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Title: The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World by Avi Shlaim ISBN: 0-393-32112-6 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.19 (32 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Topical and Important
Comment: Professor Shlaim's review of the relationship between Palestinian Arabs and Jewish immigrants from the beginning of the Zionist colonisation project up to the election of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister is highly enlightening. "The Iron Wall" was an expression coined by Ze'ev Jabotinsky to denote that the immigrants will require a strong military to gain the respect of the Arab population both within the British mandate area as well as by their neighbors. The various wars the state of Israel has been involved in since its inception, and their reasons, are carefully documented. So are the policies which led to the current impasse between Israelis and Palestinians. It is most heartening to see that the views of both sides are presented rather than, as usual, the unilateral one from the Israeli side. The fact that the book is written by a Jewish rather than Arabic author makes it even more important.
The Iron Wall ought to be read by our politicians as well as media pundits because the current good versus evil depiction of the Arab-Israeli conflict is not only inaccurate but dangerous since it will inevitably result in further escalation of bloodshed.
Rating: 3
Summary: Interesting and valuable, but there is bias
Comment: This book covers the relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, primarily from the 1948 war onwards. It takes as its theme that the leaders of Israel based their policies on an essay by the Zionist Ze'ev Jabotinsky (spiritual ancestor to today's Likud and founder of revisionist Zionism) called "The Iron Wall".
The Jabotinsky essay suggests that the Arabs would not accept a Jewish state and would naturally fight it. The only chance for survival of a Jewish state would be by being so string they could crush all opposition and force despair on their enemies. At that point the Arabs would be prepared to negotiate a settlement. Until that point was reached, Israel would need its 'Iron Wall'.
Shlaim essentially blames Israel for missing numerous possibilities for peace with the various Arab states from 1949 onwards and that Israel created the Palestinian refugee problem (deliberately).
Various reviewers and historians have criticized his book and shown flaws in it. However my reading of it is that the evidence he presents, while not fully supporting his views (he is very one sided in blaming Israel and ignores both Arab intransigence and also the role of the Superpowers during the cold war) he does at least present enough evidence to show that the myth of Israel the victim and hero is also an exaggeration.
Israel has provably committed atrocities over the years (since before 1948 and its foundation) and has been in breach of international law on numerous occasions, but at the same time the Arabs have been no better, and this aspect is missing from the book.
One problem is evidence - the book relies almost entirely on secondary sources, and mostly of Jewish provenance. There was limited use of the Israeli state archives, none at all of the Jordanian state archives (which scholars can get access to) and little use of other Arab sources.
The book does have extensive notes and a large bibliography.
This book is worth reading, but should be taken with a pinch of salt, and any reader should read books both by Benny Morris (another Israeli revisionist historian) and also should look at books by historians presenting the other side (e.g. Ephraim Karsh). The reality is that at the moment there is little provably objective history of the conflict and anyone who wants to understand it has to read widely and with an open mind. It should be clear to anyone who does that 1) Israel is not a monster and the Arabs harmless victims and 2). Israel is not a harmless victim and the Arabs monsters.
Rating: 4
Summary: Detailed and Fair
Comment: After reading about a quarter of this book you get the impression the Shlaim had access to notes from the principles for each day that passed from 1948 through this book's publication. I found the research extensive and its presentation fair. More fair than other books whose authors wish to blame one party or the other for the state of affairs in the Middle East. Shlaim points out there have been missed opportunities for peace on both sides. I don't think he blames one side more than the other (except for Netanyahu), but it is a new concept to hold Israel partially responsible for these events for the casual American reader of Middle Eastern events (of which I am one). (Immediately, after finishing this book I coincidentally read Mort Zuckerman's article on Israel in the Nov 3, 2003 US News and World Report, seek that out for a different view, one that points out what others might say Shlaim left out of his book).
I've yet to find a historian not accused of bias, especially with regard to such a heated and contemporary topic as Israel and its Arab neighbors. I've seen Shlaim accused of the same. The point being, if you're trying to understand the Middle East, "The Iron Wall" would be a good book to add to your list. But seek out others as well, because no one author is ever going to own the truth.
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Title: Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001 by Benny Morris ISBN: 0679744754 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 28 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: War and Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History by Avi Shlaim ISBN: 0140245642 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: August, 1995 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The War for Palestine : Rewriting the History of 1948 by Eugene L. Rogan, Avi Shlaim, Charles Tripp, Julia A. Clancy-Smith, Israel Gershoni, Roger Owen, Yezid Sayigh, Judith E. Tucker ISBN: 0521794765 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 16 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid by Roane Carey, Noam Chomsky, Gila Svirsky, Alison Weir ISBN: 1859843778 Publisher: Verso Books Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, New and Revised Edition by Norman G. Finkelstein, Norman Finkelstein ISBN: 1859844421 Publisher: Verso Books Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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