9th Edition
A History of the Arab–Israeli Conflict
Comprehensive and analytical, A History of the Arab–Israeli Conflict presents a balanced and impartial overview of this centuries-old struggle.
Taking a clear and chronological approach to this complex subject, and placing events in the context of their longer-term histories, Ian J. Bickerton and Carla L. Klausner examine the issues and themes that have characterized and defined the conflict over the course of its history, bringing the coverage up to date with a twenty-first-century perspective. Starting in the nineteenth century, the book moves through the British Mandate, World War II, and the proclamation of the state of Israel, the widening and deepening conflict and attempts at a peace process, the impacts of 9/11 and the Arab Spring, and finally it discusses events to the end of 2021. In a completely revised Conclusion the authors examine how we interpret many of the startling, rapidly changing, and somewhat unpredictable events of the last five years.
Illustrated throughout with numerous photographs, updated maps, tables, and chronologies for each chapter, together with extensive relevant and up-to-date documentary sources, further reading, and a glossary of key terms, it is the ideal textbook for all students of the history of the modern Middle East.
List of figures
List of tables and charts
List of maps
List of documents
Preface to the ninth edition
Introduction
1. Palestine in the Nineteenth Century
Palestine under the Ottoman Empire
The Arabs of Palestine
Jews in Nineteenth-Century Palestine
The Birth of Modern Zionism
The Jewish and Arab Communities of Palestine on the Eve of World War I
2. Palestine during the Mandate
The Hussein–McMahon Correspondence
The Sykes–Picot Agreement
The Balfour Declaration
Postwar Settlement
The Mandates
Land, Immigration, and White Papers
3. World War II, Jewish Displaced Persons, and the Partition of Palestine
The Holocaust
Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust
The United States, American Jews, and Palestine to 1945
Palestine after World War II
The Displaced Persons and Palestine
Postwar British and American Policy
The Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry
Palestine before the United Nation
UNSCOP Majority Report
The United States and the Partition Proposal
UNGA Approves the Partition of Palestine
Arab and Jewish Response to the UN Partition Resolution
Partition in Doubt
4. The Proclamation of Israel and First Arab–Israeli War
Israel Declared and the War of 1948
The Palestinian Refugee
Israel: A Jewish State
The Arabs of Palestine: 194
Conclusion
5. The Conflict Widens: Suez, 1956
The Uncertain Years, 1949–1956
Israel and the Palestinians
Israel and the Arab States
Background to the 1956 War
The Baghdad Pact, 1955
The Suez Crisis
6. The Turning Point: June 1967
Israel after 1956
The Arab States after 1956
US–Soviet Involvement: The Cold War and the Arms Rac
Syria, the Palestinians, and the War of 1967
Recapitulation
7. Holy Days and Holy War: October 1973
The Palestinians and the PLO after 1967
Diplomacy, the War of Attrition, and the Rogers Pla
Détente and the Role of the Superpower
Egypt Prepares for War
The 1973 War and Its Aftermath
The Arab Embargo and the Oil Weapon
8. The Search for Peace, 1973–1979
The Peace Process, 1973–1979
Water and the Arab–Israeli Conflict
The Camp David Accords
9. Lebanon and the Intifada
Lebanon
The Intifada
The Superpowers and the Peace Process
10. The Peace of the Brave
The End of the Cold War and the Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Gulf War
The Madrid Peace Conference
The Road to Peace
The September 1993 Israeli–PLO Accord
11. The Peace Progresses
The Gaza–Jericho Agreement between Israel and the PLO
Peace between Jordan and Israel
The Road to Oslo II
The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin
The Israeli Elections of May 1996
12. Collapse of the Peace Process
Peace Negotiations Stall
Internal Problems in Israel
The Death of King Hussein
The Election of Ehud Barak
The Sharm al-Sheikh Memorandum
The Syrians—and Great Expectations
The Talks Continue
Lebanon
Camp David II
The al-Aqsa Intifada and Collapse of the Peace Process
The Election Victory of Ariel Sharon
13. The Arab–Israeli Conflict in the Post-9/11 World
Sharon’s New Government Hardens Policy
September 11 and Its Aftermath
The Quartet "Road Map" to Peace
Sharon’s Unilateral Gaza Withdrawal Plan
Controversy over the Security Barrier and Targeted Killings
Death of Yasser Arafat; Mahmoud Abbas Elected President of PA
The Gaza Withdrawal
14. Perilous Times: 2006–2009
Introduction
Sharon Suffers Stroke
Palestinian Elections and Hamas Victory
Kadima Wins Israeli Elections, March 2006
Israeli–Hizbullah Conflict, July 2006
Gaza and the Israeli–Palestinian Situation
Hamas Gains Control of the Gaza Strip, June 2007
The Annapolis Conference, November 2007
Olmert–Abbas Discussions
The Gaza War of 2008–2009
New Directions in US Policy
The Goldstone Report
Israel Temporary Settlement Freeze
15. Dramatic Events: 2010–2013
Introduction
Diplomatic Initiatives
The Arab Spring and Its Repercussions
Political Developments among the Palestinian Factions and in Israel and
Egypt
The November 2012 Israel–Gaza Clash
16. Years of Increasing Turbulence and Uncertainty: 2013–2021
Introduction
Israel and the Palestinian Authority—End of the Two-State Solution?
Elections in the United States and the Presidency of Donald Trump
Further Violence in Gaza
The Trump Peace Plan
Israel and the United Arab Emirates Reach Historic Agreement: The Abraham Accords
Last Days of the Trump Administration
Joe Biden Assumes the Presidency
The Regional Context
Enter Aqi and Isis
Syria
Iraq
Lebanon
Egypt
Jordan
Conclusion
Glossary
Index
Biography
Ian J. Bickerton is Professor of History at the University of New South Wales, Australia. His publications include John F. Kennedy, A Reference Guide to his Life and Times (2019), A History of the Arab–Israeli Conflict (8th edition, Routledge, 2018), and The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East (2015).
Carla L. Klausner is a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of History Emerita at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, USA. Her publications include The Seljuk Vezirate: A Study of Civil Administration, 1055–1194 (1973), From Destruction to Rebirth: The Holocaust and the State of Israel (1978, with Joseph Schultz), and A History of the Arab–Israeli Conflict (8th edition, Routledge, 2018).
