The Palestinian People: A History

by Joel Samuel Migdal, Baruch Kimmerling, Joel S. Migdal

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674011295
• ISBN13: 9780674011298
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.1" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Essential reading

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

A very useful history of the Palestinian people

The Israeli historian Baruch Kimmerling and the American historian Joel Migdal have written an excellent study of the development of Palestinian society, economy and national identity over the last two centuries. Part 1 looks at the development from the 1834 revolt against the Ottoman empire, the start of modern Palestine, to the 1936-39 revolt against the British ruling class, who decimated Palestinian institutions, to Zionism's benefit. It shows how the Europe-dominated world market, Zionism and government intervention framed the Palestinian nation. Part 2 examines the dispersal of 1948. Part 3 looks at how the Palestinian nation was reborn in resistance against occupation, up to the 1987 Intifada. Part 4 studies the Oslo peace agreement of 1993, negotiated away from the Washington talks. Large majorities of both the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples backed Oslo. The left, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the diaspora, conspicuously Edward Said, opposed it - all put the right of return above every other consideration. Oslo negotiated a two-state settlement - two states for two peoples. It involved explicit acceptance of each other's existence, and mutual acceptance of the idea of partition, with agreed borders between the two states. Both sides renounced violence, and committed themselves to cooperation, negotiation and peaceful coexistence. Its gains included Israeli withdrawal from the urban areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and the first establishment of Palestinian self-government. Yet between 1993 and 2000 successive Israeli governments undermined the agreement by doubling the numbers of settlers in the West Bank. For the future, the authors conclude, "Neither people can achieve peace without fulfilling some of the most deeply held the aspirations of the other." Israel will have to make concessions on settlements, the refugees' right of return, a capital city in Jerusalem, and Palestinian control over sufficient water resources. It must end the brutal, illegal occupation, and - the key issue - it must accept a sovereign Palestinian state. The alternative is that both sides strive for maximalist goals involving mutual denial, which will lead only to their mutual destruction.

A good, balanced view

Rejecting standard Palestinian and Israeli historiographies, this book puts forth an explanation of why we are in the present situation by relying heavily on published material and undisputed facts but viewed from the author's particular perspective and interpretation. Stephen Covey, in his book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' illustrates the fact that we can all see the same world completely differently by the picture of a woman. To some who have been conditioned beforehand she is an old hag while to others, conditioned differently, she is a real cutie. No where does this point have greater validity than when we view the history of the relationship between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. To put it crudely, the Israelis have been conditioned to view the Palestinians as the old hag, while the Palestinians, quite naturally, see themselves as the real cutie. For the neutral outsider who is concerned that the Third World War might arise in this area, it is very difficult to get past the passions and prejudices, to get to facts and solutions that are acceptable to everyone. It seems that we have two broad alternatives - let the contestants fight it out until one is the victor or both are so exhausted that they are prepared to negotiate. During their centuries of immaturity, humans have used this method. I like to think that humans have grown beyond that stage and can act in a more mature manner and this is basically what this book sets out to do. They have tried to gather the facts of history in an unbiased way and work on the solution in a mature manner.Their 1993 book "Palestinians: The Making of a People', was the first full account of Palestinian society and politics from their origins to the present and was published as the Oslo peace process was starting. It generated considerable interest from neutral people, Palestinian acclaim and vitriolic debate in Israel. When Rabin took Arafat's hand on the White House lawn in September 1993, it was acknowledged that the Oslo agreement demanded a new way of thinking about old issues and stubborn problems. The prime issue was whether or not there was a unified Palestinian people prior to Zionism - an assertion that the authors reaffirm in this book, recognizing that it is extremely unpopular in Israel as it undermines the Zionist story. However, since 1993 there has been a growing acceptance of the authors' points and in an August 2002 poll 78% of Israeli Jews accepted that Palestinians have a legitimate right to a state. After Barak's 1999 election, 75% of Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza Strip voted for negotiations, knowing that this meant acceptance of Israel's legitimate existence and Israel's occupation of 80% of historic Palestine.The Oslo process induced Palestinians and Israelis to reconsider their shared history - a painful undertaking for both sides. Building the future requires an ability to deal maturely and honestly with the past and it is the hope of the authors that thi

The Rejectionist was Barak the Failure was of Clinton & Arafat

Kimmerling and Migdal in the part four of their book provide the readers for the first time the true and non-biased story behind the failure of Oslo-Taba talks, within a wide historical perspective. It is a must be reading for every person who want to understanding the reasons of the recent development between the Israelis and the Palestinians. A scholarship at its best.

A Balanced History

In a field littered with propaganda, two knowledgeable scholars, Baruch Kimmerling, the George S. Wise Professor of Sociology at the Hebrew University, and Joel Migdal, professor at the University of Washington, have written an objective, scholarly treatise on the history of the Palestinian people and the forces that shaped the development of their national consciousness. It is difficult to imagine a better collaboration than the one between Kimmerling and Migdal. Kimmerling is one of the best social scientists in Israel with a list of impressive publications on his vita. I am less familiar with Migal's work, but his prose is often breathtakingly beautiful, especially when he describes the land itself. Rarely will one find a better writer in the social sciences than Migdal. Those without a scholarly knowledge of the field will find the book tough to read at times but the patient reader will be rewarded for his efforts with a deeper understanding of the world's most intractable conflict.