The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948

Despite the fact that this book contains work of the 'New Historians' it contains their strongest arguments rather than their weaker ones. The New Historians have tried to examine the history of Israel in a critical matter, trying to re-examine key events and re-write portions of them due to new research. In some cases such as Pappe this has meant a distortion of the historical record, however in the case of Morris and Parsons this has merely meant a true excavation of the historical record. This is a collection of short essays, most of which are in book form elsewhere. Parsons deals with the Druze relationship and efforts by both the Druze and the Zionists to craft a shared history, Morris examines the refugee problem and Shlaim looks at the 'collusion' with Jordan. A good taste of newish history of Israel, however some of the work is a bit dated today. This book does not stand alone, it examines a few key elements of the conflict, there are better books on the 1948 war, for instance O'Jerusalem, or Genises 1948. Seth J. Frantzman

This book has helped me discover the source of the tragedy that Israel is living in. I encourage Jews, Christians, Muslims and others interested in peace to learn about the history of this great land from alternative sources as a prequisite to finding a way to live together.

It's unfortunate that the editor of this volume felt it necessary to close the book with an epilogue by a big name. At least some of the articles are better than that.The most interesting piece, I think, is Landis on Syria's involvement in the 1948 war. Landis in fact contradicts the title of the volume -- "The War for Palestine" -- when he shows that Palestine and Palestinians were the last thing on Syria's mind in 1948 (and probably since then). By looking at the diaries and unofficial documents of the president and prime minister of Syria during 1948, and by seeing what they had to say about why Syria was in the war in the first place, Landis makes obvious that it was FEAR OF JORDAN (and, of course, Great Britain), rather than any love of Palestinians, that pushed Syria into a conflict it most certainly knew it would lose.In short, Syria was scared to death that Jordan's King 'Abdullah was about to fulfill his "Greater Syria Plan," namely the Jordanian annexation of Syria and Damascus. The animosity between Amman and Damascus is an old story, but Landis shows how Arab nationalism in the name of the Palestinians was the sheerest of cheesecloths with which simple Arab backstabbing was covered up. The overriding concern of Syria, at least, was not to be pushed into the sea by Jordan. Not for the last time in Middle Eastern history, the Palestinians were only an easy PR excuse to mobilize troops -- first for Jordan, in an effort to impose the Greater Syria Plan, and then for Syria, in an attempt to stop it. Underneath it all, Landis argues that the hate that inspired the 1948 war was Arab vs. Arab.Until the 1948 war is seen for what it was -- namely an Arab civil war, a war of Arabs against themselves -- the location of Israel in that war will never really be understood. And, I dare say, until the Arab countries honestly confront this war over Arab identity and nationalism, Israelis and Palestinians will continue to be the excuses -- the sheerest cheesecloth -- with which Arab governments cover over their weaknesses and ugly internecine stuggles. I give the book five stars for Landis alone.

The reason why this book is very controversial in Israel is because it attempts to shatter all the myths surrounding the 1948 victory of the Jewish community in establishing a de-facto state without consideration to the Palestinian population. Myths such as "a land without people for a people without land", "arabs flee the fighting voluntarily", "Israel's victory is a miracle given that 5 arab states attacked concurrently" and "Israel accepted the 1947 UN partition while the Arabs rejected it", are proven to be false through a series of references to British and Israel archives that have been recently de-classified. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning how lies can be craftly fabricated and propagated down generations. I am pleased that some historians in Israel are accepting that the existence of Israel to fulfill the right to self-determination for the Jews can not be moraly justified if it deprives the Palestinians of their very same right, nor can this state expect itself to survive in peace and harmony if its grave mistakes are not recitifed.

Part of the beauty of this book is that it takes things one step further. Re-invigorating the debate by looking more closely at the relasionship between rhetoric and practice, history and historiography, responsibility and blame, this book is a collection of essays, covering all of the major players during the dramatic 1948, except Lebanon, that works to bring the revionsionist history one step further, past politics of myth-breaking and into the re-construction of the history of the 1948 war that is more aware of the conflicting agendas, interests, and strategies.