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Ask HN: Books to understand the Arab Israeli situation
I follow the news as much as the next man, but what deeper reading can you suggest that would help make sense of what is going on? I am asking HN because I want a balanced and analytical take.
- rasengan 3y agoA lot of people dying on execution of orders given by few leaders. This is all around. There is no justification that gives Justice to these atrocious crimes against humanity that have and continue to take place both ways. Leaders should be made to fight on front lines.
- jimnotgym 3y agoAnd which books would help me understand that?
- turtleyacht 3y agoAll Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (1929) War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges (2002)
- jimnotgym 3y agoI have read the first, but not the second. I don't think either would help me with this conflict
- shc101 3y ago[dead]
- jimnotgym 3y agoThank you. I wonder if, with the name Decolonize Palestine, it could really be considered balanced?
- raxxorraxor 3y agoIt probably is, but you may want to consume biased sources as well as long as you read other material too. Often important to understand perspective. There are often time where both perspective are correct in a way or have some truth. Some Palestinians will not use the term colonizer as pejorative how some more or often less educated students tend to do. Jews called their first settlements "colonies" for example.
- aaronrobinson 3y agoLe Souffle du Jasmin by Gilbert Sinoue has been recommended to me but he writes in French and I haven’t found an English translation.
- sillywalk 3y agoTen Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappé. Balanced? He's an expat Israeli Jewish Historian, who is not welcome in Israel.
- lr0 3y ago[dead]
- raxxorraxor 3y agoThe best source are cross referencing history books I am afraid. Although reconstructing all events is difficult and time consuming. There are players from all over the world involved and it has to include major conflicts like the Gulf- and Iraq wars and of course the world wars to be able to reconstruct the ambitions and motives of different factions. That is the minimum, you can also go back into the early 19th century because the political landscape of that time is important too. Ottoman empire, rebellion in Egypt, land feudalism (important for the history how land and people were bought and traded that has an influence even today). An overall very interesting story were it not for the bloody conflicts. Then also having an understanding how years of conflict influence perspectives, when rocket attacks become something "normal" or how the contrast between prosperous and poor can be quite close together. Some say the conflict is complex, but in the end it comes down to the usual human conflict where factions are entrenched. A conflict about land claims and who belongs to which group. A religious component is there, but I don't believe it to be too relevant. I don't know where I got most knowledge from, we had an extensive education about that part of history. Some school books are a good introduction for that matter.
- talonx 3y agoThe Arabs - A History by Eugene Rogan. This is not about the conflict but a history of the Arabs. This is a very readable book. Although it has been criticized as being more sympathetic towards the Arab point of view, it does a good job of explaining the historical background as well as the events.