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RECOMMENDED READING
ON PALESTINE
The Complete Guide is pleased to announce that we are now an associate partner of Amazon.com. Amazon.com offers more than 4.7 million titles and is a leader in electronic commerce. They offer the best in customer service, ship products worldwide, and their prices are considerably lower than commercial outlets. They have a 100% guarantee for secure orders.
We often receive emails from people who visit the Complete Guide asking where can they get more information about Palestinian history, culture, politics and society and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are thousands of books available on Palestine but it is often difficult to know where to start.
For this reason, the Complete Guide to Palestine's Websites is now offering our Recommended Reading List. The books below are hand-picked and reviewed by our Birzeit webteam and offer something for everything - whether you're new to the subject and need a basic introduction or you're a researcher looking for the latest books on current developments.
If you want to order one of the books below, just click on the title or the book cover and you will be taken to Amazon.com's online store where you can place your order. Best of all, every book ordered through the Complete Guide helps us continue to provide the most comprehensive listing and reviews of Palestine's websites.
Expulsion of the Palestinians : The Concept of 'Transfer' in Zionist Political Thought,
1882-1948 - Nur Masalha - This book from the Institute of Palestine Studies, documents the different attempts by Israel to expel Palestinians from Palestine. Masalha, basing his research mostly on de-classified Israeli documents, argues that the concept of "transfer" forms an integral part of all forms of Zionist ideology. Paperback - 1992. Price US$11.95, usually ships within 24 hours Top of page.
Out of Place : A memoir - Edward Said - Published in September 1999, Edward Said's autobiography and recollection of growing up in Palestine, Cairo and Lebanon. An important book given the recent "controversy" following the ridiculous accusations by Justus Weiner of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs that Said fabricated his connection to Jerusalem. Hardback - 1999, 352 pages. Price US$18.87, usually ships within 24 hours Top of page.
The Mythic Past : Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel - Thomas Thompson: - Amazon.com writes,"One of the world's leading Biblical archaeologists concludes that the Old Testament offers absolutely no credible historical data on the early history of Israel. The Jewish people's historical claims to Israel, the small area bordering the eastern Mediterranean, is not only the foundation for the modern state of Israel, it also lies at the very heart of Judeo-Christian belief. This is the first comprehensive overview and synthesis of the latest archaeological research from the Middle East written for the general reader. Its often startling assertions will make for a powderkeg of a book. Among the author's conclusions are these: There never was a "united monarch" [Saul, David, Solomon] in history We can no longer talk about a time of the Patriarchs The entire notion of "Israel" and its history is a literary fiction."Hardback - 1999, 425 pages. Price US$21.00, usually ships within 24 hours Top of page.
Unequal Conflict - John Gee: - John Gee's 1998 book examines the war of 1948 and the reasons underlying the Palestinian defeat. Going beyond explanations based on the support of the Great powers for Zionism, Gee also looks at Palestinian society and the social factors which impaired Palestinian resistance to the Zionist enterprise. A short and readable look at this phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflictPaperback - 1998 Price US$12.00, usually ships within 2-3 days Top of page.
Day of the Long Night - Jamil Toubbeh: - Amazon.com writes, "Toubbeh's thoughtful and penetrating essays bespeak a cultured and widely informed intellect... He offers his readers a rare perspective, dealing authoritatively with the societies of both his homeland and his adopted land, bringing a relevancy not only to recent history but also to current and evolving issues of importance to peoples of the United States and the Middle East.
Day of the Long Night is not a textbook history of Palestine, nor of the Palestine-Israel question. It is, rather, a page from its history meticulously swept under Madison Avenue fallout, biblical circumlocutions, pseudo-prophetic fanaticism, ignorance, and self-serving politics. Not one people has ever been dispossessed of heritage and property on the basis of a vague promise made millennia ago; no society has ever experienced the devastating consequences of one nation's passionate attachment to another. This, then, is the essence of the book: not a sterile recounting of historical fact, but, rather an account of people, living their lives, at times oblivious of their fate, but more often trapped between the Scylla of Zionism and the Charybdis of Western political pandering." Hardcover - November 1997 Price US$29.95, usually ships within 24 hours Top of page.
Question of Palestine - Edward Said: - Edward Said's classic history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the best introductions to the subject. Said covers the early days of Zionist settlement up until the Madrid Peace negotiations with an accessible and readable style. Paperback - 273 pages Reissue edition (April 1992) Price US$11.20, usually ships within 24 hours Top of page.
The Absence of Peace : Understanding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Nick Guyatt
Nicholas Guyatt explains the historical context of the latest peace efforts, and the motives and interests of the various players, regional and international, who are
party to the agreements. This book also plots the disastrous course on
which the present peace process is headed, towards a greater Israel, a
series of Palestinian reservations and even more violence between the
two sides. Paperback - 144 pages (August 1998), Price US$19.95, Usually ships within 24 days Top of page.
After Oslo - A collection of articles by local and international experts. Topics covered include Palestinian civil society, the geography of Oslo and the Palestinian political system. Contributors include Jan de Jong, Fouad Moughrabi, Graham Usher and Azmi Bishara. Book is edited by Birzeit University's George Giacaman.Paperback - 256 pages (September 1998) Price US$15.96 Ships within 2-3 days Top of page.
Palestine in Crisis : The Struggle for Peace in Political Independence After Oslo - Graham Usher: http://www.birzeit.edu/ceohs/ - Graham Usher is one of the best journalists currently writing about Palestine. Having lived here for many years, his articles really show a depth of understanding rarely seen in Western journalism. This book is a detailed analysis of what has been going on since Oslo and is a must read. Paperback 196 pages (August 1997) Price US$15.16. Ships 3-5 weeks Top of page..
Open Secrets : Israel Foreign and Nuclear Policies - Israel Shahak and Edward Said: -Amazon.com writes, "To call this book an expose would be silly. Everybody knows that Israel has a (secret) stockpile of THE ultimate weapons of mass-destruction. The reasons for the reluctance of public figures to avoid this universally known truth would no doubt fill libraries. What this book brings into focus is the frightening reality that many players in the Israeli establishment, military and otherwise, see the use of such weapons as an inevitable response to any military setback..." Top of page..
Peace and Its Discontents : Essays on Palestine in the Middle East Peace Process - Edward Said: - Edward Said's scathing critique of the Oslo Accords and the peace process. A collection of some 20 commentaries from Al-Hayat, an Arab-language daily, from September 1993 through April 1995, Said's articles provide a readable and honest appraisal of the negotiations. Looking back on this book after just a few years one is struck by the accuracy of his comments.Paperback January 1996, Price US$9.60 ships within 24 hours$9.60 Top of page..
A Brutal Friendship - Said Aburish: Said Aburish is a Palestinian who worked for many years as a journalist in Lebanon. This new book is a fascinating account of the formation of the Middle East, and the links between European Colonialism and the region's elite which Aburish characterizes as a "brutal friendship". Hardcover 416 pages (August 1998) Price US$19.57. Ships within 24 hours Top of page.
Arafat: from defender to dictator - Said Aburish - A controversial account of the formation of the PLO and the role of Yasser Arafat. Based on an extensive range of interviews and references, Aburish paints a not-to-flattering account of the Palestinian President. Definitely worth a read as the first biography of Arafat by a Palestinian. Hardcover November 1998 Price $18.16, Ships within 24 hours Top of page.
An American Feminist in Palestine : The Intifada Years - Sherna Berger Gluck - Amazon.com writes, "Gluck, an American raised as a Jew, traveled to Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza on several occassions during the Intifada. This is her account. She gives an admittingly Western feminist perspective, but is very careful not to impose her own assumptions and beliefs on the situation. Instead she tells it like it is. Gluck tells the reader of the conditions the Palestinians have had to put up with under Israeli occupation. She shows the variety of ways the Palestinians have responded, paying particular attention to women's roles and the way women's lives have changed during the occupation and the Intifada"237 pages (August 1994) US$22.95 ships 2-3 days Top of page.
Born Palestinian, Born Black - Suheir Hammad - A wonderful collection of poetry by young Palestinian-American Suheir Hammad. Hard-edged and confronting, Hammad's poetry is a unique voice in the Palestinian diaspora. Hardcover (November 1996) US$8.40, Ships 2-3 days Top of page..
Building a Palestinian State : The Incomplete Revolution (Indiana Series in Arab and Islamic Studies) - Glenn Robinson - A recently published book which has won much praise as a detailed and fact-filled account of Palestinian state-formation in the period following the arival of the Palestinian Authority.Paperback - 248 pages (March 1997) $11.96 ships 3-5 weeks Top of page.
Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict - Norman Finkelstein - This book is a meticulous exposition of the multitude of propaganda theories that have been peddled as truth, and are now accepted as the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. One example of this is Finkelstein's wonderful critique of Joan Peter's "From Time Immemorial", a book that claimed that Palestine was uninhabited prior to Zionist colonization. Finklestein's book is extremely well researched and an essential read for anyone who is interested in the history of this conflict. Paperback (September 1995) $19.00 ships in 24 hours Top of page.
The Invention of Ancient Israel : The Silencing of Palestinian
History - Keith Whitelam - A well-documented and important book which does much to redress the myths surrounding "Ancient Israel". 296 pages (September 1997) $18.39 ships 24 hours Top of page.
 Rediscovering Palestine : Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900 - Beshara Doumani
Historical studies of Palestine are few and far between. Beshara Doumani's 1995 book fills a much needed gap in its examination of Nablus society.340 pages (October 1995) US$22.50 ships 24 hours Top of page.
Remembering Deir Yassin : The Future of Israel and Palestine - Dan McGowan and Marc Ellis
Deir Yassin was a Palestinian village of 750 inhabitants destroyed in 1948 and where over 100 residents were systematically murdered by Zionist forces. This book examines the destruction of Deir Yassin and the implications of its memory in the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations. A new publication with extensive maps.Paperback - 160 pages $12.00 Ships 24 hours Top of page.
The Rise and Fall of Palestine : A Personal Account of the
Intifada Years - Norman Finkelstein - Comments from the following authors about Finkelstein's book: "In the best sense of the old term, Norman Finkelstein has fulfilled an obligation to 'witness.'" CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, columnist for Vanity Fair and The Nation.
"This book is that very rare thing, a book of human experience informed
by massive historical scholarship, prodigiously detailed political analysis, and exceptional wisdom. I do not know any book like it that deals so intimately and yet so clearly with the tragic quandaries of the Palestinian situation. EDWARD W. SAID, Columbia University
"Critical and very well informed..."The Rise and Fall of Palestine" is also quite unusual, virtually unique, because of the rich framework of past and current history that Finkelstein brings to bear in a most illuminating way, because of the interweaving of very thoughtful (and often moving) personal experiences, and because of the singular nature of Finkelstein's perspective, which is sharply different from those that dominate discussions of the situation in Palestine." NOAM CHOMSKY, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPaperback (September 1995) Price, US$19.00 ships 24 hours Top of page.
Palestine Book 1: 'A Nation Occupied' and Palestine Book 2: 'In the Gaza Strip' - Joe Sacco: - Whenever you do a search for Palestine on the web you end up with Joe Sacco's name. And for good reason. Sacco is a cartoonist who makes the history of Palestine and the Intifada come alive through his drawings.Paperback (March 1996), $13.56 ships 3-5 weeks Top of page.
All That Remains : The Palestinian Villages Occupied and
Depopulated by Israel in 1948 - Walid Khalidi
A must-have for anyone concerned about Palestine. Khalidi's masterpiece documents the majority of the 418 Palestinian villages destroyed by Zionist forces in 1948. The demographics of each village are described with maps and accompanying tables.Hardcover (November 1992) $59 ships 24 hours Top of page.
Before Their Diaspora : A Photographic History of the
Palestinians, 1876-1948 - Walid Khalidi - Another book by Walid Khalidi filled with photographs of Palestinian life in the years preceding 1948.Paperback (September 1991) $29 ships 4-6 weeks Top of page.
Palestinian Identity : The Construction of a Modern National Consciousness - Rashid Khalidi - An encyclopaedic account of the formation of Palestinian national identity by renowned scholar Rashid Khalidi. Khalidi takes us through Palestinian history and discusses how national identity was shaped through indigenous fators and affected by Zionist colonization.Paperback - 304 pages (October 15, 1998) $16.50 ships 24 hours Top of page.
Speak, Bird, Speak Again : Palestinian Arab Folktales - Ibrahim Muhawi, Sharif Kanaana - Birzeit University's Sharif Kanaana is a contributing editor of this classic collection of Palestinian folktales and stories.Paperback - 420 pages (March 1989) $18.95 ships 2-3 days Top of page.
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