Holy War for the Promised Land: Israel at the Crossroads

This book is very thorough in explaining accurately the sources and foundations for the current conflict. The author is honest and open-minded, even though he is a Christian analyzing a Christian/Moslem/Jewish issue. This book is full of clear facts and sharp insights, concise and very well written. I do not agree personally with everything contained, but yet highly recommend this read for all.

David Dolan uses his journalistic experience well to write a very good summary of the Arab-Israeli conflict. This book is excellent at describing the infamous British White Paper of 1939 and its effect on world Jewry, as well as the postwar fight to get rid of the White Paper by establishing a Jewish state. Just to give one example of the care Dolan shows, consider the fact that a young Jewish woman warned the British, French, and city newspaper of the impending bombing of the King David Hotel (the British failed to respond to her warning and 91 people died). Most historians merely mention that an anonymous woman made these phone calls. Not Dolan, who identifies her as Adina Nisan. Dolan is good at noting one of the most important aspects of the conflict, namely the enormous amount of misinformation. He shows that many journalists gave reports that happened to correspond to what various Arabs wanted them to say. He quotes Tom Friedman as explaining that many journalists are physically intimidated in the region. And how violence in Israel makes the headlines: thousands can be killed in China without anyone noting it while three deaths in Israel get such heavy coverage that it appears as though the entire region is on fire. In addition, he mentions that even the language used to describe the region is biased. Terms such as "occupied territory" (rather than "disputed territory") provide a good example of this. Dolan takes the time to chastise those who judge an Israel at war by the standards of a Western democracy at peace. As he puts it, "I am frankly amazed that the perennially despised Jews, facing not only stones and firebombs, but real threats of annihilation from Arab neighbors (by a gas attack no less) have not reacted more harshly than they have." He quotes the Hamas Charter to give us an idea of what Israel is up against today. One more thing Dolan takes the time to do is briefly trace the history of Christian antisemitism, a "legacy of hatred" as he puts it. He points out that while many Christians are relatively unaware of this history, most Jews are acutely aware of it. Finally, there is a short but useful list of references. This is the book that made me aware of the excellent work by Arieh Avneri, "The Claim of Dispossession." I highly recommend both that book and this one.