herewith some quotes from Israeli politicians definitely not on the lunatic fringe:

Michael Ben Yair, Israel's Attorney General in the Rabin and Peres governments of the 1990s:
"In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories following their capture".

Meron Benvenisti, former deputy mayor of Jerusalem:
The building of the so-called security wall amounts to making Israel "a binational state based on apartheid" and that the wall means "the imprisonment of some 3 million Palestinians in bantustans".

And this from a May 2002 report by B'Tselem (Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) entitled Land Grab:
"Israel has created in the Occupied Territories a regime of separation based on discrimination, applying two separate systems of law in the same area" and that this "is reminiscent of distasteful regimes from the past, such as the apartheid regime in South Africa".

US taxpayer dollars (US$3billion annually) are essential to keeping this apartheid regime alive.

Check out the New York Review of Books on Carter's book.

I also recommend Norman G. Finkelstein's&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Image-and-Reality-of-the-Israel-Palestine-Conflict/dp/1859844421/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict</a>. The chapter "Oslo: The Apartheid Option" compares the actions of apartheid South Africa to Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza.

See also Ilan Pappe, the Israeli academic and historian:&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Ethnic-Cleansing-of-Palestine/dp/1851684670/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine</a>.
1255405
An excellent, evenly balanced, moving, human, and compelling view of the Palestine-Israel dynamics.  A must read for anyone who wants to understand how complicated the issues are.
626617
A highly recommended book on the duplicity and subterfuge of arch-terrorist, Yasser Arafat.

The book elucidates how Arafat used the Oslo Accords as a facade for his terrorism and propaganda activities, all part of his and the PLO's grand plan to destroy Israel. Karsh brilliantly expands on how nothing changed with regards Arafat's and the PLO's activities after signing the Oslo Accords, but yet, the world remained fooled by the man and continued funding his activities thereby providing a stamp of legality to all his activities.

And Israel being the bigger, more powerful side on this conflict, automatically got (and continues to be) blamed for the failure of peace talks, even though it was Arafat who was responsible for their breakdown -- all part of Arafat's effort to diplomatically isolate Israel.
1005705
This book opened my eyes as to how difficult the peace process has become and why Palestinians are not the only ones to be blamed for the failures. Gorenberg shows how successive Israeli Governments have chosen religious parties as Coalition parties in order to forestall real opposition. This has had the effect of making the government succumbed to the right wing agenda of these religious parties who consider that all of the Palestinian land was given to them by God and that driving Palestinians out of these lands is doing God's work.
He also shows how difficult it will be to give up illegal lands occupied by Israel since 1967.
Gorenberg's solutions seems to me to be more of a wish than I believe practicable.
However, there  seems to be an increasing number of people who are now questioning where Israel is heading and if there is a sufficient number, we may still hope. For all of our sake.
4836751
The tragic nature of conflict unfolding in Israel seems to bring biblical prophecy full circle president carter is presient with his book and Israel is isolated because of its own policies and is doing to the palestinians what the nazis did to them and if Jesus would return his commandment for a resolution in the holy land it would be for the Arabs first born and the Israelites first born for them to be married now would not that be a final solution !
3296186
A History of Palestine is an outstanding work which makes clear the current political situation in the Middle East.  A must read for anybody interested in why the Middle East is such a mess today.
1687993
I started by reading the Solving 9-11, the first book in in which Christopher Bollyn gives a full description and clear picture of what Israel and its intelligence agency from Mossad (the Israeli CIA) are up to, with the obeisance and aid of the United States government.
It is surprising what power these Israeli groups have over our country, mainly our politicians, especially our airports, media, the false and overdone Holocaust Industry, and other areas deemed important. They have quite underhandedly affected our consciousness, an intrusion which has profoundly altered attitudes of both young and old Americans. It is truly insane. In Bollyn's books you will learn of very powerful people who are highly instrumental in Zionism and Mossad activities in the U.S. and in Israel.
In no way do American minds glean very much about what is truly going on from the Zionist-controlled media. Deceiving the public is, after all, the main thrust of the U.S. press. It is a stealthy kind of propaganda to fool the eye and confuse and train the public mind.
As Bollyn says, in Chapter 2, The Planes of 9-11:  "The journalists of the 'free press' in the United States are confined to the Auschwitz of the mind' like the American public they write for...Journalists know very well that to touch the subject of Israeli involvement in 9-11 would be like touching a live wire."
Talking to my own daughter recently, she did not believe what I was saying and advised me not to read books like Solving 9-11, and not to get involved. Sadly, like many others, I cannot reach my children because of the powerful mind games being played upon the public. Folks complain loudly on the changes in our country, but do little or nothing to decipher the why and how.
In Bollyn's first book he describes Benjamin Netanyahu attending a 2-day celebration of the terror attack on the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in which more than 90 people were killed by Jewish terrorists. In celebrating the July 1946 terror bombing of the hotel, Bibi was showing his true colors. This bombing led to the British withdrawal from Palestine, which allowed the Zionist terrorist group Irgun, a dangerous organization to commit murder. Bollyn makes clear that some of these members are still living, even strongly into the Israeli government.
Bollyn provides much evidence to show that 9-11 was planned many years in advance with tools the public didn't know about then. He invites one to look into the truth.
Another book, "Solving 9-11: The Original articles," is filled with astounding information that you will never see in the New York Times or the Boston Globe. In his chapter, "The Media Cover Up" he describes how true news accounts were quickly smothered up after the attack. CNN and Fox news were the worst offenders.

George Washington's quote is often mentioned, where he warns Americans against a "passionate attachment" to any other country.
Carol Rae Bradford, Author, "Mayflower Arab: A Memoir"
2542955
Carolyn Glick provides a comprehensive history, together with an analysis of a different approach to resolving the conflict between the two sides to the Palestinian-Israeli  conflict.  She proposes a One-State solution instead of the two-state solution that has never been able to be agreed upon.  She gives the pros and cons of her proposal, with different conclusions; but in all, she presents a convincing argument for a one-state solution as she describes it.
2627372
There are few historians who have the depth of understanding that Efraim Karsh does. He has produced through the years a series of works in which he has illuminated various aspects of the Arab- Israeli conflict. Here he makes a detailed study of the origins of the conflict and its continuation through the years. He provides a massive array of evidence indicating that it is Arab intransigence that has fueled the conflict and prevented its peaceful settlement.
He is especially revealing here in showing the conflicts and factions within the world of the Palestinian Arabs, and the pressures which moved them time and again to reject compromise. Unfortunately this book will largely be read by those sympathetic to its major lines of thought, while those who really could be helped and informed by it will most likely not dare to read the evidence.
1464678
Review: The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz
Considering the complexities of the Middle East, Alan Dershowitz's "The Case for Israel" makes for easy reading, which is not to say that the author dumbs down his prose.  Avoiding legal jargon, Dershowitz  presents a series of rational arguments to counter those criticisms of the Jewish State which to him appear without merit.  Since the author is Jewish, he could legitimately be accused of some bias.  Yet some Jewish intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky, Rabbi Michael Lerner and Norman Finkelstein make a case for the other side as do numbers of Jewish students on our nation's campuses.
Instead of setting down an essay to expound the case, he devotes a small chapter to each criticism of Israel and proceeds in legalistic prose to attack those rejoinders.  Among the most important units are: 1) Have the Jews Exploited the Holocaust? 2) Did Israel Create the Arab Refugee Problem? 3) Was Arafat Right in Turning Down the Barak-Clinton Peace Proposal? 4) Is Israel a Racist State? 5) Is There Moral Equivalence between Palestinian Terrorists and Israeli Responses? 6) Are Critics of Israel Anti-Semites?
Dershowitz points out that while the extreme right (Nazis, Fascists, and other hate-groups) have been the traditional enemies of Israel, today the Far Left finds it fashionable to condemn Israeli actions in the Middle East if not the very existence of the Jewish state.  While the author finds nothing wrong with criticizing some Israeli policies such as the building of settlements, those critics who single out Israel's warts in a world that bears witness to genocidal conflicts in areas like Rwanda, Bosnia, and the Congo may indeed be guilty of anti-Semitism.  Nor can a legitimate case be made for equating Israel's defensive actions with Palestinian terrorism in that the latter specifically targets non-combatants for suicide bombings while Israel regrets the loss of innocent Arab lives snuffed out largely because terrorist groups place military bases in the heart of civilian areas.
  The Clinton administration solution to the tension which would have given 95%-97% of the West Bank and all of Gaza back to the Palestinians and would have created a Palestinian state was accepted by Israel but rejected by Arafat, presumably because the PLO leader might have feared assassination by Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations.
  The Far Left in America loves to think that it's looking out for the underdog and this book may not convince those who continue to believe that Israel occupies land for the fun of it rather than to seek out and neutralize so-called Arab militants (read: terrorists).  Nonetheless Dershowitz makes a powerful case for showing that Israel, not the Palestinians, are the underdogs, in that the tiny Jewish state (which occupies a mere 1/5 of one percent of the land area of the Middle East) would be obliterated if it lost a single war.  Israel emerges on the morally just side, a beleaguered nation who would live in peace with neighbors if not surrounded and greatly outnumbered by hostile forces.
854991
'Are we simply dealing with 'the war against terrorism, or do we have the patience to investigate the nature of the conflict and root causes?' That is the key question, and author Chapman brings it to the fore at the very beginning. Turns out that both the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs believe the land belongs to them based on prior occupation and scripture. The Jews say their ancestors first settled in Palestine between the 20th and 18th centuries, B.C., while the Palestinian Arabs say they've been living in Palestine since at least the 7th century A.D. The Arabs also contend that if we accept claims based on possession centuries ago, then Mexico would have a right to parts of the U.S., the Spaniards could claim Mexico, and the Arabs could claim Spain.

In 1918 the Jews owned 2% of Palestine. Britain was given responsibility for Palestine in 1922 as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Terms of the Mandate were ''(Britain) shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative, and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish national home . . ..' In 1936 the Arabs revolted against the British in protest of continued Jewish immigration. The revolt was crushed, and by 1947 the Jews numbered 31% of the total population. During those intervening years the Jews purchased more land from the Arabs, and in 1935 they owned about 5.5% of the land, 6% by 1947. In 1947 the British government handed the problem over to the U.N. A special U.N. commission recommended two separate states: 1)A Jewish state (55% of the land, with slightly more Arabs than Jews residing there), and 2)An Arab state made of the remainder - with 749, 101 Arabs and 9,520 Jews. As for Jerusalem and the area surrounding it - that would become an international zone. This was approved, largely via U.S. influence.

The Jews accepted this outcome, but the Arabs rejected it - primarily because they had not been consulted, and a civil war resulted. Within hours of the creation of Israel, the Arabs attacked. The Israeli forces won and took over large additional areas and 700 - 800,000 Palestinian Arabs left or were forced from their homes. The June Six-day War (1967) began when Israel struck first in response to an Egyptian buildup on their border. A Security Council Resolution (11/22/67) called on Israel to withdraw from territories it acquired at that time, but Israel declined.
895212
This is probably the best book I have ever read about the Israeli - Palestinian conflict, and I read many, many books on this subject.  Frankly, if you're interested in this subject, this book is an absolute must-read.

I readily admit that I am a left-wing Jew who has had strong feelings about this subject for a very long time.  Unfortunately, I find that many (perhaps most) Jews check their liberal coats at the door when it comes to Israel.  I believe that the half-truths and sometimes even misrepresentations of history have led many Jewish people to form some very uninformed opinions.

I agree with most of what Peled has written in this book, but I do take issue with one or two things.  I believe that he has become so close to identifying with the Palestinian narrative that he made at least one big error.  Peled says that Arafat said he would give up the "right of return," if Israel would give the Palestinians all of Gaza and the West Bank.  I have never seen that written before and I don't believe it to be true.  It's almost impossible to believe that Arafat would have ever made such a statement.  Also, Peled seems to have latched on to the idea that President Clinton proposed bantustans for the Palestinians in his peace proposal.  I don't believe this to be true, either.  It's a popular refrain from some Palestinians, but it certainly isn't what Dennis Ross reported in his book: "The Missing Peace."  (Ross has some opinions with which I disagree, but his reporting of events seems very nonpartisan to me.)

I don't know that I agree with Peled's "one-state solution" to the problem, but he could be right.  My obvious concern as a Jew, is that throughout history Jews have never really fared well in a country where they are the minority.  In the "one-state solution,"
Jews would quickly end up being a minority in the new country.  As I said, Peled's solution wouldn't be mine, but I wouldn't dismiss his solution.

Please don't mistake this for a history book, because it isn't.  For that you'll have to read either Benny Morris' "Righteous Victims," or Illan Papee's  "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine."  There is significantly more to the story of Israel and Palestine than what Peled covers.  However, Peled's book is extremely personal and thought provoking.  I find him to be a man of the highest moral character and I tip my hat to him for having the courage to write this book.
4044535
During a recent hitchhiking journey through the Middle East, I was shocked by how often the locals claimed the West was wholly subservient by the Jews and out to get pious Muslims. When I told people I had come from Finland, a country very much on the periphery of religiously diverse Europe, the inevitable response was, "You know Finland is controlled by Israel, right?" I saw the Protocols of the Elders of Zion openly sold in street bookstalls. Wishing to understand this absurd kind of thinking, I picked up Daniel Pipes' THE HIDDEN HAND: MIDDLE EAST FEARS OF CONSPIRACY. Though published in 1998, before a great deal of major recent events, the book is still fairly timely in describing and explaining the troubling attitudes I encountered.

Pipes gives three case studies of conspiracism in the Middle East that were prevalent before the book's publication. The first is the idea that Israel wishes to establish a "Greater Israel" reaching from Egypt to the Euphrates. Pipes cites appearances of this libel in the popular press of the region and in the statements of various autocrats. The second case study is the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Here we see that conspiracism is by no means limited to fundamentalist Muslims, but even secular authorities like the Shah saw conspiracies lurking everything. The last case study is the conflict between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s, where even matters such as the Rushdie affair were ascribed to a conspiracy against Khomeini.

Pipes points out that conspiracism is a fairly recent phenomenon in the Middle East, and prior to the 19th century the peoples of the region were not so prone to seeking out shadowy motivations behind all bad things. He argues that the rise in conspiracism is multiford. One of its sources is the enormous progress made by the West in modern times, which shamed the increasingly poor and backwards Middle East. The other source of conspiracism may be imported Western attitudes. The blood libel against the Jews became popular in the Levant only after the French accused locals during the colonial period, while the ever-present fear of "imperialists" is the rhetoric of Soviet advisors over the Cold War. Yet another reason for conspiracism is that dictatorial regimes, the kind that predominate in the Middle East, tend to encourage such thinking as it can keep them in power.

While the book was informative in many respects, I was unhappy that Pipes focused almost wholly on the statements of rulers and government-controlled newspapers. He did not adequately report on the conspiracism prevalent among the masses, which in some cases comes from government control of media, but in other cases runs rampant even when leaders attempt to counter particular opinions. For that reason I award the book three stars.