Taking a micro-geographical approach to Israeli-Palestinian relations, this book analyses the history of space and place in West Jerusalem and Jaffa in the context of specific addresses. Based on the unique and innovative ‘archaeology of addresses’ methodology, the book provides an in-depth analysis of 11 specific sites. This ‘micro’ perspective – paying particular attention to the history and past ownership of an individual property – allows the author to draw new insights into the process of ‘population exchange’ that took place in 1948 when Jewish people began to populate Palestinian deserted homes after the Nakba. By looking at archival planning documents, the histories of addresses as ‘contact zones’ between previous and current owners are revealed. Moreover, the research on each address highlights new theoretical understandings, encompassing: the micro-politics of the contact zone; mediated agonism; ruinations and beginnings; creative destruction in urban planning; the right to the city and the right to return; the violence of property; and fragmented settler colonialism. The book concludes by proposing practical applications of the research in teaching and planning practice. The book will prove important reading for students and researchers interested in urban planning, Middle Eastern geography, and the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Case for Israel is an ardent defense of Israel's rights, supported by indisputable evidence. Presents a passionate look at what Israel's accusers and detractors are saying about this war-torn country. Dershowitz accuses those who attack Israel of international bigotry and backs up his argument with hard facts. Widely respected as a civil libertarian, legal educator, and defense attorney extraordinaire, Alan Dershowitz has also been a passionate though not uncritical supporter of Israel.

The title of this book is a phrase often used to describe the fate of the Jewish people in the world and invokes one of the central arguments for the creation of the state of Israel. In this thoughtful collection of essays, Kim Chernin suggests that the Zionist struggle has left the Palestinian people in a similar predicament; now they, too, are merely guests in their former homeland. Confronting her own uncritical support of Israel, Chernin tries to reconcile her desire for a Jewish homeland with the reality of the violence carried out in order to secure it. Following an in-depth examination of the perspectives of both Jews and Palestinians, Chernin writes eloquently of the process by which she gradually learned to hear once-ignored Palestinian voices. By combining her knowledge of Jewish history with her insights as a psychotherapist, Chernin discovers the psychological mechanisms that have kept her and other Jews from fully comprehending the suffering of both parties in this seemingly endless conflict. She argues persuasively that by overcoming the mental blocks that prevent so many from seeing the Palestinian point of view, Jews can learn to feel empathy for them without diminishing their love and support for Israel.

A historical tour de force, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a groundbreaking account of Jewish and Israeli history. Exploding the myth that there was a forced Jewish exile in the first century at the hands of the Romans, Israeli historian Shlomo Sand argues that most modern Jews descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In this iconoclastic work, which spent nineteen weeks on the Israeli bestseller list and won the coveted Aujourd'hui Award in France, Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel's future.

"A farmer from a village in the occupied West Bank, cut off from his olive groves by the construction of Israel’s controversial separation wall, asked Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard to petition the courts to allow a gate to be built in the wall. While the gate would provide immediate relief for the farmer, would it not also confer legitimacy on the wall and on the court that deems it legal? The defense of human rights is often marked by such ethical dilemmas, which are especially acute in Israel, where lawyers have for decades sought redress for the abuse of Palestinian rights in the country’s High Court―that is, in the court of the abuser. [This book] chronicles this struggle―a story that has never before been fully told― and in the process engages the core principles of human rights legal ethics. [The author] recounts the unfolding of key cases and issues, ranging from confiscation of land, deportations, the creation of settlements, punitive home demolitions, torture, and targeted killings―all actions considered violations of international law. In the process, he lays bare the reality of the occupation and the lives of the people who must contend with that reality. He also exposes the surreal legal structures that have been erected to put a stamp of lawfulness on an extensive program of dispossession. Finally, he weighs the success of the legal effort, reaching conclusions that are no less paradoxical than the fight itself."--

"Taking a micro-geographical approach to Israeli-Palestinian relations, this book analyses the history of space and place in West Jerusalem and Jaffa in the context of specific addresses. Based on the unique and innovative 'archaeology of addresses' methodology, the book provides an in-depth analysis of 11 specific sites. This 'micro' perspective - paying particular attention to the history and past ownership of an individual property - allows the author to draw new insights into the process of 'population exchange' that took place in 1948 when Jews began to populate Palestinian deserted homes after the Nakba. By looking at archival planning documents, the histories of addresses as 'contact zones' between previous and current owners are revealed. Moreover, the research on each address highlights new theoretical understandings, encompassing: the micro-politics of the contact zone; mediated agonism; ruinations and beginnings; creative destruction in urban planning; the right to the city and the right to return; the violence of property; and fragmented settler colonialism. The book concludes by proposing practical applications of the research in teaching and planning practice. The book will prove important reading for students and researchers interested in urban planning, Middle Eastern geography, and the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict"--

Presenting the current debate about cities in the Middle East from Sana’a, Beirut and Jerusalem to Cairo, Marrakesh and Gaza, the book explores urban planning and policy, migration, gender and identity as well as politics and economics of urban settings in the region. This handbook moves beyond essentialist and reductive analyses of identity, urban politics, planning, and development in cities in the Middle East, and instead offers critical engagement with both historical and contemporary urban processes in the region. Approaching "Cities" as multi-dimensional sites, products of political processes, knowledge production and exchange, and local and global visions as well as spatial artefacts. Importantly, in the different case studies and theoretical approaches, there is no attempt to idealise urban politics, planning, and everyday life in the Middle East –– which (as with many other cities elsewhere) are also situations of contestation and violence –– but rather to highlight how cities in the region, and especially those which are understudied, revolve around issues of housing, infrastructure, participation and identity, amongst other concerns. Analysing a variety of cities in the Middle East, the book is a significant contribution to Middle East Studies. It is an essential resource for students and academics interested in Geography, Regional and Urban Studies of the Middle East.

The fourth edition of this award-winning account of the conflict between Israel and Palestine for students and general readers.