Palestine and the Palestinians

Samih Farsoun with Christina Zacharia
1997 Westview Press
375 pages

Available at the Scientific Bookshop,Salah ed Din Street,Jerusalem In this broad and richly textured analysis,Samih Farsoun (American University Sociology Dept.chair in Washington)and Christina Zacharia (Sociology Ph.D.candidate)examine the social,economic and political development of the people of Palestine from antiquity to the present.The book opens with an overview of the question of Palestine and Palestine's place in regional and global history.
 

Subsequent chapters analyze Palestinian society before and after its catastrophic destruction,the division of Palestine,and the dispersal of its people in 1948. Next,the book explores the forces and constraints affecting the formation of Palestinian national identity as embodied in popular institutions against Israeli occupation.The final chapter considers the prospects for Palestinian self-determination and statehood despite the limitations imposed by the Oslo Accords,as well as Palestine's future viability.This book argues that because these Accords formally sever the Palestinians'historical laims from the present,it is crucial to understand the larger historical and ideological context in which the claims arose.

"This is by far the most comprehensive analysis of the political economy of Palestine and the Palestinians in the 20th century, based on original material rarely used by English-language scholars.Here,finally,is the transparent picture of the Arab-Israeli conflict given in full,fascinating detail."Hisham Sharabi, Georgetown University.