The Palestinians: In Search of a Just Peace

Rating:
Summary: You will grasp the fundamental issues
Review: Cheryl A. Rubenberg gives readers an accurate picture of the conflict in her 450 page paperback packed with information. The Palestinians: In Search of a Just Peace is a book of great research and logic. She points out the truth that "perceptions of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are so deeply imbued with biases and stereotypes-typically unrecognized as such-that we often do not grasp the fundamental issues." Simply put, if you get this book you will grasp the fundamental issues.

Her central focus is the so called Oslo "peace process" but she covers the whole of the conflict from the beginning to the present with powerful examples that go under-reported to unreported here in America and includes in her endnotes other startling facts that never get exposed in mainstream discussions. Her thesis is brutally honest: Israel never intended to withdraw from the Occupied Territories based on UN Security Council Resolution 242 and Israel never intended on permitting a genuinely independent Palestinian state.

Facts that pro-Israeli and some pro-Palestinian writers leave out she doesn't shy away from. Readers will learn things that might shock them if they have relied on the dishonest sources and media presentations that dominate public perceptions. With the book you will get the full picture. You will learn not only what Israel has been up to but also how the Palestinian Authority, with its corruption and repression, "has contributed significantly to the deterioration of Palestinian society."

It is important for Americans to learn the horrific examples of Zionist cruelty. This book is really well written and gives a good sampling of events PLUS the endnotes contain even more cases of barbarism that may just open the eyes of some willing to act like a human being and not a robotic apologist for the "Jewish State."

The examples of what one can find in her endnotes are really shocking and she exposes attempts to suppress it. Read about Irgun's savagery in details you may never have heard before, this is what Deir Yassin was: "... on April 9. 1948, Menachem Begin's Irgun massacred 254 people-mostly old men, women, and children-then mutilated, raped, disemboweled, and paraded their corpses through the streets of Jerusalem." (from endnote 51) She notes that this was not an isolated incident.

And she points out that Begin bragged about this "triumph" when he wrote about it in his book published in 1951 but he removed reference to it in a revised edition of his book in 1977.

For those who thought it was only the Palestinians who fled and were refused entry back into Israel that lost property and land without reparations, this book is a wake up call. In the first 8 years, the Jewish State took away a staggering 50% of all the land owned by Palestinians remaining in Israel. The shocking fact is some 39,000 Palestinians who never left were robbed anyway! "Israel seized property an land from some 39,000 Palestinians who escaped expulsion and remained in Israel. It was never retuned, and these individuals never received compensation although they are citizens of Israel." (from endnote 67)

If you want to know what you are talking about when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, this is the book for you. Rubenberg spells it out clearly, buy The Palestinians: In Search of a Just Peace today.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Belief
Review: Rubenberg tells us she wants justice. Well that's nice. I want justice. For everyone. I want human rights, including rights to life, liberty, and property. For everyone. As near as I can tell, Rubenberg does not.

If you are reading this review and are not so sure that I am being fair in making such statements, I challenge you to pretend that you do not know whether you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Pagan. That you do not know whether you are a soldier or a civilian. That you do not know what nationality you are. Pretend that you'll find out only after you decide what fairness and justice are. Then decide what is fair and just. If you do that and still read Rubenberg's book, I think you'll quickly see how far Rubenberg is from advocating justice.

Without justice, there are no rights. Without truth, there is no justice. And, having read her book, it seems to me that Rubenberg can't stand truth. She starts by making misleading statements about demography and land ownership. She skips the entire history of Arab attacks on Jews and replaces it with absurd fabrications about Zionism's purpose, intentions, and history. At all times, she appears to oppose both justice and human rights and seems ready to fight to the last Arab to hurt Israel.

Rubenberg doesn't like Arafat either, blaming him for agreeing to negotiate with Israel about the disputed territories. And, of course, she does not like the United States, a nation that to her is under the thumb of the infamous Zionist Lobby and is therefore unwilling to oppose any Israeli policies. It makes me wonder why she bothered accepting her position at Florida International University in the first place.

I found it embarrassing that a fellow human being could be so dishonest and nasty.

Still, I have to admit that I did read the book, and all her notes. She says that perhaps the best account of the history of Jerusalem is the one by Karen Armstrong. I had just read it!

Avoid both books.