As I mentioned in both episodes published last week, my friend Noam Dworman recently paid me a visit here in Providence, and he came bearing gifts: a bag full of books on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Some of you have asked for the titles, so below you’ll find Noam’s reading list. It’s by no means comprehensive (no one could read
This comment was sent in via email from David Josephson. It's shared with his permission.
Glenn,
Allow me to respond to Noam Dworman's Israel-Palestine reading list.
Every Jew - I can't speak for Palestinians - who cares profoundly about the one Jewish state on this planet no doubt has his own reading list. As you note, no one's list can be comprehensive; and one might argue, as you do, that Dworman's is not one-sided. On the other hand, one might argue that it is at least a tilted list, at best a curate's egg.
Here, for what it's worth, is my take, after a lifetime of reading about the subject. First: the five books by Jewish Israelis, one by a Jewish American, and one by an Arab American on Dworman's list do not constitute balance. Where is an Arab who lives in Palestine, not in tenured comfort on Morningside Heights? He is easily found, and he is brilliant: Sari Nusseibeh, like Rashid Khalidi the scion of a distinguished Palestinian family though unlike him a lifelong resident of Palestine. His Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life and What Is a Palestinian State Worth? are essential reading. Their absence baffles.
Second is the question of political balance in Dworman's list: Benny Morris and Avi Shlaim (a self-described Arab Jew) are superb Israeli historians who have tried to achieve disinterested narratives even as their positions evolved, and in different directions. Michael Oren is a historian, diplomat, politician, and a leading liberal voice of the Israeli Establishment. Khalidi is an outstanding Arab-American historian who has produced an advocate's reading of the conflict. His coruscating anger is palpable; rather than mapping a complex field, he makes a partisan case. A balanced list would offer a counter-narrative, perhaps Robert Spencer's The Palestinian Delusion.
The presence of Norman Finkelstein's outlier diatribe is utterly baffling. It belongs on no serious list of the history of the conflict. Since Dworman insisted on including it, though, he at least ought to have balanced it with the diatribe that aroused Finkelstein's fury, Allan Dershowitz's The Case of Israel. Better yet, he ought to have ignored it altogether and suggested instead some serious contributions: Ari Shavit's My Promised Land; Gershom Gorenberg's The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977; Baruch Kimmerling's and Joel Migdal's The Palestinian People; and Sari Nusseibeh's marvelous books noted above.
And one more: Tom Segev's One Palestine, Complete, a fine counterpart by a Jewish Israeli to Nusseibeh's Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life.
I will add, "The Arab Israeli Dilemma" by Fred Khouri. He is no longer with us, but in the 80s, this was the go to text when there was much less available. It also lacks a lot of the emotion and conclusion drawing and biases that are the result of the last nearly 40 years since the first Palestinian uprising. It has that true academic feel to it. Old school.
I echo many others in saying, "Norman Finkelstein, really?"
When the most recent wave of escalation began after October 7, this topic flared so brightly, I looked into it more deeply than before, and as usual in a heated and contested conflict, I did my best to try to cherry pick strong voices from both sides. Finkelstein distinguished himself by repeatedly being unhinged in interviews and sharing ahistorical information.
I don't know enough to know who to recommend, but I would not view any recommended list with his name on it as a thoughtful one.
I am very disappointed about the list - it is unbalanced and not up to date. Norman Finkelstein, really?? Benny Morris is a must read. So should be Daniel Gordis “Israel” (2016) and Yossi Klein Halevi “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor” (2018) - just to mention a few.
I think this list is missing some essential perspectives. I would strongly recommend, The War of Return by Einat Wilf, former member of the Knesset and foreign policy advisor to Shimon Peres. I would also encourage you to invite her to the Glenn Show as well as some moderate Palestinians who are not anti-Israel. The Israeli Arab diplomat George Deek and human rights advocate Bassem Eid come to mind. They would also be a helpful antidote to people such as Rashid Khalidi, who make excuses for Hamas and seem to believe Palestinians are perpetual victims with no agency. Also, any list recommending rational perspectives on the situation should include several of Sam Harris’s recent podcasts on the jihadist mindset.
I have been been immersed in the Israel/Palestine world for over 40 years since marrying into a large Jewish Zionist family. I have come to know it well. I would also recommend Ilan Pappe’s The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinehttps://a.co/d/8fuQFMk) , checking out Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem (https://www.btselem.org) and ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions), and the 2004 documentary Reel Bad Arabs - How Hollywood Vilifies a People (https://youtu.be/TPxak6lFd-I?si=4z0oyl1ptFPqzebB). Jews dominate the senior ranks across our entire media spectrum, nothing hidden about it, all the open for everyone to see who bothers to look, and they have used that power our entire lives to constantly demonize and dehumanize Arabs and Muslims in general and Palestinians in particular while simultaneously super humanizing Jews … hour one of day one of propaganda 101. For those who are criticizing lack of “balance“, we have never known balance in the American media.
Glenn, this list strikes me as predominantly favoring the palestinian point of view. I have no issue at all with you or anyone immersing themselves in the turbulent history of this tiny scrap of land from the point of view of the palestinians, as long as they will also immerse themselves SIMILARLY in the Israeli/Jewish/Zionist point of view. You are the only prominent public figure I know, whom I trust to do this and whose final analysis I am willing to trust ahead of time. Please do keep this conversation going.
I recommend, “Palestine: 1936” by Oren Kessler. It is a detailed account of the Great Arab Revolt prior to WW II. The Epilogue is a good overview of the 20th century events pre and post 1948.
As to whether your firend’s list is biased or not, I haven’t read it all yet. I trust Benny Morris as a historian, but not Rashid Kahlidi on anything. There are so many different perspectives on the conflict within the broad Jewish community, but I don’t find that same diversity of opinions within the Arab community. Hence I tend to assume Arab/Palestinian work is biased before reading it. This troubles me. Am I wrong about this?
I usually value your moderation and willingness to see both sides of an issue. But with all due respect, I have studied both Hebrew and Arabic and have deep knowledge of ME history and geopolitics. This list is overwhelmingly far-left politically. To put it in terms more familiar to Americans, this would be like reading Marxists and CRT theorists … completely ignoring the Chicago School … and then believing you had a balanced view of US economics. If you want some Israeli centrist or center-right perspectives then I’d recommend contacting Dan Senor and Einat Wilf for reading recommendations. Or better yet, have them on your show!
I am surprised that you consider this a balanced list; it is far from one. I won't bother commenting further since it is clear that your friend is not interested in presenting a balanced list and even someone as intelligent as you is insufficiently familiar with the area to recognize what a balanced list might look like.
Book recommendations about Israel: 1) "Israel A concise History of a Nation Reborn" by Daniel Gordis 2) "Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israel Divide" by Michael Oren
This comment was sent in via email from David Josephson. It's shared with his permission.
Glenn,
Allow me to respond to Noam Dworman's Israel-Palestine reading list.
Every Jew - I can't speak for Palestinians - who cares profoundly about the one Jewish state on this planet no doubt has his own reading list. As you note, no one's list can be comprehensive; and one might argue, as you do, that Dworman's is not one-sided. On the other hand, one might argue that it is at least a tilted list, at best a curate's egg.
Here, for what it's worth, is my take, after a lifetime of reading about the subject. First: the five books by Jewish Israelis, one by a Jewish American, and one by an Arab American on Dworman's list do not constitute balance. Where is an Arab who lives in Palestine, not in tenured comfort on Morningside Heights? He is easily found, and he is brilliant: Sari Nusseibeh, like Rashid Khalidi the scion of a distinguished Palestinian family though unlike him a lifelong resident of Palestine. His Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life and What Is a Palestinian State Worth? are essential reading. Their absence baffles.
Second is the question of political balance in Dworman's list: Benny Morris and Avi Shlaim (a self-described Arab Jew) are superb Israeli historians who have tried to achieve disinterested narratives even as their positions evolved, and in different directions. Michael Oren is a historian, diplomat, politician, and a leading liberal voice of the Israeli Establishment. Khalidi is an outstanding Arab-American historian who has produced an advocate's reading of the conflict. His coruscating anger is palpable; rather than mapping a complex field, he makes a partisan case. A balanced list would offer a counter-narrative, perhaps Robert Spencer's The Palestinian Delusion.
The presence of Norman Finkelstein's outlier diatribe is utterly baffling. It belongs on no serious list of the history of the conflict. Since Dworman insisted on including it, though, he at least ought to have balanced it with the diatribe that aroused Finkelstein's fury, Allan Dershowitz's The Case of Israel. Better yet, he ought to have ignored it altogether and suggested instead some serious contributions: Ari Shavit's My Promised Land; Gershom Gorenberg's The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977; Baruch Kimmerling's and Joel Migdal's The Palestinian People; and Sari Nusseibeh's marvelous books noted above.
And one more: Tom Segev's One Palestine, Complete, a fine counterpart by a Jewish Israeli to Nusseibeh's Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life.
David
I will add, "The Arab Israeli Dilemma" by Fred Khouri. He is no longer with us, but in the 80s, this was the go to text when there was much less available. It also lacks a lot of the emotion and conclusion drawing and biases that are the result of the last nearly 40 years since the first Palestinian uprising. It has that true academic feel to it. Old school.
I echo many others in saying, "Norman Finkelstein, really?"
When the most recent wave of escalation began after October 7, this topic flared so brightly, I looked into it more deeply than before, and as usual in a heated and contested conflict, I did my best to try to cherry pick strong voices from both sides. Finkelstein distinguished himself by repeatedly being unhinged in interviews and sharing ahistorical information.
I don't know enough to know who to recommend, but I would not view any recommended list with his name on it as a thoughtful one.
Tony Judt, "The Alternative." 2003
Jabotinsky, "The Iron Wall" 1923
Neil Asher Silberman & Israel Finkelstein, The Bible Unearthed. 2001.
The first two are short and brutally clear expositions of the Zionist enterprise. The Bible Unearthed covers the latest archaeology of biblical myths.
I am very disappointed about the list - it is unbalanced and not up to date. Norman Finkelstein, really?? Benny Morris is a must read. So should be Daniel Gordis “Israel” (2016) and Yossi Klein Halevi “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor” (2018) - just to mention a few.
Where are the hostages?
Show me the hostages.
Recommend: Tessler M. A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2nd Edition, 2009. Indiana University Press.
I think this list is missing some essential perspectives. I would strongly recommend, The War of Return by Einat Wilf, former member of the Knesset and foreign policy advisor to Shimon Peres. I would also encourage you to invite her to the Glenn Show as well as some moderate Palestinians who are not anti-Israel. The Israeli Arab diplomat George Deek and human rights advocate Bassem Eid come to mind. They would also be a helpful antidote to people such as Rashid Khalidi, who make excuses for Hamas and seem to believe Palestinians are perpetual victims with no agency. Also, any list recommending rational perspectives on the situation should include several of Sam Harris’s recent podcasts on the jihadist mindset.
I have been been immersed in the Israel/Palestine world for over 40 years since marrying into a large Jewish Zionist family. I have come to know it well. I would also recommend Ilan Pappe’s The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinehttps://a.co/d/8fuQFMk) , checking out Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem (https://www.btselem.org) and ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions), and the 2004 documentary Reel Bad Arabs - How Hollywood Vilifies a People (https://youtu.be/TPxak6lFd-I?si=4z0oyl1ptFPqzebB). Jews dominate the senior ranks across our entire media spectrum, nothing hidden about it, all the open for everyone to see who bothers to look, and they have used that power our entire lives to constantly demonize and dehumanize Arabs and Muslims in general and Palestinians in particular while simultaneously super humanizing Jews … hour one of day one of propaganda 101. For those who are criticizing lack of “balance“, we have never known balance in the American media.
Norman Finkelstein? Very surprised to see his book on this list ...
Glenn, this list strikes me as predominantly favoring the palestinian point of view. I have no issue at all with you or anyone immersing themselves in the turbulent history of this tiny scrap of land from the point of view of the palestinians, as long as they will also immerse themselves SIMILARLY in the Israeli/Jewish/Zionist point of view. You are the only prominent public figure I know, whom I trust to do this and whose final analysis I am willing to trust ahead of time. Please do keep this conversation going.
Missed a biggie ….Palestine 1936
I recommend, “Palestine: 1936” by Oren Kessler. It is a detailed account of the Great Arab Revolt prior to WW II. The Epilogue is a good overview of the 20th century events pre and post 1948.
As to whether your firend’s list is biased or not, I haven’t read it all yet. I trust Benny Morris as a historian, but not Rashid Kahlidi on anything. There are so many different perspectives on the conflict within the broad Jewish community, but I don’t find that same diversity of opinions within the Arab community. Hence I tend to assume Arab/Palestinian work is biased before reading it. This troubles me. Am I wrong about this?
I usually value your moderation and willingness to see both sides of an issue. But with all due respect, I have studied both Hebrew and Arabic and have deep knowledge of ME history and geopolitics. This list is overwhelmingly far-left politically. To put it in terms more familiar to Americans, this would be like reading Marxists and CRT theorists … completely ignoring the Chicago School … and then believing you had a balanced view of US economics. If you want some Israeli centrist or center-right perspectives then I’d recommend contacting Dan Senor and Einat Wilf for reading recommendations. Or better yet, have them on your show!
I am surprised that you consider this a balanced list; it is far from one. I won't bother commenting further since it is clear that your friend is not interested in presenting a balanced list and even someone as intelligent as you is insufficiently familiar with the area to recognize what a balanced list might look like.
Book recommendations about Israel: 1) "Israel A concise History of a Nation Reborn" by Daniel Gordis 2) "Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israel Divide" by Michael Oren