After the atrocities of October 7, 2023 and the anti-Israel demonstrations following, students and news followers crave answers: How did the Israel-Arab conflict become the Israel-Palestinian conflict? What is Palestinianism? And why is a called a burlesque?
And what were the influences of the two totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, Nazism and Soviet Communism, on this ongoing struggle?
H. Ben Winkler answers these and other questions in an almost breezy manner in Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History.
Along the way, the claims of the Palestinian Arabs and the accusations against the Jewish Israelis are addressed: Who is indigenous? Who is a colonialist? Who occupied whose land? Who was responsible for Arab refugees? For Jewish refugees? For ethnic cleansing? Who attempted genocide and who admired the Nazis?
Also, is Anti-Zionism the same as Anti-Semitism?
Who are some of the key players in this burlesque act? And what are they playing?
Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History is a romp through these issues. Never intimidating or dull for the reader, this book includes excursions to the 7th Step in Hebron and the 1921 Cairo Conference, which led to the establishment of an Arab State in Palestine, which remains hidden even today.
Intended to bring readers who are new to the history and politics of the Middle East up to snuff, Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History is, by turns, scholarly and humorous.
Included in the appendix of this enjoyable, easy-to-read book, are some of the vital, but harder-to-read original official documents - the 1920 San Remo Resolution, the 1922 League of Nations Mandate, the 1968 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Charter and the 1988 Hamas Covenant.
And last, but not least, in the appendix are the last internationally recognized borders of the Jewish homeland. If only today's diplomats knew what readers of Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History know.
Bringing novices or seasoned news junkies a quick but thorough set of lessons, Palestinianism: A Burlesque of Jewish History will allow them to discuss, or argue, with confidence, the issues of today's Israel-Palestinian conflict.
