Israel and Palestine: Why They Fight and Can They Stop? - Softcover

Nowhere else are [arguments] set out so clearly, both on the map and against the passage of time. (Guardian)

In this short and elegant essay...the rationality of the argument is impressive. (Sunday Times)

Nowhere else is such a multi -analysis set out so clearly. For those wishing to better understand the Israeli-Palestinian war this is a mandatory book. (International Affairs)

In this new edition of the classic work on the historical and contemporary realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bernard Wasserstein challenges the conventional view of the struggle as driven primarily by irrational, nationalist and religious ideologies. Instead he focuses on hitherto relatively neglected dimensions - population, land, labour and the social dynamics of political change. He maintains that Israelis and Palestinians live today in 'Siamese twin societies'. However much they may wish to, neither side can escape the impinging presence and influence of the other. He argues that demographic, economic and social imperatives are driving the two sides willy-nilly towards some form of symbiosis and accommodation.