The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict_A Very Short Introduction Read online

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  The Palestinian–Israeli Conflict: A Very Short Introduction

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  Martin Bunton

  THE PALESTINIAN–ISRAELI CONFLICT

  A Very Short Introduction

  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Preface

  List of illustrations

  1 Ottoman Palestine 1897–1917

  2 British Palestine 1917–37

  3 Palestine partitioned 1937–47

  4 Atzmaut and Nakba 1947–67

  5 Occupation 1967–87

  6 The rise and fall of the peace process 1987–2007

  Conclusion

  Chronology

  References

  Further reading

  Index

  Acknowledgements

  Many colleagues, students, friends, and family members have contributed to this book, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge them. I am deeply indebted to Gregory Blue, Christopher Ross, and Michael Thornhill who read carefully through numerous drafts, correcting mistakes and offering suggestions. Special thanks also to Avi Shlaim for his support and judicious advice and Mouin Rabbani for generously sharing his wisdom. Many academic colleagues and friends at the University of Victoria have stimulated my thinking in various ways, including Paul Bramadat, Rod Dobell, Andrew Rippin, Gus Thaiss, and Andew Wender. And it is very important that I acknowledge the influence—direct and indirect�
�of the many scholars of the Middle East whose published works have guided me, and I have tried to recognize this debt in both the References and Further reading sections at the end of the book. Only the author, of course, bears any responsibility for errors in fact or interpretation. I also wish to thank the numerous undergraduate students in the University of Victoria History Department, as well as local community groups and organizations, with whom I have attempted over two decades to share my knowledge, and questions. I especially thank Martin Hoffman, Ezra Karmel, and Christina Winter for their astute observations and research assistance.

  I am most grateful to Emma Ma for her patience and support at all stages of the publishing process. At OUP, I also thank Luciana O’Flaherty, Kerstin Demata, Andrea Keegan, Carol Carnegie, Prabha Parthiban, Kevin Doherty, and Mike at Chartwell illustrations.

  As always, my very special thanks go to Eila, Peter, and Seth (and, yes, Cleo). That this book has finally seen the light of day is primarily due to the constant encouragement and love of my wife Saija.

  Preface

  Over the last 120 years the evolving Palestinian–Israeli conflict has had many facets, but none has been as pressing and tangible as the problem of sharing the land. Too often, general weariness with the seemingly unending cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians has reinforced an ahistorical notion of the conflict as an ancient and religious one. By contrast, this Very Short Introduction reduces it to a modern territorial contest: two nations, one land. The main challenge to resolving the conflict is essentially one of drawing borders.

  Accordingly, this book focuses squarely on the constant but evolving challenge of sharing a relatively small but geographically varied strip of land sitting between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The six chapters of this book, organized chronologically, chart the failure of successive attempts to establish independent states that satisfy the claims of both Jewish and Palestinian nationalism to the same territorial space. Each section covers the span of a twenty-year (with the exception of one ten-year) period: 1897–1917; 1917–37; 1937–47; 1947–67; 1967–87; and 1987–2007. The chapters are organized around detailed examinations of pivotal historical junctions: the 1897 Basel Congress; the 1917 Balfour Declaration and British occupation of Palestine; the 1937 Peel partition plan and the violence of the Arab revolt; the 1947 United Nations (UN) partition plan and the outbreak of the war for Palestine; the 1967 war; and lastly, the 1987 intifada. At the risk of being overly linear, this approach ensures historical breadth. One of the main premises of this book is that there can be no assessment of the present, nor discussion of the future, without an understanding of how the conflict unfolded from the beginning. And by highlighting the many layers of complexity that have been added to the conflict over successive periods of time, focused attention on these bidecadal turning points also usefully reveals the cyclical nature of the conflict: these historical junctures gain much of their significance by the way they serve, somewhat paradoxically, as both spurs for potential resolution and motivations for further conflict—holding the promise to finally cut the Gordian knot of the territorial conflict, while at the same time tightening it.