Where to find the information: A short bibliography
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www.myjewishlearning.org -From the home page click the icon for "Israel. " Clear concise information on Israeli history, culture, and society. Very useful.
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www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/> Sponsored by the American Israeli Cooperative Enerprise. Skip the directory on left of home page. Instead, click on "Enter the Library" and then click "Israel." Excellent material on Israeli history and current life, including ways Israel can and does contribute to US medicine, technology, education, etc. Site also has a bibliography of related books and web sites. It’s searchable–you can enter a topic (for example, resolution 242 ) and the site will look for articles on the internet or in the Jewish Virtual Library itself, which is more reliable.
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" Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs" Use Google to find this site. Good current information on Israeli government, political parties, economy, health care, Arab Israelis, etc. Under "historical highlights" there’s a time line showing Jewish involvement with the Land through the ages. Also on this site, "Israel’s Story in Maps" clarifies where boundaries were, are, and might be in the future.
- <http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm> A "neutral" website. On this site, see "Israel and Palestine: A Brief History, Parts I and II" by Ami Isseroff. Part II carries the story down to June 2009. This site has much more, including an extensive collection of documents relating to Israel’s history–treaties, speeches, UN resolutions, etc. with useful introductions. For easier entry to the documents, you can google "Middle East History & Resources."
Books and articles
- Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel from the Rise of Zionism to Our Time - The standard "dense" history. Scholarly, but ends in 1995.
Donna Rosenthal, The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land A journalistic look at the diverse groups that make up Israeli society. A good read. Get the most recent edition. - Ami Isseroff, "The Palestine Nakba Controversy 1948" Much of the current effort to de-legitimize Israel focuses on 1948 and "displacement" of the Arab population. This article is an excellent introduction to the controversy, with quotation from Arab as well as Israeli sources on what really happened in 1948. Published in 2008.http://zionism-israel.com/his/Palestine_Nakba.htm <http://zionism-israel.com/his/Palestine_Nakba.htm>
- Efaim Karsh, Fabricating Israeli History: The "New Historians" . ( Karsh is Professor and head of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at Kings College in London.) -The "new historians," sometimes called "post Zionists" are a group of scholars ,most of them born after 1948 , who are critical of the early Zionists and blame the Arab refugee situation on Israeli "ethnic cleansing." Some of the best known are Benny Morris, Ilan Pappe, Avia Schleim, and Baruch Kimmerling.. People who want to undermine the Jewish state often quote them. Karsh’s book criticizes the methodology as well as the arguments and conclusions of the "new historians." If you don’t read the book (even if you do) google his article on the internet.: Efraim Karsh "1948. Israel, and the Palestinians: Annotated Text" Also see Karsh’s book Concise History of the 1948 War for Israeli Independence
- Jonathon Mahler, "Uprooting the Past: Israel’s New Historians Take a Hard Look at Their Nation’s Past" Available on line. Mahler explains the controversy in Israel between the "post Zionist" scholars and their opponents and its political implications.
- Benny Morris 1948 . Morris has changed his earlier radical "post Zionist" political stance . His recent work, 1948 , includes new scholarship and is well worth reading. His newest book. "One State/Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict " (2009) is full of useful (but depressing ) information about the strength of Arab rejectionism and the difficulty this creates for any kind of settlement.
- David Mei-Levy History Upside Down: The Roots of Palestinian Fascism and the Myth of Israeli Aggression. Good on links between Palestinian/Arab leaders and German fascism during an after WWII. Hard to find. You can order it from Encounter Books, 900 Broadway. Suite 400, NY, NY 10003
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"Camera, " The 6 Day War– Effects- Settlements." History and current controversy about the settlements:
http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/settlements.asp<http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/settlements.asp>