In Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017, Ian Black offers a new panoramic history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, beginning with the Balfour Declaration in 1917 up until the present day. Linking the impact of political decisions to everyday lives and experiences and drawing on a wide array of voices and perspectives, this is a beautifully written and up-to-date introduction to the development of the conflict, finds Menachem Klein. This review was originally published on the LSE Middle East Centre blog. Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017. Ian Black. Allen Lane. 2017

Klein, Menachem

LSE Research Online

Book	Review:	Enemies	and	Neighbours:	Arabs	andJews	in	Palestine	and	Israel,	1917-2017	by	Ian	BlackIn	Enemies	and	Neighbours:	Arabs	and	Jews	in	Palestine	and	Israel,	1917-2017,	Ian	Black	offers	a	newpanoramic	history	of	the	Israeli-Palestinian	conflict,	beginning	with	the	Balfour	Declaration	in	1917	up	until	thepresent	day.	Linking	the	impact	of	political	decisions	to	everyday	lives	and	experiences	and	drawing	on	a	widearray	of	voices	and	perspectives,	this	is	a	beautifully	written	and	up-to-date	introduction	to	the	development	of	theconflict,	finds	Menachem	Klein.This	review	was	originally	published	on	the	LSE	Middle	East	Centre	blog.	Enemies	and	Neighbours:	Arabs	and	Jews	in	Palestine	and	Israel,	1917-2017.	Ian	Black.	Allen	Lane.	2017.	Find	this	book:	A	century	has	passed	since	World	War	I,	providing	an	opportunityto	revisit	one	of	the	war’s	most	famous	byproducts:	the	BalfourDeclaration.	In	his	letter	to	Lord	Rothschild	on	2	November	1917,Lord	Balfour,	then	British	Foreign	Secretary,	wrote:His	Majesty’s	government	view	with	favour	theestablishment	in	Palestine	of	a	national	home	for	theJewish	people,	and	will	use	their	best	endeavours	tofacilitate	the	achievement	of	this	object,	it	being	clearlyunderstood	that	nothing	shall	be	done	which	may	prejudicethe	civil	and	religious	rights	of	existing	non-Jewishcommunities	in	Palestine,	or	the	rights	and	political	statusenjoyed	by	Jews	in	any	other	country.Just	twenty	years	after	its	foundation,	the	Zionist	Federation	hadscored	a	remarkable	diplomatic	coup.	Great	Britain,	still	then	themost	powerful	colonial	empire,	recognised	the	young	nationalmovement	as	the	sole	representative	of	the	Jewish	people;integrated	the	Zionist	political	goal	into	its	colonial	policy	andpost-war	plans;	and	relegated	Palestine’s	non-Jews,	then	90	percent	of	the	population,	to	mere	religious	communities.The	short	text,	just	67	words,	had	a	far-reaching	impact.	TheLeague	of	Nations	included	it	in	the	Mandate	it	gave	to	Britain	in1922.	Without	such	an	endorsement,	it	is	unlikely	the	newly-formed	United	Nations	in	November	1947	would	have	acceptedthe	plan	to	partition	Palestine	into	separate	Jewish	and	Arab	states.	The	Balfour	Declaration,	therefore,	framesthe	unsolved	Israeli–Palestinian	conflict	and	its	impact	continues	to	reverberate.	Ian	Black	rightly	sees	this	asYear	Zero	of	the	conflict,	starting	and	ending	the	narrative	of	Enemies	and	Neighbours:	Arabs	&	Jews	in	Palestine&	Israel,	1917-2017	with	the	Declaration.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 by Ian Black Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-28Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/11/28/book-review-enemies-and-neighbours-arabs-and-jews-in-palestine-and-israel-1917-2017-by-ian-black/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Image	Credit:	Dome	of	the	Rock	and	the	Western	Wall,	Jerusalem,	1992	(Dun.can	CC	BY	2.0)It’s	no	surprise	that	Black’s	book	is	clear	and	beautifully	written,	with	his	time	as	Middle	East	editor	atthe	Guardian	lasting	over	35	years.	Nevertheless,	in	writing	a	book	that	covers	a	century	and	combines	manysources	into	one	integrative	narrative,	the	author	moves	from	reporting	on	individual	events	to	writing	afascinating	panoramic	history.	Moreover,	unlike	other	historians	of	the	conflict	that	limit	their	study	to	political	or‘institutional’	history,	Ian	Black	shows	the	impact	political	decisions	and	armed	clashes	had	on	average	citizens’lives	and	perceptions.	Historians	rarely	make	this	linkage.As	noted,	the	book	is	an	integrative	study.	Black	does	not	uncover	new	archive	documents	or	reveal	unknownaffairs.	Rather,	he	takes	the	reader	along	a	linear	history	of	the	conflict,	moving	chronologically	through	its	mainevents.	Each	of	the	26	chapters	covers	a	few	years	in	around	twenty	pages,	and	so	the	book	is	an	excellent	up-to-date	introduction	to	the	development	of	the	conflict.Black	integrates	into	his	chronological	narrative	voices	and	perspectives	that	readers	would	struggle	to	findoutside	specialist	studies	or	the	primary	sources	themselves.	For	instance,	he	discusses	methods	Israeli-Palestinians	(that	is,	Palestinians	that	became	Israeli	citizens)	used	after	the	1948	war	to	preserve	theirPalestinian	identity	and	national	narrative.	At	that	time,	in	the	1950s	and	the	1960s,	Israeli	state	agencies	did	theirutmost	to	impose	the	Jewish-Israeli	narrative	on	these	communities,	through	closely	monitoring	the	educationsystem,	imposing	strict	media	censorship	and	subjecting	them	to	martial	law.	After	the	1967	war,	the	two	parts	ofthe	Palestinian	nation	–	those	who	lived	within	Israel’s	‘1948’	borders	as	Israeli	citizens	and	their	compatriots	fromthe	Jordanian	West	Bank	and	Egyptian	Gaza	Strip	–	met.	The	meeting	empowered	their	common	nationalidentity.Black’s	general	picture	of	one	of	the	longest	active	national	conflicts	is	gloomy.	He	ends	his	book	observing	that‘violence	was	never	far	away’	in	the	annals	of	Israeli–Palestinian	relations	and	he	predicts	no	end	to	the	conflictfor	the	foreseeable	future.	Black’s	narrative	leads	to	the	conclusion	that	from	Balfour	Declaration	in	1917	until	thePalestinian	revolt	in	1936,	the	conflict	gradually	developed,	and	since	the	1936	revolt	it	has	been	repeating	itself.For	instance,	take	the	words	of	the	Israeli	diplomat	Walter	Eytan	in	1951:The	Arab	states	[…]	do	not	recognise	Israel;	consequently	there	is	no	one	with	whom	to	negotiate.Their	whole	attitude	is	based	on	the	thesis	that	Israel	has	no	right	to	exist.	Israel	has	shown	that	shecould	ride	out	ten	years	of	unrelenting	enmity	[…]	and	she	can	live	with	it	for	decades	and	generationsmore	if	she	must	(163).If	you	replace	‘the	Arab	states’	with	‘the	Palestinians’,	you	get	the	present	popular	Israeli	view	and	the	mirror	ofPrime	Minister	Netanyahu’s	typical	statements,	echoing	nearly	all	of	his	predecessors.LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 by Ian Black Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-28Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/11/28/book-review-enemies-and-neighbours-arabs-and-jews-in-palestine-and-israel-1917-2017-by-ian-black/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Does	the	Balfour	Declaration	still	shape	the	Israeli–Palestinian	conflict?	Whereas	in	the	Balfour	Declaration	GreatBritain	supported	the	establishment	of	a	national	home	for	the	Jewish	people	within	Palestine,	successive	Israeligovernments	since	1977,	with	few	short-lived	exceptions	(namely	the	administrations	of	Prime	Ministers	Olmertand	Barak),	claim	sovereignty	over	all	of	it	and	restlessly	agitate	to	de	facto	annex	the	entire	land	throughsettlement	construction.	Moreover,	most	Israelis	do	not	base	their	claims	of	sovereignty	over	all	Palestine	on	theBalfour	Declaration	and	international	recognition,	but	on	God’s	promise	as	documented	in	scripture.	PoliticalIslam,	indeed,	is	the	mirror	image	of	this	approach.Thus,	after	100	years,	the	intent	of	the	original	Balfour	Declaration	is	fading	away.	The	Israeli–Palestinian	conflictin	the	twenty-first	century	is	an	ethno-religious	conflict	over	all	Palestine.	Due	to	settlement	expansion	and	Israelicontrol	over	the	entire	territory	between	Jordan	and	the	Mediterranean,	the	Palestinian	Authority	has	beensubordinated.	This	is	a	new	dimension	for	the	old	conflict	between	two	separate	national	liberation	movements,whereby	it	is	now	a	domestic	conflict	–	within	the	territory	ruled	by	Israel	–	between	two	ethno-religious	collectivesalmost	demographically	equal,	but	deeply	divided	and	unequal	in	their	civil	rights.Menachem	Klein	is	Professor	in	the	Department	of	Political	Studies	at	Bar	Ilan	University	and	was	a	teammember	of	the	Geneva	Initiative	Negotiations	in	2003.	He	is	the	author	of	The	Shift:	Israel-Palestine	from	BorderStruggle	to	Ethnic	Conflict	and	Lives	in	Common:	Arabs	and	Jews	in	Jerusalem,	Jaffa	and	Hebron.Note:	This	review	gives	the	views	of	the	author,	and	not	the	position	of	the	LSE	Review	of	Books	blog,	or	of	theLondon	School	of	Economics.	LSE Review of Books: Book Review: Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 by Ian Black Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-11-28Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/11/28/book-review-enemies-and-neighbours-arabs-and-jews-in-palestine-and-israel-1917-2017-by-ian-black/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/

Book review: enemies and neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017 by Ian Black

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