About this title: In this monumental work, David Shipler, award-winning correspondent for The New York Times, examines the forces that contribute to the mutual aversion and hatred in Israel.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140103762ISBN:0140103767
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Almost free of markings (3 page references added last page of index). All is intact and without problems. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 624 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 1987-10-06
ISBN-13:9780140103762ISBN:0140103767
Description: Fair. Cover is very worn around the edges and creased. Still a good readable copy. NOT an ex-library book; no publisher's remainder marks. Military (APO/FPO) orders are welcomed-Thank you for your service. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Penguin USA, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140103762ISBN:0140103767
Description: Good. 596 pp., moderate spine creasing, moderate edge wear, small crease on back cover left corner. Inscription from previous owner on front cover. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140103762ISBN:0140103767
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. wear to cover at corners and edges, spine has crease; text unmarked, binding firm. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 624 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140103762ISBN:0140103767
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Nice condition, clean pages, solid binding, nice cover just minor wear. I ship daily! Your purchase is greatly appreciated, thank you, bookwolfe. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 624 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Times Books
Date Published: 1986
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Previous owners name inscribed inside front. -, Trade PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140103762ISBN:0140103767
Description: Good. 123-x Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
"How complicated life is in the middle east. How difficult the future will be unless all parties learn the personal details of others and begin to share."
"The most thorough examination of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that you are likely to ever find. Shipler worked with the New York Times in Israel for years before taking the time off to compile this book. Within he quotes interviews with and observations of public discussions with hundreds of people, ranging from government officials, police, military, and civilians living at all levels of integration and conflict.
To many Americans this is just two factions of religious nutjobs blowing each other up in the desert, and while Shipler devotes a chapter to their centuries-old history of feuds, and another to the religious roots of their tolerances and intolerances, he is under no such illusion. Instead of two polarized sides, he shows the bigotry of secularists, all the splinter factions like the fundamentalist Jewish nomads, minority groups like foreign Christians and Russian immigrants. And instead of hate based on organized religion, he expands to government propaganda, financial motives, stereotypes in public and on television, speeches, the spirit of the jokes people tell, and most importantly, how these elements change with different levels of cultural integration. Many of the most hateful Jews and Arabs don't see each other on a daily basis, and the more integrated, the better chance there is of cooperation.
Shipler is not hopeful, naively showing us how this could work out, but rather diagramming how it all truly is. At this depth it's frightening to realize that the conflict is a hyperbolic example of most schism in any culture, festering on so much past evil.
Arab and Jew is a rare book in its depth. Some books are shallow, and some make you think no more could be written on the subject. Arab and Jew is so deep that it reminds us no book will ever encapsulate everything, and Shipler makes frequent motions that will make the audience wish for even more information. He generalizes about Israeli schools with statistics, and suggests young people at one forum are the most liberal when we can't know the veracity of his claim. To his credit, he sometimes acknowledges his biases and limits, such as in the case of moderating an interview between a Holocaust survivor and a Holocaust denier. Shipler became enraged to the point where he wanted to be violent, where the survivor remained calm and instructed him.
Despite its length and depth, this is not a book for the uninformed. This is not a history lesson, mostly composed of hundreds of perspectives, sometimes given historical context. You're expected to know about the Holocaust, the foundation of and migration to Israel, and the wars that broke out there. The totally uninitated can ready themselves with a read through wikipedia and wing the rest. Whatever historical reading you have to do to prepare for this examination of our world's most entrenched conflict, it is worth it."
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