When the most recent attacks on Gaza began, I asked historian William Dalrymple for a reading list of books to help me understand. He is extremely knowledgable and I've always found him to be balanced and objective in his views.
Of the four books he recommended, the one I found most helpful, detailed, and balanced is Enemies and Neighbors by Ian Black. This starts with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and describes in great detail the steps by which the modern state of Israel was created and expanded.
On both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, there are people who want peace and people who don't. Whenever one group is on the verge of compromise that might stop hostilities, a violent extremist group will take some action which makes the agreement impossible. In recent years Hamas has played that role on the Palestinian side, using violence to upset any hope of peace. On the Israeli side that role has been played by violent settler groups and far right-wing politicians. Unfortunately Netanyahu is among the most far-right people ever to hold high office in Israel, he has always demanded total possession of the land from the river to the sea, and he is shameless about using violence.
A few US officials have made good-faith efforts at peace. Carter and Clinton, in particular. Their efforts do not appear sincere, however, while the US is also funding and arming one side far more than the other. One side has tanks and bulldozers and the other has terrorism -- that's how the balance works. There have been so many violent attacks on both sides that whatever one side does is interpreted, by that side, as retaliation for an earlier attack by the other side.
The right wing has never hidden the fact that they want total possession as the only end of the conflict. Netanyahu, for whatever reason, has chosen the present time to advance a long way toward that goal.
Of the four books he recommended, the one I found most helpful, detailed, and balanced is Enemies and Neighbors by Ian Black. This starts with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and describes in great detail the steps by which the modern state of Israel was created and expanded.
On both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, there are people who want peace and people who don't. Whenever one group is on the verge of compromise that might stop hostilities, a violent extremist group will take some action which makes the agreement impossible. In recent years Hamas has played that role on the Palestinian side, using violence to upset any hope of peace. On the Israeli side that role has been played by violent settler groups and far right-wing politicians. Unfortunately Netanyahu is among the most far-right people ever to hold high office in Israel, he has always demanded total possession of the land from the river to the sea, and he is shameless about using violence.
A few US officials have made good-faith efforts at peace. Carter and Clinton, in particular. Their efforts do not appear sincere, however, while the US is also funding and arming one side far more than the other. One side has tanks and bulldozers and the other has terrorism -- that's how the balance works. There have been so many violent attacks on both sides that whatever one side does is interpreted, by that side, as retaliation for an earlier attack by the other side.
The right wing has never hidden the fact that they want total possession as the only end of the conflict. Netanyahu, for whatever reason, has chosen the present time to advance a long way toward that goal.
