The 1948 War is remembered in this special volume, including aspects of Israeli-Jewish memory and historical narratives of 1948 and representations of Israeli-Palestinian memory of that cataclysmic event and its consequences. The contributors map and analyze a range of perspectives of the 1948 War as represented in literature, historical museums, art, visual media, and landscape, as well as in competing official and societal narratives. They are examined especially against the backdrop of the Oslo process, which brought into relief tensions within and between both sides of the national divide concerning identity and legitimacy, justice, and righteousness of "self" and "other."

This book, based on newly classified material, describes the Jewish defense actions in the 1948 War of Independence. Milstein discloses the internal frictions among the Jewish commanders; the subsequent elevation of Ben Gurion to supreme command; and all the events--political and military--of the first month of war. The book is singular in its critical method, in the vast number of documents consulted, and the thousands of interviews with people, many of whom have passed away. Instead of generalizations, the book analyzes in detail the determinant events during that first month. It is intended for scholars, students, and the general public.

"I swear by all that’s Holy, I will never come anywhere near the Palestine problem once I liberate myself from this trap." Ralph Bunche wrote these lines to his wife in 1949, during the armistice talks on Rhodes. A year later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his success in ending the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Ralph Bunche and the Arab-Israeli Conflict provides a comprehensive study of Ralph Bunche’s diplomatic activities on the Palestine question. Bunche was at the centre of the story from the referral of the issue to the United Nations in 1947 until the signing of the armistice agreements that ended the war. He began as advisor to UNSCOP and then headed the secretariat of the commission tasked with implementing partition. Later, after serving as the senior aide to UN mediator Folke Bernadotte, he was appointed to replace the Count after the latter’s assassination. Using extensive archival materials (some of it revealed here for the first time), this book addresses central questions, such as the relationship between Bunche’s African American identity and his diplomatic endeavours, and the complexities of his outlook on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Through research and careful analysis, it uncovers how Ralph Bunche managed to bridge the gaps between Israel and Arab states. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Middle Eastern History, particularly Israeli History, as well as Political Science and Diplomacy.

When the major powers sent troops to the Korean peninsula in June of 1950, it supposedly marked the start of one of the last century's bloodiest conflicts. In volume 1, Allan Millett, however, reveals that the Korean War actually began with partisan clashes two years earlier and had roots in the political history of Korea under Japanese rule, 1910-1945. In volume 2, he shifts his focus to the twelve-month period from North Korea's invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950, through the end of June 1951 -- the most active phase of the internationalized "Korean War."

Why does Hamas refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the state of Israel? What makes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so intractable? Reflecting both Israeli and Palestinian points of view, this volume addresses the two powerful, bitterly contested, competing historical narratives that underpin the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories provides non-specialist readers with an introduction and historical overview of the issues that have characterized and defined 130 years of the still unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Provides a fresh attempt to break away from polemical approaches that have undermined academic discussion and political debates Focuses on a series of core arguments that the author considers essentially unwinnable Introduces readers to the major historiographical debates sparked by the dispute Encourages readers to consider more useful ways of explaining and understanding the conflict, and to go beyond trying to prove who is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ "This volume suggests a fresh and original interpretation to the history of the Arab Israeli conflict. Caplan juggles skillfully and even-handedly between the two narratives, reflecting the parties’ own views without embracing the cause of any party." –Joseph Nevo, University of Haifa "An impressive and very valuable work. One could not ask for a better short history of the conflict. Caplan offers readers a study that is extremely well-informed, resolutely fair-minded, and filled with thoughtful insights." –Mark Tessler, University of Michigan

Explores the transmission - and perpetuation - of conflict narratives in Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian society since the signing of the Oslo Accords.