Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948

by Tanya Reinhart

Book Overview

In Israel/Palestine, Reinhart traces the development of the Security Barrier and Israel's new doctrine of "disengagement," launched in response to a looming Palestinian-majority population. Examining the official record of recent diplomacy, including United States-brokered accords and talks at Camp David, Oslo, and Taba, Reinhart explores the fundamental power imbalances between the negotiating parties and identifies Israel's strategy of creating...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583225382
• ISBN13: 9781583225387
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

at last

For me this book begins to answer many of the questions I've had about the conflict, including:(1) why have Palestinian negotiators been so "stubborn" about agreeing to deals in which Israel returns up to 90% (or 97%, depending on what you read) of the land?(2) why are extraordinary sums of U.S. tax dollars going to support such clearly visible oppression and killing of innocent people?(3) why is Israel allowed to ignore all U.N. resolutions and keep international inquiries at bay?(4) what are the U.S. media not telling us?This book does NOT answer how those in the U.S. administration who fanatically decry destruction of a human embryo as "murder" can justify and support bulldozing homes with living human men, women and children inside. (One reviewer of this book concerns herself almost entirely with the supposedly contradictory choice of the date 1948 rather than 1967 in the subtitle, but the author clearly states that she chose 1948 because that was when the current ethnic cleansing began.)Many of us have seen the photograph of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein (BEFORE Saddam became a 'bad guy'?). That image haunts me. What is the potential of Ariel Sharon, who openly flaunts his power and has at his fingertips numerous weapons of mass destruction?

Refreshing Honesty and Wisdom

Professor Reinhart presents a history of the Israel/ Palestine conflict with coincides with at least four other books on this subject. Her power is to write cogently and clearly on the key elements in the Zionist taking of most of British mandate Palestine. She argues clearly and persuasively that it is in the interest of both parties that Israel withdraw from the Occupied Territories and thereby permit a viable Palestinian state on these 22 % of the mandate Palestine. A must read for any person wanting to understand the genesis and unfolding of the conflict. Her suggested resolution is persuasive to this reader.

Honest, Unbiassed, and Challenges the Popular Notion

Despite the many detractors of this book, this book is a wonderful and honest piece on the current situation regarding Palestine and Israel. All the facts are documented, and character attacks put out by the reviewers before me show the brainwashed and rejectionist mentality that effects western academia and media. This book goes well with Norman Finkelstein's book Image and Reality of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict and Fateful Triangle by Noam Chomsky. It seems that whenever scholars or people speak out against the unlawful practices of the Israeli government, people are labeled as anti semites and this and that. This cant be applied to this author or noam chomsky or norman finkelstein. All of them are Jews and all of them have documented the evidence. So instead of attacking this book based on rejectionist literature and models, confirm it from the sources its drawn on

Reinhart's Book is a Gem

Tanya Reinhart's book is a gem, combining analytical precision with in-depth understanding of her own society. She doesn't just blow apart the myth of Barak's "generous offer" -- she gives us a plausible interpretation of Barak's strategic reasoning. The fundamental question in Israeli society right now is, as she says, "How to end the War of 1948." Her counterposition of the two options -- Oslo-style apartheid vs. "transfer" -- is right on the money, but she goes further, exploring the civilian-military split at the heart of the question. Her analysis that Barak, like Sharon, is an advocate of transfer, and that both his non-negotiations with Syria and his non-offer at Camp David were deliberately designed to manipulate Israeli public opinion is original and compelling. The suggestions of high-level Israeli military collusion are intriguing, although likely the full story will come out only years later. Tanya Reinhart has not just repackaged standard analysis of the occupation -- she has seen deeper into the past five years of Israeli state policy than anyone else writing in English.