Shared Histories

Benjamin Pogrund, Paul Scham, Walid Salem

'This book provides a view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict unavailable in any other single volume...The reader, whether steeped in the history of the conflict or simply looking for some explanation of why it is so intractable, sees through the eyes of the protagonists themselves why mutual understanding is so difficult and, in the process, begins to understand why the two sides have not been able to come to terms.' Edy Kaufman, University of Maryland & Hebrew University of Jerusalem 'The participants move seamlessly between critiquing and defending their own and each other's narratives. No one hews blindly to orthodox interpretations, and it is difficult to predict opinions based on identity; these historians think for themselves and say unexpected things. Shared Histories is a rare example of Israeli-Palestinian conflict discussion-among academics, no less-that defies the laws of negative interdependence. The quality and collegiality of the discussions is particularly notable, given that they occurred during the most lethal period of Israeli-Palestinian violence since 1948. If Israeli and Palestinian intellectuals could engage in dialogue of this level, at that time, it should be possible to debate these issues substantially and productively in academic forums further removed from the conflict... [it] reads like Talmud: the shorthand minutes of alternately esoteric, fractious, and profound exchanges between learned authorities, fragmented, marked by subtlety, allusion and sophisticated hints of sub-textual dynamics.' Israel Studies Forum

• Introduction; Chapter 1 Napoleon to Allenby: Processes of Change in Palestine, 1800'“1918, Ruth Kark; Chapter 2 Continuity and Change in Palestine: The Late Ottoman Period, 1856'“1918, Adel Manna; Chapter 3 Discussion 1, Ruth Kark, Adel Manna; Chapter 4 The Beginnings of Jewish Settlement and Zionism to World War I, Ran Aaronsohn; Chapter 5 The Pre-History of Palestinian Nationalism, Issam Nassar; Chapter 6 Discussion 2, Ran Aaronsohn, Qaymari Ata, Nassar Issam; Chapter 7 Development of the Palestinian National Movement, 1919'“1939, Manuel Hassassian; Chapter 8 Zionist Diplomacy, 1914'“1939, Norman Rose; Chapter 9 Discussion 3, Manuel Hassassian, Norman Rose; Chapter 10 The Holocaust, the Creation of Israel, and the Shaping of Israeli Society, Dalia Ofer; Chapter 11 The Holocaust in the Palestinian Perspective, Ata Qaymari; Chapter 12 Discussion 4, Dalia Ofer, Ata Qaymari; Chapter 13 The U.N. Part Ition Resolution of 1947: Why Wasn't It Implemented?, Moshe Ma'oz; Chapter 14 Paradoxes of the U.N. 1947 Part Ition Plan, Walid Salem; Chapter 15 Discussion 5, Moshe Ma'oz, Walid Salem; Chapter 16 Israeli Historiography of the 1948 War, Avraham Sela; Chapter 17, Adel H. Yahya; Chapter 18 Discussion 6, Avraham Sela, Adel Yahya; Chapter 19 Holiness and Politics in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Moshe Amirav; Chapter 20 Jerusalem Refugees and Property Claims Since the 1948 War, Salim Tamari; Chapter 21 Discussion 7, Moshe Amirav, Sabella Bernard, Tamari Salim;