The Arab-Israeli conflict

How did it start and how will it finish? These are HUGE questions but, when I was on holiday in Israel recently, I read a very interesting book on the subject which I’ve now reviewed here.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 7:44 am and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Comments

  • Nick
    May 4th, 2007 at 9:11 am

    It sounds an interesting book, Roger.
    I note that you say hundreds were killed by the Israeli army in the 2002 attack on Jenin, according to the Palestinians. Indeed, but Human Rights Watch, while extremely critical of Israeli actions, found no evidence of such a massacre and concluded that 52 Palestinians were killed, 27 of whom were armed militants. To quote HRW, from Jenin: IDF Military Operations:

    Human Rights Watch found no evidence to sustain claims of massacres or large-scale extrajudicial executions by the IDF in Jenin refugee camp. However, many of the civilian deaths documented by Human Rights Watch amounted to unlawful or willful killings by the IDF. Many others could have been avoided if the IDF had taken proper precautions to protect civilian life during its military operation, as required by international humanitarian law.

  • Roger Darlington
    May 4th, 2007 at 10:42 am

    Yes, I was aware of the independent reports on Jenin which is why I deliberately used the phrase “according to the Palestinians”. I am much more inclined to accept the report from Human Rights Watch, but Jenin still burns painfully in the Palestinian psyche which is why I mentioned it.