1993 edition
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1994 [better]
2004 [only the part 4 is new]
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Baruch Kimmerling
The Palestinian People: A History Paperback – 27 March 2003
by Baruch Kimmerling (Author), Joel S. Migdal (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
Edition: 1st
In a timely reminder of how the past informs the present, Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal offer an authoritative account of the history of the Palestinian people from their modern origins to the Oslo peace process and beyond.
Palestinians struggled to create themselves as a people from the first revolt of the Arabs in Palestine in 1834 through the British Mandate to the impact of Zionism and the founding of Israel. Their relationship with the Jewish people and the State of Israel has been fundamental in shaping that identity, and today Palestinians find themselves again at a critical juncture. In the 1990s cornerstones for peace were laid for eventual Palestinian-Israeli coexistence, including mutual acceptance, the renunciation of violence as a permanent strategy, and the establishment for the first time of Palestinian self-government. But the dawn of the twenty-first century saw a reversion to unmitigated hatred and mutual demonization. By mid-2002 the brutal violence of the Intifada had crippled Palestine's fledgling political institutions and threatened the fragile social cohesion painstakingly constructed after 1967. Kimmerling and Migdal unravel what went right--and what went wrong--in the Oslo peace process, and what lessons we can draw about the forces that help to shape a people. The authors present a balanced, insightful, and sobering look at the realities of creating peace in the Middle East.
Review
This new history updates [Baruch Kimmerling's and Joel S. Midgdal's] 1993 book, Palestinians: The Making of a People, with two new analyses,
one judging the effect of the Oslo peace talks and
another focusing on the difficult situation of the Palestinians in Israel
In their preface, the authors immediate reject both the common claim
- by Palestinians that their history as a "singular people" reaches back to ancient times and
- the Israeli denial of any such entity before it was created by Zionist successes.
Instead a "self-identified Palestinian people" evolved only in the last two centuries, as a result of European economic and political pressures and of Jewish settlement
An excellent chronology and full notes enhance a book that deserves the widest possible readership.--Frank Day "Magill's Literary Annual" (6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM)
A fine general history of the Palestinians now usefully updated with a history of the decade after Oslo.--L. Carl Brown "Foreign Affairs" (9/1/2003 12:00:00 AM)
This remarkable book recounts how the Palestinians came to be constituted as a people. The authors offer perceptive observations on the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the successes and failures of the Oslo process, and the prospects for both Palestinians and Israelis of achieving a peaceful future together. A dispassionate and balanced analysis that provides essential background for understanding the complexities of the Middle East.--Rashid Khalidi, University of Chicago
A fine general history of the Palestinians now usefully updated with a history of the decade after Oslo.--L. Carl Brown "Foreign Affairs" (9/1/2003 12:00:00 AM)
This remarkable book recounts how the Palestinians came to be constituted as a people. The authors offer perceptive observations on the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the successes and failures of the Oslo process, and the prospects for both Palestinians and Israelis of achieving a peaceful future together. A dispassionate and balanced analysis that provides essential background for understanding the complexities of the Middle East.--Rashid Khalidi, University of Chicago
About the Author
Baruch Kimmerling was George S. Wise Professor of Sociology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto.
Joel S. Migdal is Robert F. Philip Professor of International Studies, University of Washington.
Product details
Publisher : *Harvard University Press; 1st edition (27 March 2003)
Language : English
Paperback : 608 pages
Top reviews from other countries
Penfold
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 September 2017
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Matthew Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading
Reviewed in the United States on 11 February 2009
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This book is a very detailed and comprehensive history of the Palestinian people. The most comprehensive I have yet to come across. The authors have written a very objective history of these people from the early 19th century to the beginnings of the 21st century. It is this objectivity that makes this book such an important read.
The authors begin in the early 19th century detailing these people's story from their encounters under the Ottoman Empire to their encounter with the Egyptian forces of Muhammad Ali into their first encounters with Zionism. The authors begin at this time to show readers that, while these people were still subjects of other powers, they still had a separate identity from those who ruled from far away. While the Palestinian identity was not solidified by any means, the identity of the people from this area was distinct.
One of the fascinating things that this book really brought to light for me was just how instrumental the contact with Zionism was in forging and melding these people into a people. While there was a distinct culture, the people were varied and disparate depending on the differing locales. It took an encounter with a sophisticated philosophy backed by a highly motivated people to shake the Palestinians from there complacency and internecine fighting. Of course it is usually through such trials and tribulations that an identity is truly formed.
Even more this book really helped me tie together much of the histories I have been reading. The bookstores are filled with histories of Zionism and the state of Israel, but it is somewhat difficult to find well written histories of the Palestinians. So I found this book to be a welcome respite from the Israeli or Western perspective. In writing solely from the Palestinian perspective this book has helped to balance my own perspective.
This book has a very good break down of the accomplishments and failures of Oslo, and show the reader the how and why for the eventual breakdown of these negotiations. It is an objective account showing the reader that there is more than enough blame to go around.
The authors also do a good job detailing the gaps between the two peoples. Whether it be Israel's need for security and lack of faith in the Palestinians desire or their leaders ability to give them that peace, or whether it is the Palestinians inability to trust Israel to be an honest broker and deliver on promises while they continue to build settlements and increase their hold on disputed territories, the basic, fundamental problem is lack of trust and transparency. Unfortunately both side's societies are now fractured, and lacking of a much needed trusted leadership. Whether it is Israel's inability to keep a government for more than a couple of years or the continued infighting, and near civil war, neither side seems poised to take the very hard steps to move forward for peace. Unfortunately if this book tells us anything it is the likelihood of much more violence and bloodshed.
If you are looking to understand this conflict then this book is an essential part of that understanding. I highly recommend this powerful book.
Read less
13 people found this helpfulReport
Al Singh
3.0 out of 5 stars Evokes some sympathy, but not too much
Verified Purchase
This book is a very detailed and comprehensive history of the Palestinian people. The most comprehensive I have yet to come across. The authors have written a very objective history of these people from the early 19th century to the beginnings of the 21st century. It is this objectivity that makes this book such an important read.
The authors begin in the early 19th century detailing these people's story from their encounters under the Ottoman Empire to their encounter with the Egyptian forces of Muhammad Ali into their first encounters with Zionism. The authors begin at this time to show readers that, while these people were still subjects of other powers, they still had a separate identity from those who ruled from far away. While the Palestinian identity was not solidified by any means, the identity of the people from this area was distinct.
One of the fascinating things that this book really brought to light for me was just how instrumental the contact with Zionism was in forging and melding these people into a people. While there was a distinct culture, the people were varied and disparate depending on the differing locales. It took an encounter with a sophisticated philosophy backed by a highly motivated people to shake the Palestinians from there complacency and internecine fighting. Of course it is usually through such trials and tribulations that an identity is truly formed.
Even more this book really helped me tie together much of the histories I have been reading. The bookstores are filled with histories of Zionism and the state of Israel, but it is somewhat difficult to find well written histories of the Palestinians. So I found this book to be a welcome respite from the Israeli or Western perspective. In writing solely from the Palestinian perspective this book has helped to balance my own perspective.
This book has a very good break down of the accomplishments and failures of Oslo, and show the reader the how and why for the eventual breakdown of these negotiations. It is an objective account showing the reader that there is more than enough blame to go around.
The authors also do a good job detailing the gaps between the two peoples. Whether it be Israel's need for security and lack of faith in the Palestinians desire or their leaders ability to give them that peace, or whether it is the Palestinians inability to trust Israel to be an honest broker and deliver on promises while they continue to build settlements and increase their hold on disputed territories, the basic, fundamental problem is lack of trust and transparency. Unfortunately both side's societies are now fractured, and lacking of a much needed trusted leadership. Whether it is Israel's inability to keep a government for more than a couple of years or the continued infighting, and near civil war, neither side seems poised to take the very hard steps to move forward for peace. Unfortunately if this book tells us anything it is the likelihood of much more violence and bloodshed.
If you are looking to understand this conflict then this book is an essential part of that understanding. I highly recommend this powerful book.
Read less
13 people found this helpfulReport
Al Singh
3.0 out of 5 stars Evokes some sympathy, but not too much
Reviewed in the United States on 17 September 2013
Verified Purchase
I am very pro-Israel and tend to have a negative view of the Palestinians, but this book went a long way toward arousing my sympathy for this admittedly oppressed and dispossessed people.
Verified Purchase
I am very pro-Israel and tend to have a negative view of the Palestinians, but this book went a long way toward arousing my sympathy for this admittedly oppressed and dispossessed people.
Nevertheless, I still maintain that most of the Palestinians' problems are self-inflicted, caused by their adamant refusal to accept peaceful coexistence with Israel. It is startling and much to the authors' credit that such a sympathetic book was written by two Jews; I can't help wondering if a Palestinian author would be capable of the same even-handed treatment toward Israel.
I also think that if Muslims complain loudly of Western imperialism, it is only because Western imperialism has proven stronger than Islamic imperialism.
My sympathy only goes so far, even after reading this book.
18 people found this helpfulReport
Mrs. D.
5.0 out of 5 stars ThaReviewed in the United States on 19 November 2019
Verified Purchase
Used the book for educational purposes..
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Baruch Maoz
4.0 out of 5 stars Slanted but excellent.Reviewed in the United States on 27 July 2017
Verified Purchase
Interesting, detailed, somewhat slanted but an important read, especially for those of us who support Zionism. There is another side to the conflict, which we need to hear and take into account. Our national selfishness is challenged boy this book.
3 people found this helpfulReport
18 people found this helpfulReport
Mrs. D.
5.0 out of 5 stars ThaReviewed in the United States on 19 November 2019
Verified Purchase
Used the book for educational purposes..
Report
Baruch Maoz
4.0 out of 5 stars Slanted but excellent.Reviewed in the United States on 27 July 2017
Verified Purchase
Interesting, detailed, somewhat slanted but an important read, especially for those of us who support Zionism. There is another side to the conflict, which we need to hear and take into account. Our national selfishness is challenged boy this book.
3 people found this helpfulReport
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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Jessica
16 reviews
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June 16, 2007
A very thorough history - detailing the formation of the Palestinian people (which the authors suggest started with the 1834 revolt of the indigenous Arab peoples in Palestine against Egyptian rulers). Brings you up through to semi-modern times (it was published in 2003). A good start to understanding the dynamics of Palestinian society.
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Elizabeth
98 reviews
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April 9, 2020
This sociological study of the formation of the Palestinian people takes a long view of this conflict, starting in the 1800s. I found this to be very balanced and informative around this delicate topic.
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Steven H
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May 16, 2024
A HISTORICAL AND POLITCAL SURVEY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PALESTINIANS
Baruch Kimmerling (1939-2007) was an Israeli professor of sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was one of the so-called ‘New Historians’ of Israeli historiography. Joel S. Migdal is a political scientist who is Professor of International Studies in the University of Washington; he previously taught at Harvard University (1975–80) and Tel Aviv University (1972–75).
They wrote in the Introduction to this 1993 book, “In this book, we are less interested in protocols and diplomacy than in the dynamics and beliefs of peasants, urban workers, merchants, and landowners, and their relationships to the leaders. For particularly with … the catastrophic shattering of the Palestinian community in the 1948 war with the Jews---we find the content of what it means to be Palestinian shaped as much by this foundation as by the old, established leadership. The Palestinian people were not mere victims… but were active participants in the creation of their people’s collective character. We hope to write against the grain of the sort of history that has been written as part and parcel of mythmaking national projects… Palestinians have suffered a great deal from such mythmaking.” (Pg. xv-xvi)
They continue, “In some ways, the Jewish national movement has shaped the Palestinian people almost as much as it did the Jews themselves. Had it not been for the pressures exerted on the Arabs of Palestine by the Zionist movement, the very concept of a Palestinian people would not have developed… They see their own lives as reflections of a catastrophe… Nevertheless, focusing our attention exclusively on the Palestinian Arab conflict with the Jews would obscure other important factors, particularly the extension of the world market into Palestine and the imposition of politically and administratively capable states…” (Pg. xvii-xviii)
They observe, “there are two radically different interpretations of the Zionists’ effect on the fellaheen during the mandate. It is difficult to sort out the evidence…
The Jews, who devoted much more effort to data collection than the Arabs, certainly did not deny that they were precipitating a deep transformation in Arab village society, but they tended to emphasize its beneficial character….
In contrast, Arab spokesmen… dwelt on Arab displacement from land and the growing Jewish control over scarce cultivatable soil… In all likelihood, the Jewish impact of the fellaheen was not nearly significant enough to cause all the beneficial results the Zionists touted; at the same time, the farmers displaced by Jewish landbuying were not large enough group to have a great impact on the overall Arab economy.” (Pg. 32-33)
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They explain, “Despite this internal Arab division, in the 1920s the Muslim-Christian Associations succeeded in drawing established members of leading Muslim and Christian urban families into the struggle against Zionism. The road to such concerted action… was a rocky one, political factionalism plaguing the Palestinians throughout the mandate. It would be a mistake to overstate the depth of national sentiment at its start… The Muslim-Christian Associations did not initially define themselves as part of an explicitly political organization.” (Pg. 53)
They note, “The notion of a cohesive society with a unique history, its members facing common threats and a shared future, gained ever-broader acceptance among Palestine’s Arabs in the interwar years. The disproportionately influential urban intellectual eventually succeeded in drawing a broad section of the population into active opposition to the Zionists and the British. But beyond that emerging consensus, the question of what that society should ultimately be like produced much less agreement, with stiff resistance building in parts of the country to the idea of the city as a model for the future.” (Pg. 56)
In the 1930s, “Fewer than 500,000 Palestinian Arabs at the beginning of the century grew to close to a million by the middle of the 1930s. But this growth was not reassuring to Arab political leaders. They watched the Jewish expansion with horror… Even more distressing was that this influx was taking place just as Palestinian unity seemed to unravel, the new voices and classes reducing the old leadership to ineffectual self-absorption… the Jerusalem notables entered into a bout of mutual recrimination. The ayan seemed on the brink of political bankruptcy. When the need for resolute leadership appeared greatest, the Arab Executive simply passed from the scene.” (Pg. 95)
They state, “It is important to recall that the political evolution of Palestinian nationalism---the mass demonstrations and militant political parties, the use of mosques as bases for popular mobilization---took place against a backdrop of ever-increasing Jewish immigration, growing dislocation, and Arab urbanization…” (Pg. 102-103)
They recount, “For the Arabs, the 1939 White Paper had an iconic aura. Its acceptance of their demand for majoritarian national independence (in ten years’ time), a strict prohibition on Jewish immigration, and a banning of land sales to Jews came just as the British finished them militarily and destroyed their national leadership. A more drastic irony was the contemptuous rejection by the exiled leadership---most notably the Mufti---of the White Paper… The revolt and rejection of the White Paper thus left the Palestinian national movement in an abyss… the revolt helped to create a nation---even while crippling its social and political basis.” (Pg. 122-123)
They continue, “Communal war began consuming the fabric of normalcy the day after the UN vote, with an Arab attack on a Jewish bus... Two days after the UN vote, the Arab Higher Committee called a general strike… Jerusalem was wracked by violence, and the Jewish commercial sector was set ablaze… But two key differences marked this wave of violence: The Jews, not the British, were the primary target, and this time around the Zionists … [were] meeting Arab attacks with a fury of their own. By the conflict’s latter stages, the Jews had organized for a total war the Arabs were ill-prepared to fight.” (Pg. 140-141)
They point out, “[Some] Israeli Arabs faced a double bind, facilitating the classification of their land. The military barred them from their original homes, but since they were classified officially as ‘present absentees,’ the state could claim their ‘abandoned’ land… as much as 49 percent of Arabs’ land … was confiscated… the land transfer was viewed as a means of disabling a major tool for undermining Israel’s right to exist---the Arabs’ claim to possession of the land.” (Pg. 161)
They say, “The shift of Islamic political leaders from clandestine activities to the provision of routine services was reflected in their orientation to Israel and the Jews… In time, their radical political slogans gave way to advocacy of ‘two states for two nations,’ their entry into the fray of Israeli elections seeming to moderate their stance at the very moment that Islamic groups on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip were demonstrating increased militancy. Once again, Israel’s Arabs were demonstrating increased militancy. Once again, Israel’s Arabs seemed out of step with the activities of other Palestinians.” (Pg. 180)
They observe, “the Palestinian community dissolved under the impact of the 1948 war. Seeming at first to represent only further displacement and defeat, the 1967 war in fact inaugurated a period of national reintegration and institutional renewal, along with the daily burdens of Israeli occupation. The intervening years marked a certain limbo. The Palestinians were severed from their old foundations of society and politics, scarred by exile, and still stunned by the fate that had befallen them. The leaders and formal groups characterizing the post-1967 era had not yet appeared on the scene. It was the moment in Palestinian history most bereft of hope.” (Pg. 185)
They explain, “During the 1948, the Arab Legion had already disbanded Palestinian political organizations and fighting groups in the areas it occupied; not it set the stage for absorption of Palestinians into Jordanian state political institutions, staffed by a combination of East Bankers and Palestinians---the ayan’s remnants, along with other local Palestinian leaders, some eventually becoming prime ministers. And Jordan was the only state besides Syria that accorded the Palestinians citizenship en masse: Two thirds of all Palestinians ended up as Jordanian citizens.” (Pg. 191)
They recount, “the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] … initiated a series of ‘external operations.’ The most spectacular by far were the airplane hijackings. These and other acts… made the Palestinian issue a media event, pushing it to the top of the world political agenda. Within Palestinian society, they offered new heroes and a sense of power… The emphasis on terror had its costs, as well, fostering a bloodthirsty stereotype, both internationally and among those Israelis might have sought accommodation. Israeli leaders pointed to the terrorism as proof that the Palestinian Covenant involved not only the elimination of Israel but of Jews generally.” (Pg. 225)
They note, “No struggle for the future of Palestinian society became more clear in the course of the intifada than that over the future role of Islam. Even the most secular and national figures appropriated cultural symbols that had strong Islamic resonances… The last two decades of the twentieth century have been a period in which Islam has played a much more overt role in Middle East politics, from Algeria to Iran… The major Islamic group, Hamas… and a smaller faction, Islamic Jihad, aimed to establish an Islamic state in Palestine and, perhaps later, throughout the Arab Middle East. They rejected the nationalists’ aim of a secular, religiously pluralistic state… As in the rest of the Middle East, the prime mover of the Islamic revival in the occupied territories was the Iranian Revolution of 1978.” (Pg. 270-271)
They conclude, "The Intifada validated the replacement of the old landed elite with a new leadership bred in the schools and universities of the West Bank and Gaza… When the rioting broke out… to the astonishment of the Israelis… the old leaders themselves… could do little to stem the tide of resistance. It had become uncertain precisely where authority within Palestinian society lay. The question had been complicated over the years by the Israeli, Jordanian, and PLO discouragement of any visible, independent new leadership… what is quite apparent is that social changes would no longer be dictated by a Palestinian leadership from on high---and certainly not by a leadership based in Amman or Damascus… The symbols and practices evolving among the entire population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip … created the possibility of Palestinian action. Whether they now offer the hope for an end to occupation, for national independence, and for reconciliation with Jews and Israel, is too soon to tell.” (Pg. 274-275)
This book will be of interest to those studying the origin of Israel, and its relationship with the Palestinians.
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Carol Mann Agency
108 reviews
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October 2, 2013
"This remarkable book recounts how the Palestinians came to be constituted as a people. The authors offer perceptive observations on the status of Palestinian citizens of Israel, the successes and failures of the Oslo process, and the prospects for both Palestinians and Israelis of achieving a peaceful future together. A dispassionate and balanced analysis that provides essential background for understanding the complexities of the Middle East."
--Rashid Khalidi, University of Chicago
non-fiction
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Micah Lewter
79 reviews
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August 5, 2019
I bought this book for $1 at a library sale, so I didn't lose much money. I expected a history book, but this was more of a sociology book. That's not a bad thing, but it wasn't what I expected. It focused more on history's affect on the Palestinian people, rather than the history itself. For a more knowledgeable reader, I'm sure the book would be more enjoyable.
Still, it has its merits. The book does a good job of showing how Israel is not the only troubler for the people, but other Arab states also caused serious issues. The Palestinian people have suffered greatly the past 100 years or so. The book gives a good sense of the frustrations faced.
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