# i want to educate myself on the Israeli / palestine mess **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662 "2001-09-14T19:01:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/1 "2001-09-14T19:01:02Z")
I have decided I should really start to educate myself on this issue, what I have chaptered in my head as: \*Why in the hell are they fighting all the time, what’s up with that? \* To put it mildly, I haven’t a clue of who is what and whom to root for or if I should at all. To me, it has always been a tiny little column in the newspaper with a bold caption of “Another car bomb went off on the left bank of Jerusalem.” I tried a couple of years ago to hash it out in my head, but my local library (before a computer network system was introduced) had zip on the subject and the internet was something I didn’t know existed. Can anyone recommend websights or books, past publications that clarified the situation for them? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/2 "2001-09-14T19:18:19Z")
Last year I found myself similarly undereducated and was helped enormously by [From Beirut to Jerusalem](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385413726/qid=1000494740/sr=2-1/002-7009623-5783267) by Thomas L. Friedman. As the title suggests, you receive a comprehensive understanding of the entire region, not just Israeli/Palestinian issues. Which you need to understand, really, to get a grasp on Israel and the Palestinians. It’s a good book, too; surprisingly funny and very readable. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/3 "2001-09-15T15:10:18Z")
Thanks Ellen for the link. I am definately going to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/4 "2001-09-15T19:22:41Z")
Earlier threads on this topic. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=41832](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=41832) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=5990](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=5990) ---
**Author:** ![Frumious\_Bandersnatch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Frumious\_Bandersnatch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frumious_Bandersnatch)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/5 "2001-09-15T23:52:26Z")
A historic novel about the Jews returning to Palistine, albiet with a Jewish slant, is “The Haj” by Leon Uris. I enjoyed it, and it seemed historically accurate. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/6 "2001-09-16T20:05:57Z")
I found **O Jerusalem** very readable and quite good. I have loaned it out, or I could tell you the authors. It’s by the two fellows who wrote **Is Paris Buring**. Two novels that I always found good were Michner’s **The Source** and Uris’ **Exodus**. The latter is very much from the Jewish point of view but it does capture the feeling. Michner attempts to be objective while still telling a very good story. I imagine it will seem extremely dated these days. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/7 "2001-09-16T20:47:57Z")
There is a mass of material on this subject. You could try _The Fateful Triangle: The US, Israel and The Palestinians_ by Noam Chomsky and Edward Said. Chomsky is a Jew but he is not a Zionist. There is also _Palestine In Crisis_ by Graham Usher, which I have not read, but which was recommended to me when I asked someone else the same question recently. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/8 "2001-09-16T23:36:45Z")
Why is this thread in Cafe Society? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/9 "2001-09-17T01:52:57Z")
Surely, you jest! WAG 1: She was axing about books or publications on the subject. WAG 2: It was an error, but Euty and Uke aren’t as trigger-happy as certain other unnamed mods. ::skating back to thicker ice:: BTW, **Fiver** , _your_ question seems to be more suited to GQ or ATMB.😃 ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-educate-myself-on-the-israeli-palestine-mess/81662/10 "2001-09-17T15:43:35Z")
Shirley, great books on Islam (since you are reading up) Islam and Politics and The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality both by John Esposito. He was my professor and he is the real deal. I’d second From Beirut to Jerusalem, it’s a great read.