When did the Arab-Israeli conflict begin? Some discussions focus on the 1967 war, some go back to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and others look to the beginning of the British Mandate in 1922. Alan Dowty, however, traces the earliest roots of the conflict to the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, arguing that this historical approach highlights constant clashes between religious and ethnic groups in Palestine. He demonstrates that existing Arab residents viewed new Jewish settlers as European and shares evidence of overwhelming hostility to foreigners from European lands. He shows that Jewish settlers had tremendous incentive to minimize all obstacles to settlement, including the inconvenient hostility of the existing population. Dowty's thorough research reveals how events that occurred over 125 years ago shaped the implacable conflict that dominates the Middle East today. Dowty's book will serve as an accessible and important work in the field of the history of the Yishuv during the Ottoman period and the early stages of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The combination of attention to detail and a broad overview means that this work will be useful to scholars and students for years to come, and the author deserves every praise for this. -- Tamir Karkason * H-Judaic *
Arabs and Jews in Ottoman Palestine: Two Worlds Collide