The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know®

The was started Oct 7 and I acknowledged again my feeling of ignorance on the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. This is not the time for ignorance as an excuse. I researched best books on the subject and turned to commentary on some. I then searched Amazon and many of the titles appeared. I do not remember if this title was included in my research. But I decided I needed to define perimeters and the qualifications of the author seemed my best path. Then I decided to hone in on a Jewish writer because an intelligent subject -expert ( topic of this Two-party conflict) was a starting point. I chose a Jewish writer because Jews are encouraged to be self-critical. Credentials became the second criteria. This author and the positive reviews led me to select this book. Early pages of the book convinced me I was correct in my choice. He organized the book by questions he'd discussed with students and his outline was excellent. Also, he warned that all writers bring a part of themselves to their subject, regardless of the intent to be neutral. He asks his reader to beware of the possibilities of his bias. I was SOLD. His writing style is readable. He does not insult his writer. He does not over complicate to aggrandize himself. He provides a balanced assessment of the built each side as well as a clear assessment of why the weaknesses exist. I have come away with a greater understanding and new impressions. I appreciate Doc Waxman and his deep balanced understanding of this subject and the education he provided.

Brilliant even-handed MUST-READ book on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Don’t listen to the reviews that scream about the book being anti-Israel or anti-Palestinian. They are just people locked into a simple-minded black-and-white view of this conflict. This book will provide you the knowledge to have a much better understanding of this century plus long conflict without all the bias.

Shoul dbe required reading for policymakers and journalists, Jeff Hooke.

My favorite reading material is the modern history of the Middle East. There are biased books out there and books that are not very comprehensive. This is written by a Jewish author but very unbiased. He lays it all out, good and bad and is very thorough. I see some reviews that are negative. These must be the people that are biased and take a side regardless of the facts. The book is well written and tells of the pain and destruction created both sides. Since the Palestinians had their land taken, it has basically been "tit for tat" in retaliation from both sides - and continues today - with the war in Gaza. I truly applaud the author for not taking sides and telling it like it happened.

Bought for my son who wanted to learn the basic no bias history. He said it is perfect and he has learned a lot from it. I have not read it but he gives it a 5.

Definitely a small Jewish slant, but has no problem detailing how the Jewish people have contributed to the conflict. Very well written. Gives enough detail to inform beginners and intermediates to the topic. Great beginning book! Talks about a variety of topics. Highly recommend.

The author does indeed present both sides of the conflict, but not equally. I cite only one example of many. In the first paragraph of the Conclusion, he writes, " ...in 1947, the UN voted in favor of partitioning Palestine. But while Jews achieved statehood with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Palestinians did not. Instead, many of them experienced dispossession, displacement, exile..." Yes, but this is because the Arab League rejected the UN partition! If they had agreed to the partition, we would now have a viable Palestinian state (much larger than presently being discussed) alongside Israel, and also no refugees.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know by Dov Waxman aims to educate readers on one of the longest ongoing wars ever. Rather than retelling stories and interviews from both sides of the war, the book is rather much more simple in nature: answering some of the most asked questions about the war without any bias. Certainly a tall order, but as someone who is mainly clueless as to how this war started and as to why exactly it is still ongoing today, I think this format worked really well. After having finished the book, I can now more confidently dive into more advanced and specific topics related to the war, as well as into the politicians and related groups. If you’re basically like myself, looking to get a good and solid base understanding of this conflict, this book is definitely the one to read first. Perhaps the most common misconception about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that it is a religious conflict. - Author I learned so much about the conflict from just this one book. I also believe the author did it in a way that left out a lot of bias out. We live in a society today where people can just about turn any issue into a political one, regardless of how it started or what the actual facts are. To be able to present just the information and facts without any political agenda, especially on such a politically charged topic, can seem neigh impossible. But as the author warned, readers can still find ways to interpret things however they want to regardless of how impartial one presents the information. All too often, they think the main issue is simply Israeli settlements, Palestinian terrorism or whatever else is in the news. - Author As someone who only got information about this war from news channels on television, it can be frightening to learn that so much more goes on underneath than what is shown on air. Having a better understanding of the conflict also allows me to interpret the news a lot better than before. Sadly, the day prior to finishing this book, it was reported that a rocket fired by the group militant group Hezbollah struck a soccer field in the Golan Heights killed 12 people, most of them children and teenagers. Having just read the book, I understood a little more of who Hezbollah is, where they operate out of, along with many of the territories that Israel controls. Without antisemitism, nationalism, and secularism in the nineteenth century Europe, there would probably be no Zionism. - Author With the initial conflict entering almost the century mark, it’s really hard to see how peace can be established when parties on both side not being able to agree on anything. It feels like it’s a battle of opinions, with each side not relenting the least. Each side have their cases to present, and each side believe their side to be just. The UN seems to be incapable of doing anything other than issuing condemnations while the United States, the really only country and superpower that have tried for decades and are still trying to broker a peace agreement between the two, are seen as biased. Go ahead and read this book if you want to catch up with just how and why this war is still going today, as well as one of the hardest one to solve, if that’s even possible at all.

Just received this book and already see that Mr Waxman does not quote any bibliography or other sources which makes the book a doubtful piece of information. Sad that a professor of political science lacks the basis of research techniques.

Excellent objective book that gives the facts in good detail

Dovman takes a conscientiously balanced approach to laying out the history of the land we call Israel or Palestine, presenting the competing claims of the two sides in an even-handed way. The organisation of the book and the clarity of its prose are also exemplary. Everybody should read this before weighing in with an opinion.

I didn't know much about the conflict and I wanted a book which was balanced. This book is excellent and should be read by all the protesters who think they are 100% right and the other side are 100% wrong. It is, of course, tragic to read about the missed opportunities and the intransigency of both sides.

Offers great insight into an age old conflict. Provides an excellent historical account of the conflict and is very objective on past problems and the likelihood of an eventual resolution to the problems of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict.