Introductory

Introductory

As an introduction, Search For Peace in the Middle East (Fawcett, revised edition, 1971), prepared for the American Friends’ Service Committee, is a concise, impartial study comprising history, summaries of shades of opinion on both sides, and suggested steps toward peace. Further detail is given in J. C. Hurewitz’s The Struggle For Palestine (Norton, 1950; reprinted by Greenwood, 1968) and Fred J. Khouri’s The Arab-Israeli Dilemma (Syracuse University, 1968). Both have detailed bibliographies, including sources and documents; Khouri includes the texts of some of these. Israel and the Arabs (Pantheon, 1968) by Maxime Rodinson, a French Jew who has lived both in Israel and Arab countries, is strong on both ethnic and historical aspects, including Jewish and Arab nationalism.

To fulfill the Christian duty of understanding how the parties feel (in contrast to how we think they ought to feel), read Denis Baly’s Multitudes in the Valley: Church and Crisis in the Middle East (Friendship, 1958). The author’s fifteen years as an Anglican missionary in Jerusalem during the British mandate qualify him to give a well-balanced view. He conveys the feelings and faults of both Arabs and Jews with understanding and thinks “it would seem to be the lesson of the New Testament that it is a prime mistake to look for a political fulfillment of the Old Testament.” Elisabeth Elliot’s The Furnace of the Lord: Reflections on the Redemption of the Holy City (Doubleday, 1969) is an account of her visit to Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967. Her observations and conversations with both Jews and Arabs are reported with poignant insight. The well-known evangelical Old Testament scholar Charles Pfeiffer has recently issued a brief survey of current events in the light of historical relationships: The Arab Israeli Struggle (Baker, 1972).

History

Frank Epp, a Canadian Mennonite, addresses Whose Land is Palestine? The Middle East Problem in Historical Perspective (Eerdmans, 1970) to North American Christians. He traces the various regimes in Palestine in chronological order, ending with “The Claims of God”; the section “Christian Involvement” is particularly significant. The Jews in Their Land (Doubleday, 1966), conceived and edited by David Ben-Gurion, is a beautifully illustrated historical survey from Joshua’s conquest to the present. Philip Hitti’s The Arabs: A Short History(fifth edition, St. Martin’s, 1969) is a condensation of his History of the Arabs. The Jewish State (American Zionist Emergency Council, 1946) is the translation of Theodore Herzl’s Der Judenstaat (1896) and the basic document of Zionism. Ben-Gurion’s Israel: The Years of Challenge (Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1963) is a concise history of the formation of the modern nation. In Light on Israel (Knopf, 1968), Maurice Samuel writes as a Jew to Western Jews; Christians will feel he misunderstands them. For example, no distinction is made between the anti-Semitic church of the Middle Ages and that of the post-Nazi era. Sami Hadawi, a Christian Arab, covers all aspects of the problem in Loss of a Heritage (Naylor, 1963) and Bitter Harvest: Palestine 1914–67 (New World, 1967). The latter provides historical and religious background through the Six-Day War with a section on U. S. involvement. Good maps and quotations from sources and documents of both sides round out the picture. The Transformation of Palestine: Essays on the Origin and Development of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Northwestern University, 1971) is edited by Ibrahim Abu-Lughod and contains an excellent bibliography arranged in convenient subject divisions. United Church of Canada editor A. C. Forrest’s controversial The Unholy Land (McClelland and Stewart, 1971) attempts to correct by first-hand observation misinformation in the West regarding the Arabs (see review in CHRISTIANITY TODAY, April 9, 1971).

Prophecy

Modern Israel’s role in fulfilling (or not fulfilling) prophecy is a major concern with evangelicals. CHRISTIANITY TODAY showed its interest as long ago as 1956 by printing on opposite pages “Israel’s Transgression in Palestine” by Oswald T. Allis and “Israel in Her Promised Land” by Wilbur M. Smith (December 24). In an article entitled “The Arab-Israeli War and the Christian” (Eternity, June 21, 1967) William S. LaSor explains why Israel may be fulfilling prophecy but advises against hasty conclusions. Unfortunately he generalizes that Christian as well as non-Christian Arabs think “every Jew [must] be driven into the sea”—a statement not borne out by this writer’s personal knowledge. Wilbur M. Smith in The Arab/Israeli Conflict and the Bible (Regal, 1967) surveys commentaries on prophecy and concludes that modern Israel is a reestablishment of the ancient state, though he outlines other opinions. Despite the title, such biblical aspects of the problem as mercy, justice, and New Testament theology are not treated. Palestine and the Bible (New World, 1962) edited by M. T. Mehdi is a collection of essays on various biblical aspects of the conflict. Prophecy in the Making (Creation House, 1971) edited by Carl F. H. Henry contains messages delivered at the Jerusalem Conference on Biblical Prophecy in 1971. It includes articles presenting opposing views on the fulfillment of the Temple prophecy of Ezekiel 40–48 and on the future of Israel. In Prophecy and the Seventies (Moody, 1971) edited by Charles L. Feinberg, part III—“Israel and the Prophetic Scriptures”—treats similar material. (This volume was published in connection with the Seventh Congress on Biblical Prophecy in 1970; it and Prophecy in the Making were reviewed in CHRISTIANITY TODAY, May 26, 1972.)

Two essays elaborate on some reasons for caution in seeing Israel as a fulfillment of prophecy. Bradley Watkins, a missionary in Egypt for twenty-two years, in “Is the Modem State, Israel, a Fulfillment of Prophecy?” (reprinted in The Link, November–December, 1970) examines relevant prophecies and underlines the need to examine them in the light of the New Testament. “Is the Old Testament Zionist?” (reprinted in Middle East Newsletter, June–July, 1968) is a lecture delivered by William L. Holladay, mainly to Christian Arabs. He examines the question of the identity of modem with ancient Israel from the historical, political, and religious standpoints.

Arab-Israeli Relations

Several studies add to the treatment of these two related topics given in general surveys. Jews and Arabs: Their Contacts Through the Ages (Shocken, 1955) by S. D. Goitein is especially good on Middle Eastern Jews; it also emphasizes the current importance of emotional factors. Y. Harkabi’s Arab Attitudes to Israel (Israel Universities Press, 1971) presents policy statements and key speeches of Arab government leaders. Reflections on the Middle East Crisis (Mouton, 1970), edited by Herbert Mason, has essays advocating redress of wrongs to Arabs and the continuance of Israel. It includes reprints of “The Position of Jews in Arab Lands Following the Rise of Islam” by M. L. Swartz and other articles from The Muslim World, January 1970. Sabri Jiryis, a Christian lawyer who formerly was an Israeli citizen, has used Israeli government sources together with his own observations to document The Arabs in Israel, 1948–66 (Institute for Palestine Studies, 1969).

Three books urge a form of secular, bi-national state or league of states: Israel Without Zionists: A Plea for Peace in the Middle East (Macmillan, 1968) by Uri Avnery, a member of the Israeli parliament; A Palestine Entity? (Middle East Institute, 1970) by D. Peretz, E. M. Wilson, and E. M. Ward; and Charles Douglas-Home’s The Arabs and Israel (Dufour, 1968). The plan presented by al-Fateh, politically the most influential guerrilla group, to the World Conference on Palestine in 1970—“Toward a Democratic State in Palestine” (The Militant, October 9, 16, 1970)—deserves careful study. Behind the revolutionary terminology lies a degree of tolerance and understanding that refutes accusations of universal hatred by Arabs for Jews. One Jewish reaction is “A ‘Democratic’ Palestine (What the Terrorists Propose)” in Jewish Frontier, October, 1970.

Periodicals

Several periodicals can help one keep abreast of events and opinion. Christian News From Israel has been published since about 1950 by the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs in Jerusalem. It treats historical and contemporary aspects of all branches of Christianity in Palestine. CCI Notebook began in 1971, is published by Christians Concerned for Israel, and is edited by Franklin Littell, a strongly pro-Israeli Methodist. Middle East Newsletter was begun in 1967 by Americans for Justice in the Middle East, based in Beirut; its aim is to provide carefully researched and reported items of Arab news and opinion not usually found in the American press. The Link, published since 1968, has a similar aim and is the organ of Americans for Middle East Understanding. Book reviews and background information for tourists are distinctive features. Near East Report: Washington Letter on American Policy in the Near East (began 1957) seems closely connected with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. New Outlook: Middle East Monthly (began 1957) is published in Tel Aviv but reflects a variety of opinions. Free Palestine (began 1968) is published in London.

In Depth

DOCUMENTS:International Documents on Palestine (Institute for Palestine Studies, 1967–) replaces Palestine Before the United Nations and extends the scope; Israel and the Arab World (Barnes and Noble, 1970), edited by C. H. Dodd and M. E. Sales, includes journal and newspaper articles. Basic Political Documents of the Armed Palestinian Resistance Movement (Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, 1969) traces the movement from 1936 when Palestinians began resisting the British Mandate.

AREA HISTORIES: S. N. Fisher’s The Middle East (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969); for the biblical period, John Bright’s History of Israel (Westminster, revised 1972).

POLITICAL FACTORS:The King-Crane Commission: An American Inquiry Into the Middle East (Khayats, 1966) by H. N. Howard reports the 1919 investigation into Arab aspirations; J. H. Davis observed the situation as commissioner-general for the U. N. Relief and Works Administration and wrote The Evasive Peace: A Study of the Zionist-Arab Problem (Murray, 1969). Nisi Dominus (Harrap, 1946) by N. Barbour is an account of the British mandate; Between Two Seas (Murray, 1968) by Lord Kinross is a history of the Suez.

ANTI-ZIONIST JEWISH OPINION: M. Menuhin’s The Decadence of Judaism in Our Time (Institute for Palestine Studies, 1969); Rabbi E. Berger’s Judaism or Jewish Nationalism: The Alternative to Zionism (Bookman Associates, 1957); and many articles. Zionism Reconsidered: The Rejection of Jewish Normalcy (Macmillan, 1970) is a volume of essays edited by M. Seltzer.

GENERAL ESSAY COLLECTIONS:Palestine: A Search for Truth (Public Affairs Press, 1970) edited by A. R. Taylor and R. N. Tetlie; Student World (World Student Christian Federation) special issue, Volume 62, Number 1 (1969), gives various views; Middle East Forum (American University of Beirut), special double issue, Volume 45, Numbers 1 and 2 (1968), gives reprinted articles in chronological order. Several of the essays in Christians, Zionism and Palestine: … articles and statements on the religious and political aspects … (Institute for Palestine Studies, 1970) are also reprints.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:A Selected Bibliography on the Problems of the Middle East (Americans for Justice in the Middle East, 1970) and Israel: A Bibliography, compiled by Iva Cohen (Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, 1970).

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