The future of the West Bank and Gaza remains the single most crucial issue in the search for peace in the Middle East. Heller outlines the conditions under which he believes the establishment of a Palestinian state could be the optimal solution. He also discusses the economic prospects of a Palestinian state and the future of Jerusalem.

This book looks at Israeli-Palestinian relations through three different conceptual lenses: the individual decision-maker, domestic politics, and the international system. It examines key choices made by Israelis and Palestinians regarding three central issues: the 1947 UN Partition Plan, the Lebanon invasion in 1982, and the 1993 Oslo Agreements.

This volume addresses a number of philosophical problems that arise in consideration of the century-old conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Consisting of essays by fifteen contributors (including both Israeli and Palestinian philosophers) and a lengthy introduction by the editor, it deals with rights to land, sovereignity, self-determination, the existence and legitimacy of states, cultural prejudice, national identity, intercommunal violence, and religious intransigence.

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is one of the longest unresolved conflicts of modern times. It has brought about the early and violent deaths of tens of thousands of people, and blighted the lives of millions more. It is symbiotically linked to the wider crises that continue to engulf the wider region. The purpose of this volume is to elucidate both the nature of the conflict, but perhaps more importantly to make some tentative proposals with regard to how the conflict may eventually be peacefully concluded. The contributors offer their prognosis in light of the fact that both Israeli and Palestinian society is becoming increasingly polarised and prey to fanatics who argue that the conflict will and should be solved by the complete destruction of one side by the other. In short, this volume seeks to provide rational counter-arguments to fundamentalist bile that questions the fundamental humanity of the opposing side. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Ethnopolitics.

This Handbook provides an overview of the most contentious and protracted political issue in the Middle East. The editors have gathered together a range of the top experts on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They tackle a range of topics from historical background, through to peace efforts, domestic politics, critical issues such as refugees and settler movements, and the role of outside players such as the Arab states, US and EU.

Mark Tessler's highly praised, comprehensive, and balanced history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the earliest times to the present—updated through the first years of the 21st century—provides a constructive framework for understanding recent developments and assessing the prospects for future peace. Drawing upon a wide array of documents and on research by Palestinians, Israelis, and others, Tessler assesses the conflict on both the Israelis' and the Palestinians' terms. New chapters in this expanded edition elucidate the Oslo peace process, including the reasons for its failure, and the political dynamics in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza at a critical time of transition.

"... an analysis that is as intricate and flawless as it is devastating... Robinson's] presentation is powerful and compelling and his scholarship impeccable." --MESA Bulletin "... an] excellent book. In just 200 pages, Glenn Robinson manages to give the clearest and most concise analysis of the changing political and social structure of the West Bank and Gaza and of current political realities that I have read." --Digest of Middle Eastern Studies "... a fair and sensitive account and contains the best available assessment of the Intifada's political aftermath among Palestinians. An added bonus is that the book is written in an accessible style with enough historical background and contextual explanation to make it ideal as a text for courses in Middle East politics or the politics of revolutions." --American Political Science Review "Well-researched, original, scholarly; deserves the attention of those interested in revolutionary theory or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." --Choice "Throughout, the book is impressively researched and very well-written.... Building a Palestinian State is a book that deserves to be widely read." --Journal of Palestine Studies "... a well-informed and tightly argued analysis of the evolution of politcal leadership in the West Bank and Gaza from the 1980s to the spring of 1996. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical backdrop to current political developments in the areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority." --Middle East Policy "... carefully researched and balanced study..." --Times Literary Supplement "... provides a unique analysis of the various facets of grassroots organizations and their interaction with the emerging state institutions... a major and very timely contribution." --Anne Lesch In this well informed and accessibly written book, Glenn E. Robinson traces the emergence of a new political elite in the West Bank and Gaza in the 1980s and the grassroots political and social revolution it launched during the Intifada.

This book explains why the Israeli–Palestinian dispute is so difficult to resolve by showing that it consists of multiple distinct conflicts. Because these tend to be conflated into a single conflict, attempts at peace have not worked. Underpinned by conflict theory, observations of those involved and analyses of polling data, the book argues that peace will not be possible until each of the dispute’s distinct conflicts are managed. Early chapters establish a theoretical framework to explain and define the different conflicts. This framework is then applied to the history of the dispute. The actions and perceptions of Israelis and Palestinians make sense when viewed through this framework. The Oslo peace process is examined in detail to explain how and why each side’s expectations were not met. Ultimately, lessons in ways to build a future viable peace are drawn from the failures of the past.