The Israel–Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories (Contesting the Past) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Neil Caplan is a Canadian historian specializing in Arab–Israeli diplomacy and the Israel–Palestine conflict. Since his retirement from teaching, he has been an Affiliate Faculty Member in the Department of History at Concordia University in Montreal. He is author of the four-volume Futile Diplomacy: A History of Arab-Israeli Negotiations, 1913-1956, and co-author with Laura Zittrain Eisenberg of Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: Patterns, Problems, Possibilities, now in its third edition.

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“This new edition will stand as one of the best – if not the best – mid-level, college-oriented analyses of the conflict in a crowded field of competing titles.”
―JOHN CALVERT, Professor of History, Creighton University

Nuanced narratives of the complex Israel–Palestine conflict

Now in its Third Edition, The Israel–Palestine Conflict: Contested Histories examines why this dispute has proven so resistant to resolution over more than 145 years. Neil Caplan draws upon the protagonists’ own words to lay out the dueling Palestinian and Israeli narratives in which each side perceives itself as victim of the other’s aggression. The result is a nuanced and measured account that neither validates nor dismisses either narrative, presenting opposing viewpoints through the conflict’s chronological milestones.

In this readable and engaging work, Caplan organizes his analysis around recurring themes and patterns, core arguments, and repeated cycles of violence and calm that have shaped the conflict’s trajectory. The book addresses difficulties in defining the dispute and the obstacles to its resolution, while sensitizing readers to the problems of bias in both scholarship and public debate. Detailed notes and citations accompany each chapter, enabling readers to engage in further independent research.

Designed for undergraduate courses yet accessible to a broader readership, this book is also a valuable resource for community groups, book clubs, and concerned observers of global affairs who seek a nuanced understanding of one of the world’s most destructive and enduring conflicts. Its even-handed presentation of Palestinian and Israeli narratives provides opportunities for thoughtful reflection and informed conversation, rather than partisan certainties and combative rhetoric.