Presents an examination of Israel that traces the events that led the country to its current state of conflict through the stories of everyday citizens to illuminate the importance of lesser-known historical events.

"Minor Detail begins during the summer of 1949, one year after the war that the Palestinians mourn as the Nakba-the catastrophe that led to the displacement and exile of some 700,000 people-and the Israelis celebrate as the War of Independence. Israeli soldiers murder an encampment of Bedouin in the Negev desert, and among their victims they capture a Palestinian teenager and they rape her, kill her, and bury her in the sand. Many years later, in...

"Sokatch is the head of the New Israel Fund, an organization dedicated to equality and democracy for all Israelis, not just Jews. Well-versed on the Israeli conflict, he attempts to explain why Israel-- and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict-- inspires such extreme feelings. His provides an easy-to-read yet penetrating and original look at the history and basic contours of one of the most complicated conflicts in the world." --

"In 1967, Bashir Khairi, a twenty-five-year-old Palestinian, journeyed to Israel with the goal of seeing the beloved stone house with the lemon tree behind it that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family left fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and...

In a move that would forever alter the map of the Middle East, Israel captured the West Bank, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula in 1967's brief but pivotal Six Day War. Cursed Victory is the first complete history of the war's troubled aftermath--a military occupation of the Palestinian territories that is now well into its fifth decade. Drawing on unprecedented access to high-level sources, top-secret memos and never-before-published...

"The ongoing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians has roots that stretch all the way back to biblical times. This anthology explores the different causes of this violent conflict and considers some of the potential options for building a lasting peace." --

New York Times best-selling author Alan Dershowitz presents a persuasive roadmap for achieving a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. As he did in his widely acclaimed work The Case for Israel, the renowned defender of civil liberties offers compelling-and sometimes controversial -solutions for ending this bloody, divisive conflict. Dershowitz maintains that, following the death of Yassar Arafat and the democratic election of Mahmoud Abbas,...

In this deeply personal journey of discovery, Ami Ayalon seeks input and perspective from Palestinians and Israelis whose experiences differ from his own. As head of the Shin Bet security agency, he gained empathy for "the enemy" and learned that when Israel carries out anti-terrorist operations in a political context of hopelessness, the Palestinian public will support violence, because they have nothing to lose. Researching and writing Friendly...

"[ Bethlehem ] brings within reach 11,000 years of history, centering on the beloved town's unique place in the world. Blincoe's love of Bethlehem is compelling, even as he does not shy away from the complexities of its chronicle." --President Jimmy Carter Bethlehem is so suffused with history and myth that it feels like an unreal city even to those who call it home. For many, Bethlehem remains the little town at the edge of the desert described in...

Jerusalem under Siege
In The Fight for Jerusalem, bestselling author and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold explains why radical Islamists seek to divide and conquer Jerusalem and raze sites holy for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. With the United Nations untrustworthy and global jihad making waves, the city is a ticking time bomb. Gold shows why only Israel can preserve its sanctuaries for different religions...