Hello!
It’s time for “Writer Wednesday”, when I discuss another author and his or her book.
The Israelis and the Palestinians have always disagreed. Theirs is a struggle of epic proportions of sibling rivalry rooted in Isaac and Ishmael and lasting without end for generations and thousands of years. Right?
Wrong.
It turns out that the Israelis and Palestinians have not been locked in constant strife. Throughout parts of history, they’ve lived peacefully alongside each other and been friends.
In her book, Jerusalem 1913: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Amy Dockser Marcus (winner of the Pulitzer Prize), first illustrates the cooperation and peace that existed in the Middle East and then goes on to show that the modern problems did not begin in 1948, with the founding of the Israeli state, but decades earlier. 2013 marks the centenary of the year that Marcus determines is responsible for the mounting tensions and strife. Why 1913? Firstly, this is when the first Pan-Arab conference was held. Secondly, this is when Zionism ramped up. In essence, what this means is that the peoples were solidifying behind their distinct ethnic and cultural identities rather than bridging them to come together.
Dockens further goes on to say that a peace process was possible. So, what stopped it? A bullet in Sarajevo the following year did. WWI shattered the moment for peace and so the story continues…
My best to you all,
Megan
