The Palestinians (Major Muslim Nations Series)

by Anna Carew-Miller

Overview

At the center of one of the world's most intractable conflicts are a people who number fewer than 10 million worldwide: the Palestinians. For centuries these people of Arab ancestry lived in the eastern Mediterranean region known as Palestine or, because of its significance to the christian faith, as the Holy Land. In 1948 a United Nations plan to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states led to what Palestinians call al-Nakba ("the disaster")-an Arab-Israeli war that produced hundreds of thousands of refugees and left Palestinians without a homeland. Another war, in 1967, brought hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip areas under Israeli military rule. Since that time, Palestinians and Israelis have been locked in bloody conflict. This continued violence has prevented the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Discusses the geography, history, economy, government, religion, people, foreign relations, and major cities of the Palestinians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633559790
Publisher:	Mason Crest
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Series:	Major Muslim Nations Series
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	135
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Foreign Policy Research Institute Harvey Sicherman 7

Place in the World 13

The Land 19

History 27

The Economy, Politics, and Religion 69

The People 83

Communities 95

Foreign Relations 107

A Two-State Solution? 117

Chronology 124

Glossary 126

Further Reading 128

Internet Resources 129

Index 130

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up-These two books provide students with accurate, fair, and informative narratives about the long-standing territorial dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. The books are especially effective in tracing the complex histories of Jews and Arabs in the region, emphasizing each people's legitimate historical claims to the land now governed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority-land that was once part of the Ottoman Empire and that, after World War I, became part of the British colonial empire. Effectively complemented by excellent-quality color photos, charts, and statistical sidebars, the texts detail the geography, politics, culture, religion, and relations with the outside world of the two peoples. Both deal with contentious issues fairly and dispassionately (such as the Palestinian Arabs' refugee problem after the 1948 and 1967 wars). Unfortunately, Carew-Miller does not mention the 1973 Yom Kippur War, nor does she discuss the PA-controlled stereotyping of Jews in textbooks used by Palestinian children. Garfinkle underplays the importance of the "settlement" issue. Both books have wide-ranging lists for further reading. These substantive, balanced texts (especially used together) are the best introductions to the political conflict currently in print for this age group.-Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Billed as "Updated and Revised," this "Major Muslim Nations" series is a successor to two previous ones, brought on a little further in time. Arranged in seven chapters, each volume offers information about geography, history, economy, politics and religion, people and communities, and foreign relations. In The Palestinians, students will learn why the Palestinian people, who have never had a state of their own, are so important to the future of the Middle East. At the moment their hopes are centered on two parcels of land: the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Jordan River. A forty-page section relating history attempts to sort out the troubled, often violent, history of the Palestinians' relationship to Israel, from Jewish immigration in the early twentieth century to the three-week Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2009. Though their religions differ, both peoples have ancient roots in the region (not called Palestine till Roman times). The author, while maintaining objectivity, succeeds in making this history intelligible, delineating antipathies, describing the violence that developed, and identifying the many agents who have tried to bring about a solution. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian leaders—to say nothing of Americans, Europeans, the UN, or other Muslim states—have been able to overcome deep mutual distrust or induce any concessions. This volume would make an excellent basis for discussion of a hopelessly tangled, often tragic, situation. Note: The Foreign Policy Research Institute is a conservative think tank, whose president has contributed an introduction to the series. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft