The Arab-Israeli Conflict A History

Whether filtered through the media or through the classroom, the Arab-Israeli conflict has become a pervasive--and often misunderstood--subject of our contemporary cultural landscape. In this compelling new edition of The Arab-Israeli Conflict, widely respected scholar David W. Lesch presents the most balanced and accessible account of the conflict. Combining narrative history, primary sources, and informative analyses, The Arab-Israeli Conflict enables students to form their own educated opinions about complex and controversial issues.

David W. Lesch is the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of History in the Department of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Maps and Figures
Closer Look
Primary Sources
Preface
Note on the Text

Chapter One: The Intellectual and Physical Setting

Chapter Two: Competing Peoples and Ideologies
Primary Sources
Theodor Herzl: The Jewish State (Der Judenstaat), 1896
Basle Program (August 23,1897)
Negib Azoury: Program of the League of the Arab Fatherland

Chapter Three: The Convergence: World War One and a New Middle East
Primary Sources
Hussein-McMahon Correspondence (July 14, 1915-March 10, 1916)
The Sykes-Picot Agreement: 1916
The Balfour Declaration: 1917
British Declaration to Seven Arab Spokesmen
Anglo-French Declaration
Resolutions of the General Syrian Congress (Damascus, July 2, 1919)
Memorandum Presented to the King-Crane Commission by the General Syrian Congress
British White Paper of June 1922

Chapter Four: The Palestine Mandate
Primary Sources
Peel White Paper (Peel Commission)
British White Paper of 1939

Chapter Five: Independence and al-Nakba
Primary Sources
Biltmore Program (May 11, 1942)
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (111) (December 11, 1948)
Testimony on Palestinian Arab Reaction to the UNSCOP Proposals to the UN Ad Hoc Committee on the
Palestinian Question
Declaration of Israel's Independence 1948

Chapter Six: Cold Wars and the Middle East Matrix
Primary Sources
Speech by President Nasser on Nationalization of the Suez Canal
Statement to the General Assembly by Foreign Minister Golda Meir

Chapter Seven: The Earthquake: The 1967 Arab-Israeli War
Primary Sources
Nasser's Speech to National Assembly Members on May 29, 1967
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242
The Khartoum Resolutions
The Palestinian National Charter: Resolutions of the Palestine National Council
Rogers Plan (December 9, 1969)

Chapter Eight: The Road to 1979
Primary Sources
United Nations Security Council Resolution 338
Rabat Arab Summit Resolutions (October 28, 1974)
President Anwar Sadat: Peace with Justice (November 20, 1977)
Menachem Begin's Reply to President Sadat
Peace Treaty Between Israel and Egypt
Arab League Summit Communique, Baghdad, Iraq

Chapter Nine: Mutual Fallouts: Lebanon and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Primary Sources
United Nations Security Council Resolution 425
The Fahd Plan
Reagan Fresh Start Initiative (Reagan Peace Plan)
Yasir Arafat, Press Conference Statement
Shamir Plan, May 14,1989

Chapter Ten: A Decade of Hope
Primary Sources
Madrid Peace Conference Letter of Invitation
Israel-PLO Recognition
Israel-Palestine Liberation Organization Agreement: 1993
The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Washington, D.C. (September 28, 1995)
The Wye River Memorandum

Chapter Eleven: Breakdown
Primary Sources
President William J. Clinton Statement on the Middle East Peace Talks at Camp David

Chapter Twelve: 9/11 and its Aftermath
Primary Sources
President George W. Bush's State of the Union Speech, January 2002 (excerpt)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Speech at the Herzliya Conference, December 2002
03/27/2002 Speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz at the 14th Arab Summit in Beirut, Lebanon
Resolution 1559 (2004): Adopted by the Security Council at its 5028th Meeting, on 2 September 2004
A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
UN Security Council Resolution 1701: Adopted Unanimously by the Security Council on August 11, 2006
Remarks by President Obama at Cairo University, June 2009
Statement by President Trump on Jerusalem, December 2017
New Hamas Charter May 2017

Glossary of Terms
Chronology
Credits
Notes
For Further Reading
Index