Customer Reviews (15) 
This Is the Book You've Been Looking For
For anyone wishing to read a history of the Middle East conflict, THIS is the book to read. I have read others, but none go as deep as Battleground. Of the books I've read about the conflict, Battleground is the only one that gets to the absolute bottom of it: Great Britain's horrific double-cross of the Zionists, following the announcement of the Balfour Declaration. Katz documents how a small group of British officers, which included the officer who came to be known as Lawrence of Arabia, used propaganda, outright lies and bribery to stir up animosity that hadn't previously existed between most Arab and Jewish Palestinians. He documents how the British went far beyond providing military support to the Arabs to actually participating in ground and air attacks against the Jews to thwart the Jews from rebuilding their homeland in Israel. And that's just the first 60 pages or so.
Battleground is not a boring history. The writing is clear and accessible, with plenty of humor, irony and action to keep you on the edge of your chair. You won't want to put this one down.
Authoritative, essential, heavily referenced, poetic
A simply amazing distillation of a comprehensive study of Palestine. You will be amazed what you thought you knew turns out to simply be completely digested propaganda. I would recommend reading the ten or so pages of appendices FIRST. They include: Faisal-Weizmann Agreement, Proposals of Paris Peace Conference, 1919; Outline of Tentative Report and Recommendations of the Intelligence Section of the American Delegation to the Peace Conference, in accordance with instructions, for the President and the Plenipotentiaries, January 21, 1919; and Feisal-Frankfurter Correspondence (below)
Paris Peace Conference
March 3, 1919
Dear Mr. Frankfurter:
I want to take this opportunity of my first contact with American Zionists to tell you what I have often been able to say to Dr. Weizmann in Arabia and Europe.
We feel that the Arabs and Jews are cousins in having suffered similar oppressions at the hands of powers stronger than themselves, and by a happy coincidence have been able to take the first step towards the attainment of their national ideals together.
The Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. Our deputation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted yesterday by the Zionist Organisation to the Peace Conference, and we regard them as moderate and proper. We will do our best, in so far as we are concerned, to help them through: we will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home.
With the chiefs of your movement, especially with Dr. Weizmann, we have had and continue to have the closest relations. He has been a great helper of our cause, and I hope the Arabs may soon be in a position to make the Jews some return for their kindness. We are working together for a reformed and revived Near East, and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is national and not imperialist. Our movement is national and not imperialist, and there is room in Syria for us both. Indeed I think that neither can be a real success without the other.
People less informed and less responsible than our leaders and yours, ignoring the need for cooperation of the Arabs and Zionists, have been trying to exploit the local difficulties that must necessarily arise in Palestine in the early stages of our movements. Some of them have, I am afraid, misrepresented your aims to the Arab peasantry, and our aims to the Jewish peasantry, with the result that interested parties have been able to make capital out of what they call our differences.
I wish to give you my firm conviction that these differences are not on questions of principle, but on matters of detail such as must inevitably occur in every contact of neighbouring peoples, and as are easily adjusted by mutual good will. Indeed nearly all of them will disappear with fuller knowledge.
I look forward, and my people with me look forward, to a future in which we will help you and you will help us, so that the countries in which we are mutually interested may once again take their places in the community of civilised peoples of the world.
Believe me,
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd.) Feisal
Battleground: Basically an essay in propaganda!
Just wanted to add the opinion of James R. Adams, contemporary member of the Wall Street Journal staff, who wrote in 'Commentary' (June 1974, p. 91):
`He deals with this battle [over the founding of the Jewish state in Palestine], not as a scholar, but as a vigorous, if unofficial, participant. He writes from the perspective of an old Irgun hand (...), who has latterly been a leader of the expansionist Land of Israel Movement. Mr. Katz has a crisp, lucid style, erupting occasionally into tirades of panegyrics, and he covers a lot of ground. But his book, basically, is an essay in propaganda.'
Katz Exposes the Myths
The origins of the Middle-East conflict between the Arabs and Jews can be traced back to the late 19th century, not too long after the formation of Zionism - an international Jewish movement determined to regain independence of their ancient homeland in Palestine, by creating a Jewish state. At that time, Palestine was controlled by the Turkish Ottoman Empire. And although the Palestinian Arabs outnumbered the Jews, they never sought to create an independent state in the region.
After the First World War, the Turkish Ottoman Empire collapsed and Palestine was handed over to the British forces. In 1917, the British government issued the Balfour declaration, stating: "His Majesty's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object." This, in effect, promised the Jews an independent state.
However, in 1922 the British government gave more than three quarters of Palestine to the Hashemite Kingdom, to create an exclusive Arab state, known today as Jordan. During that same decade, many Arabs became fearful and resentful of Jewish immigration and purchases of land in Palestine, leading to violent clashes between Arabs and Jews. This conflict was further intensified during the 1930s and 1940s.In 1948, under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the remainder of Palestine was divided to create two states: one for the Arabs and one for the Jews. The Jews accepted this proposal and the Arabs rejected it. Shortly after Israel was declared an independent state, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Lebanon joined forces together and waged war on Israel. From that point on, the conflict continued to rage: many battles were fought and atrocities were committed by both sides.
Because this conflict is so exhaustive and so much has been written, historians today have an almost infinite sea of information. At the same time, however, there is also a lot of misinformation; "facts" entirely fabricated or purposely taken out of context and distorted by biased reporters. Hence, any given historian has the free will to selectively fish out specific information and misinformation to state his or her personal view. Take Norman G. Finkelstein for instance - a man with a clear anti-Israel agenda. Mr. Finkelstein is well known for citing specific sources - regardless how correct or incorrect they may be - simply to vilify Israel, while presenting the Arabs as innocent victims. Likewise, a defender of Israel, like, Alan Dershowitz, will do the same - selectively fish out specific information that vilifies the Arabs and exonerates the Israelis.
In other words, because there is so much information and misinformation out there, anyone can make a convincing argument either way, which brings us to Samuel Katz, author of Battleground: Fact & Fantasy. Mr. Katz is an historian who is fully aware of the misinformation that's out there - more specifically, the false charges against Israel (and there are plenty of them thanks largely in part to Arab propaganda). The author's main objective is to set the record straight by separating fact from fiction. Not only does Katz separate fact from fiction, but he exposes the myths and demonstrates how they came to life in the first place. The main subjects of discussion include: the background of the Jewish people in Palestine, the British government's polices, the Palestinian refugee problem, the Arab claim to the region, Arab propaganda, and Islamic terrorism.
Although I find most of Katz's arguments worthy of accepting based on the evidence he supplies, there's one argument in particular that didn't quite convince me - that is, the Palestinian refugees' right to return. In a nutshell, Katz's argument is that if the Palestinians would return, they would seek to annihilate the Jews, hence posing a serious security threat to the State of Israel - a sentiment that was shared by some Arab leaders decades ago and even still today (i.e. Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, etc.) Although he has some good points to make about this hotly debated topic, overall I felt that it lacked substance and can't say that I particularly agree with him on that one.
But aside from this, Katz's book is well worth reading. He does a very reasonable job of exposing myths and clarifies some very important issues. Some will call this book biased, and there's no question about that. After all, it is a book written in defense of Israel. However, it is an important book, considering the fact that the world media vilifies Israel so much without putting things in context. Books such as this one are needed to balance things out and to give people a better understanding of the conflict.
Thoroughly absorbing and revelatory work
This excellent and highly readable narrative traces the origins and course of the Arab-Israeli conflict from the history of the Ottoman period, through the birth of Israel, the 1967 and Yom Kippur Wars. It places many problems in perspective, like the refugees on both sides, the origins of the dispute and the restoration of the land.
The most shocking revelation is the part played by the British Foreign Office throughout the 1920s up until the establishment of Israel in 1948. The role of the UK was highly ambiguous to say the least. Further disillusionment came in the revelations of the role of the US State Department, particularly the delay in sending assistance to Israel during the 1973 war.
It seems that Israel cannot really trust any other government to safeguard its people, not even allies. As played out in the 20th century the game of realpolitik shows that any state puts it own interests first.
The book demolishes many romantic myths, such as the so-called war of Arab liberation against the Ottoman Empire. In truth, no such thing ever occurred in any real sense and the myth of Lawrence of Arabia is thoroughly exposed for the fraud that it is.
Katz also documents the real cause of the conflict, which should be clear by now to the objective observer. It is not about land or about a Palestinian state, but about the destruction of Israel. He details the propaganda war against Israel in its various manifestations.
There was the one conducted by the Soviet Union until its collapse in the early 1990s, there is the one conducted by Liberal/Left media like the BBC and the New York Times from the beginning, and there is the relentless campaign of hatred in the Arab media.
Western politicians and media have ignored this last one, so crass, so blatant and so downright evil, for many decades. In our Internet age, however it cannot be concealed anymore. The continuing bias against Israel is explored by Stephanie Gutmann in her book The Other War.
Battleground does a tremendous job of providing the verifiable facts in a highly readable text. In reading this book, I once again realized that Israel is a miracle, established by the hand of Providence. Despite all the betrayals and broken promises, the olive tree was planted and is thriving.
And Zionism is the only one of the great ideological "isms" that was successful and bore good fruit. If it had not been for the many obstacles and betrayals, many of those who perished in the Holocaust would have found refuge in Israel. The book Auschwitz And The Allies by Martin Gilbert documents this shameful history in great detail. The enormity of the betrayal fills one with revulsion and despair.
But Israel has already become a blessing to the world, as shown in the book Israel In The World: Changing Lives Through Innovation, by Douglas and Helen Davis. For further understanding of the background to the conflict, I recommend Dream Palace Of The Arabs by Fouad Ajami.
And for further disturbing revelations, this time relating to European policy towards Israel, the book Eurabia by Bat Ye'or is essential reading. But there is no better book than Battleground to expose the lies, the distortions and the root causes of the conflict. The book concludes with indices of relevant documents, a bibliography and an index.
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