index index index index Sad that people might buy this misleading piece of propaganda & actually believe anything written in it. I returned my copy after reading the section on settlements, where I learned that they are actually NOT an obstacle to peace, and that the Occupied Territories are actually "Disputed", ha ha ha Short Review: This book is a good summary of Middle East history as narrated from a purely right-wing Israeli point of view as written by a well-known propagandist, and while quite informative in some aspects, must not in any way be used as the SOLE source of learning about the middle east without referring to opposing narratives from the non-Israeli (i.e. Palestinian) point of view in order to come at a more balanced perspective. Buyers should be warned that much of the so-called facts in this book are revisionist fantasies that have been discredited by Israeli historians themselves based on their actual research. Reading this book alone, without contrasting views, will only arm you with much-publicized but factually dubious pro-right-wing-Israeli talking points that will NOT provide you with a well-rounded and informative understanding of the middle east conflict.

Longer Review: I was wary of this book's objectivity when I saw the name of the author, who is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE). That job description alone betrays the book's 'frame of reference', which is vital when reading any history book. Furthermore, the fact that Bard subscribes to right-wing revisionism when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict under the guise of 'scholarship' should be known to any purchaser of this book. This is evident in his other works that I am familiar with. Nevertheless, I picked this book up for evaluation as I assumed good faith that the author would not betray his ideology here and try to remain as neutral as possible. Sadly but not surprisingly, I was wrong. I will summarize below only a few examples and let the readers of this review be the judge:

1- The book is written exclusively from a Jewish historical narrative. The middle east is, of course, rich in Jewish history and such a narrative must be included. But exclusively? And to set the scene for a future political conflict? That comes to serve less as a 'guide' and more as a piece of propaganda (again, remember the author's affiliations). The first chapters describe the religious and biblical stories of Judaism and the promised land etc as the main focus, and treat Arabs and Islam as marginal afterthoughts . As one illustration of this, one of five concluding summaries (called "least things to know") of a particular chapter is that "Abraham's illegitimate son Ishmael is considered to be a patriarch for the Arabs". The other four points are all recaps of the Israelite exodus and journey to the promised land. To have the pathetically condescending "illegitimate son" comment as one of only five main points in a part of the book named "In the beginning" is hardly representative or neutral of the history of the region and clearly betrays an anti-Arab agenda (again, this being no surprise given the author's allegiances).

2- At one point, Bard states that "who was in the land first" is irrelevant; what is important is that the Israelis now "control land that the Palestinians want". There are two problems with this argument. First, if it is not relevant, why does the next paragraph, and indeed the rest of the chapter, go into excruciating details (using some fact and much fiction) to leave the reader convinced that this is Jewish land, and non-Jews (i.e. Arabs) are greedy imperialists? Second, this is hardly land that "Palestinians want", this is rather land that Palestinians are "native to", but are being denied universally accepted human rights by the occupying power because of the fact that they are not Jews. Contrast the fact that Palestinians are natives of this land to Bard's overly simplistic (and malicious) description of this being land that "Palestinians want", as if Palestinians just landed from Jupiter and are demanding someone else's land.

3- Bard repeats some nonsense claimed by the most right-wing revisionists as simple fact. For example, he claims that when the first Zionist immigration wave occurred in the latter half of the 19th century, there were 'fewer than' 250,000 Arabs living there in 1882, the MAJORITY of which were recent arrivals!!! This is not based on any census but rather Bard's (and other revisionists') selective reliance on flawed (e.g. unscholarly press) or outright discredited (e.g. Joan Peters' "From Time Immemorial") literature used solely by propagandists. Compare these statements with research from Israel's own Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where an actual Israeli demographer using actual census data derived that the population of Palestine in 1890 was not 'fewer than 250,000' but rather 532,000, of which 43,000 were Jews (both immigrant and native). As for where these Arabs came from, we can again refer not to the ideology-based fantasies of Bard et.al but to scientific data from, yet again, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where Israeli geneticists have determined through DNA sampling that Palestinians do in fact carry genetic commonalities with Israeli Jews and are generally decended from the same forefathers as Jews, i.e. are as native to the land as Jews are and are likely converts to Islam from Christians and Jews that inhabited the territory before the Muslim invasions. Bard also states in a later chapter that, during 1947-48, only a 'handful' of Palestinian Arabs were expelled from their homes while 'thousands' were asked to leave by what he refers to as 'Arab leaders' and the majority left in order not to be caught in the crossfire. Contrast this to research done by Israeli historians themselves using recently released materials from Israel's national archives that point to 1- negligible effects of the calls of Arab leaders on Palestinians to evacuate and 2- a systematic effort by Zionist leaders at the time to depopulate the Arabs from as much of the land as possible through forcible expulsions. For more, read books by the Israeli historian Benny Morris (no left winger I assure you) or Ilan Pape's "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine", all available from Amazon. A last example of revisionist nonsense is Bard's repeating of another aged canard that Palestinian national identity did not begin to formulate until after 1948 and especially after 1967, which are complete fabrications. For more, read Rashid Khalidi's "Palestinian Identity" and/or "The Iron Cage", also both available from Amazon.

4- Bard interjects the text with his own (well known) Bard-style editorializing that would insult the intelligence of a reader (unless the reader really wants to take the title of the book quite literally). One example is when he states something to the effect that If the Palestinian Arabs had accepted the UN partition plan of Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State, there would never have been any Palestinian Arab refugees. The problem with such an assertion is that it completely contradicts Bard's own thesis of arguing for a Jewish state (in what he has assured the reader is historically Jewish land), because the territory designated by the UN for a Jewish State had a significant Arab population, if not an Arab majority. These Arabs would have had to be removed from their homes and 'transferred' to the Arab state in Palestine in order to have a Jewish majority in the Jewish state.

In conclusion, this book is nothing more than another typical Mitchell Bard anti-Palestinian tirade of which there are plenty on the internet, most of which are much shorter (and cost-free) than this book. If you want an 'idiot's guide' to the right-wing Israeli propagandist talking-points (and there are many who will want such a list), then this book is for you. But if you want an actual 'complete' guide, then this book doesn't fulfill the task, and must be used in conjunction with other fact-based scholarly works of actual experts on the region, some of whom I referred to above.This book is biased, poorly written (even for a complete idiot) and is a COMPLETE waste of time. Do not even waste one minute by reading this book, unless you are looking for a way to make yourself feel better about Israel's invasion of Palestine. This book is an eye opener. I understand why many people are upset by it: It completely contradicts the "politically correct myths about "the poor Arab victims of Israeli imperialism." It also contradicts another myth; that Israel, one that almost everyone believes: That America is Israel's great benefactor. It is not possible to explain all this is in this review, that is why everyone who is interested in this subject must read the book. After reading the book and check the sources, you may have and entirely different perception on Jewish/Arab conflict and America's role in it.

The conflict cannot be solved as long as we continue to believe in myths. It is politically correct these days to blame Israel. What we are overlooking is that Israel is facing the Arab and Muslim world that is unified about only one thing, their hatred of Jews and commitment to destroy Israel.

The Arabs have openly promised to exterminate the Jews before starting each of the wars against Israel:1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 as well as in the long-lasting war of attrition.

Most people believe that "Israel was established by the Brits", the reality is diametrically opposite. The Brits did everything in their power to prevent Jew from entering Palestine. Just before and during the WWII the Brits prevented Jews from entering Palestine, condemning over 1 million immigrants to the German gas chambers.

When after declaring independence, Israel was attacked by all the Arab states, the Brits and Americans imposed weapon embargo on Israel, while the Brits continued supply vast quantities of weaponry to the Arabs. British officers were actively leading the Jordanian Arab Legions against Israel. British advisors were assisting the Egyptian army, and British pilots were flying the Egyptian air force. (4 were shot down over Israel and taken prisoner).

Haven read this book, most readers will have learned an entirely different perspective than the one commonly found in the media.
I just thought everyone should know this book is totally biased towards Israel. There are plenty of other books that outline the nature of the conflict more accurately and, after reading one of those, if you are looking for a book with an argument in defense of the Palestinians I would recommend any of Norman Finklestein's books. He skillfully supports all of his claims fairly unlike Bard.

You're no idiot, of course. You know that the Middle East is always in the news. But the situation there is so complex and tangled up you just can't keep track of it all. Was King Hussein related to Saddam Hussein? Why all the fighting over the West Bank? And what's oil, water, and sand got to do with it all? Don't let your brain get parched yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict sorts through the political and military quagmire of the Middle East in language anyone can understand. In this Complete Idiot's Guide, you get:

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