The world watched the war between Palestine and Israel in October 2023, which horrified most of us. Some knew the history of the conflict in bits and pieces; most had read about it then, yet more didn’t get the entire picture. This book explains it all lucidly and chronologically, if not in a balanced way.
In The Shortest History, author Michael Scott-Baumann describes its origins and charts its history to the present day. At its core, he identifies the conflict as a struggle between Jewish immigrants and their descendants and the Arabs among whom they settled. Not to belabor the point, but the first flaw of the book is that although the author recognizes the biblical attachment of the Israelis to the land, he does not identify them as indigenous to the area.
The book starts with the pre-1914 conflict and covers the conflict till the latest Hamas attack.
The book covers major political events from the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Six Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur War in 1973, two Intifadas, and up to former US President Donald Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ in 2020. In the end, he looks at the nature of Israeli control of the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian resistance.
For a long time, I have supported the Jewish cause.
My first encounter with it was when I was 11 years old when I read Anne Frank’s Diary in the school library. The book impacted me deeply, and I read many books and watched movies and documentaries. Most of them were based on pro-Jewish sentiments. Growing up, I closely followed the conflicts in the region. I realized there could not be a neutral historical narrative of anything and that one needs to continue finding new sources since this relationship is dynamic.
This book provided historical context to establish a chronology of key players and events in this relationship. It’s always risky to depend on a single source for all information/knowledge. Still, Scott-Baumann provided an accessible, straightforward explanation that reinforces or suggests further research on these two nations.
While reading it, it may seem that this account is biased (pro-Palestinian, particularly in the final few chapters). I am not an expert on this topic, but I can say that condensing a vast and nuanced history into an accessible walkthrough to be on the shorter side will always have its flaws. However, The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine is a great starting point for a worthwhile introductory read.
This book is my recommendation for those looking for a first read, but I encourage any readers to continue to find additional sources. The overview is excellent and provides many concise details that convey the nuanced situation and examine how people have divided opinions over the issues. However, there is still a lot to learn, and Scott-Baumann provides an extensive bibliography that can be an excellent resource.
As for bias concerns, this book does an excellent job presenting the historical context and providing various personal testimonies. Still, because language is an imperfect and inherently biased medium, there can never be such a thing as unbiased or completely objective. It’s just human nature. That said, this is an insightful look at key events across the centuries to give an accessibly detailed overview of the early role of the British and the establishment of Israel in 1948, the Nakba, the Six-Days War, the PLO, Netanyahu, and more recent events like the Nation-State Law, Trump’s 2020 plan to the present.