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Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Norman G. Finkelstein
4.30
598 ratings41 reviews
This acclaimed study surveys the dominant popular and scholarly images of the Israel–Palestine conflict. Finkelstein opens with a theoretical discussion of Zionism, locating it as a romantic form of nationalism that assumed the bankruptcy of liberal democracy. He goes on to look at the demographic origins of the Palestinians, with particular reference to the work of Joan Peters, and develops critiques of the influential studies of both Benny Morris and Anita Shapira. Reviewing the diplomatic history with Aban Eban‘s oeuvre as his foil, Finkelstein closes by demonstrating that the casting of Israel as the innocent victim of Arab aggression in the June 1967 and October 1973 wars is not supported by the documentary record.
This new edition critically reexamines dominant popular and scholarly images in the light of the current failures of the peace process.
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GenresPoliticsHistoryNonfictionIsraelWarRaceReligion
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256 pages, Paperback
First published November 17, 1995
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About the author
Norman G. Finkelstein31 books1,208 followers
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Norman Finkelstein, son of a holocaust survivor, is a fierce and controversial critic of Israeli policy, especially toward Palestinians. He has had a tense rivalry with his pro-Israel counterpart, Alan Dershowitz. In 2007 DePaul University denied his tenure, a decision for which Dershowitz lobbied. For his views and suspected connections to anti-Zionist groups, Israel has denied Finkelstein entry and banned him from the country for a decade.
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4.30
598 ratings41 reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 41 reviews
Carlos
2,280 reviews70 followers
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December 10, 2014
This is by far the best political-science book I have ever read, and especially considering that is on such a controversial topic and one on which so much has already been written. What surprised, and pleased, me most about the book was Finkelstein’s style to use another author’s book as a foil to discuss aspects that he thinks they got wrong. This was absolutely fascinating to me because it accomplished two aims at once: it introduces the reader to what the opposing side has to say and it also shows on what crucial facts it is that the author disagrees with them. Similarly, Finkelstein goes deep into the history and mythos of Zionist to show just how deplorable it was to modern sensibilities and yet, how, similar it was to the mythos of the US’ formative years. Lastly, because US-policies have so closely aligned with Israel’s, it was incredibly new to hear what the opposition has to say and I have to admit that Finkelstein makes a great argument and makes the reader question the myth of the “outrageous” hatred that Palestinians have against Israel.
non-fiction philosophy-politics
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John Millard
282 reviews8 followers
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April 2, 2016
Similar in nature to other works by Chomsky (he helped with this book a bit) this book seems well documented and logically presented. True Israel has had many problems since it's birth and concordant with those problems has been the issue of admitting actions and dealing with fall out from the international community. This day and age is much more like living under a microscope then any other time in history. Other peoples similar issues with culpability are discussed briefly and it is clear that this book is more about a human issue then one of Israel or any other nation for that matter. I would pose that right now the whole of humanity is in a situation where we are avoiding the issue of Global Warming. For years we (most of us anyway) has realized the ludicrous nature of a healthy economy (the faster you burn up natural resources and pollute the healthier your economy is). Like a smoker who is avoiding the obvious conclusion of his continued activity we humans are hiding our heads in the sand. Israel is using force and so is the United States and others who wield power. That might be just human nature; the beast within which must have a voice. If so we will probably perish or at least be left wallowing in our own filth as our planet heats up to a point of not being able to grow our crops which sustain us. This book is enlightening and informative and a significant read for anyone connected to the Israeli/Arab conflict (I raised two Jewish boys from my first Jewish wife). The kind of obfuscation of rhetoric that garnered a long shelf life in the past will not fly under today's scrutiny of bytes. All peoples must find a more open and honest way of dealing with each other in many arenas or I fear we are doomed to an early death much like that of the chain smoker (yea, I quit about 16 months ago).
politics
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Peter
5 reviews2 followers
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March 18, 2010
This is an absolutely essential book for anyone even vaguely interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Though Finkelstein's tone can often be unnecessarily strident, his research is impeccable.
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Guy H
36 reviews
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January 21, 2020
Full disclosure: I only read Chapters 1 and 3 of the 1995 edition.
The bulk of the book consists of cherry picking sources and facts that fit an anti-Israel agenda, while ignoring anything that complicates that narrative. Finkelstein is correct in saying that official Zionist documents must be evaluated with a critical eye, but Finkelstein's method is uncritical in the opposite direction. He takes the stance that anything that a Zionist has ever said cannot be trusted unless, of course, that Zionist leader or publication is saying something damning to the pro-Israel argument.
Finkelstein appears ill-fitted for the task of separating image from reality. All of his arguments are from selected secondary sources. He never quotes primary sources unless he found them quoted in a secondary source. This leads me to think that Finkelstein never examined any primary sources for himself and almost certainly does not know Arabic or Hebrew.
Other oddities of the book include false dichotomies, putting words into other scholars' mouths, comparisons of the Palestinian exodus to the Holocaust, conclusions that do not follow from stated premises, retrofitting events that happened in the 1920s and 1930s into the context of the 1948 Palestinian exodus, treating Zionists as though they were a homogeneous group of fascists, and fabricating false information.
israel
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T
206 reviews1 follower
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Shelved as 'dnf'January 16, 2024
I hate DNF’ing a book, especially when it’s one as important and scholarly as this, but I just don’t feel I know nearly enough to get the final two chapters. The first 3 are great, the middle 2 lost me a little, and the final 2 were about events I know almost nothing about. Otherwise a great book, but I can’t review it knowing that I’ve not finished it. I’ll pick back up once I learn some more
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Sarah
431 reviews119 followers
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March 16, 2015
"Polemical" is right. And, if I'm being honest, that's why I read Finkelstein's works--something about his scathing sarcasm and his righteous fury is just so much fun for me to read. And he will pull no punches and spare no feelings when it comes to exposing the two things he seems to hate most: hypocrisy and bad scholarship.
So yeah, I enjoyed this book. I particularly enjoyed the analysis of Zionism and the absolute crushing of Joan Peters' From Time Immemorial. If you're interested in the Israel/Palestine conflict, and you don't mind a little scholarly ranting, I would definitely recommend this book.
nonfiction
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Candace
Author 10 books20 followers
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January 10, 2017
"We are beautiful: but we must shoot to kill- but not before we go through an agonizing search of our own tormented soul"
This quote and hundreds more are woven in this book, of understanding the truth and lies that surround the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Perhaps, the most disturbing truth and grand scheme of this conflict and human weakness... is simply that, we are all flesh and blood.... require the same essentials for living and thriving.... and yet, throughout history, there are groups of people who think that they are the divine prince's of fake, invented royalty.... and any means, to obtain and sustain that imaginary kingdom.
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Oleg Yuzvik
8 reviews1 follower
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June 13, 2021
I have only read 6% of the book (Kindle version) but it was enough to see that the author has a personal agenda and clearly lacks objectivity. Reading the book feels like participating in an argument where the author yells his facts on you and tries to persuade you by any means that his position is right. This is not what I expected from this book. I thought it would give me an impartial perspective on the subject but it failed to do so. If you look for an objective analysis of the conflict - look elsewhere.
abandoned
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Antony Monir
180 reviews
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November 25, 2022
This guy is ruthless. He actually uses facts and logic to destroy ppl’s arguments to a point that it’s sad. In fact, he is so thorough in destroying people that the book got boring at some points. Like straight up pages after pages of him enumerating the errors of other authors. If you want to read a book exposing myths that have been perpetuated by important writing regarding the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is the book for you. This guy is a menace I wouldn’t wanna start a fight with him he’d find out my deepest secrets and expose me. Final rating : 4/5
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Kevin
Author 3 books24 followers
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July 28, 2009
A devastating rebuttal of the ludicrous notion (still floating around in some quarters of the US) that Palestine was largely unpopulated when confronted with Zionist colonization, and a powerful analysis of the conflict as a whole.
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