The Arab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967: An Arab Perspective by Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Review by: Chaim I.

Waxman Jewish Social Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2/3 (Apr. - Jul., 1971), pp. 241-243 Published by: Indiana University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4466660 . Accessed: 09/02/2013 13:18
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Book Reviews in consumer goods. The moshav, on the other hand, has increased the extent of collective agriculturalcultivation where it has proven more effectivethan privateculfor unirtivation,particularly fruitorchards, rigated grains, and pasture. The moshav shitufiappealsto the same type of ideologically oriented pioneer as the kibbutz. It has had difficultyin attractingsettlers for the samereasonas the kibbutz.Manyof these

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have takenplace; for examplebetween1954 and 1965therewas a markedincreasein the percentageof both Africanand Asian-born "old timers"and "new immigrants" the in "liberalprofessionsand bureaucracy," with a smallerincreasein theseprofessions among the European and American-born "old timers" and "new immigrants."Nevertheless, Israel society remainspluralisticfrom a culturaland social point of view. moshavim shitufiyim have developed into exIt is regrettablethat the book is marred cellent communal farms. This particular by a poor English translationand sloppy form of settlement, however, is unlikely editing and proofreading.For instance, as to play a major role in cooperativeagricul- to style: "Pluralism be positivelydefined can ture in Israel. as a society in which. . "; or "dispersion MAXWELLI. KLAYMAN. on the economicalsphere";or "thereis then Universityof Akron. a recurrence of the same phenomenon, by which social (ethnic) origin is a more LISSAK, MOSHE. Social Mobility in Israel difficult obstacle to overcome...." As to Society. Jerusalem. Israel Universities editing and proofreading: "Muslim" and Press. 1969. Pp. xii, 122. "Moslem" alternate on the same page; "Traditional costumes," read "customs"; This slender volume is a welcome addition "Cluckhohn," read "Kluckhohn";"Atlas," to the already considerable literature on read "Attias"; and "nett" read "net." The as immigrant absorption in Israel. Its main Hebrewhet is transcribed "h" or "ch" or value lies in the carefully assembled and "h"; the khaf as "ch"or "kh"; the tzade as
analyzed statistical material on immigrants of Asian and African birth as compared (or contrasted) with immigrants born in Europe and America. Each of these two major origin groups is subdivided into two categories: "old-timers," that is, those who had immigrated prior to 1948, and "new immigrants," that is, those who arrived after the foundation of the State. The conclusion of the study can be summarized briefly: with some variation, the general picture is that, when measured by such indices as occupational stratification, intergeneration mobility, income level, literacy, length of schooling, attendance at academic institutions, rural-urban distribution, and the like, the European and American-born "old-timers" occupy the highest position, the African and Asian-born "new immigrants" the lowest, with the European and American-born "new immigrants" and the African and Asian-born "old-timers" positioned in-between these two. It also emerges that in the course of the years, certain shifts in these relative positions z or z.
RAPHAEL PATAI.

Theodor Herzl Institute, New York City. ABU-LUGHOD, IBRAHIM, Ed. The Arab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967: An Arab Perspective. Evanston. Northwestern University Press. 1970. Pp. xiv, 201. This book consists of nine essays which originally appeared in a special issue (vol. xiv, no. 10-11) of The Arab World, the monthly magazine published by the Arab Information Center in New York City. Each of the essays is authored by a professor of Arab descent, and each attempts to provide "an Arab perspective" on an essential element in the Arab-Israeli conflict. To be honest, I did not approach this book expecting to agree with the perspectives of the Editor and authors of the essays which it contains. What I was hoping to find were areas of possible dialogue between intel-

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242

JEWISH SOCIAL STUDIES

lectuals on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict which might pave the way for the much-needed mutual respect and understanding. I was, therefore, somewhat optimistic that this book might provide the seeds of such a dialogue, especially when I read in the Editor's Preface that "with one exception, all [of the contributors] are Americans of Arab ancestry or origin," and "each of the contributors is a scholar whose previous intellectual contributions, again with one exception, have revolved around questions and issues unrelated to the Palestine conflict" (p. x). Here, I felt, we have a number of scholars, not professional propagandists, who have the desirable intellectual detachment and knowledge to offer the framework for a dialogue with scholars of "the other side." Much to my chagrin, my optimism came to naught. In the opening essay, "The Arabs Portrayed," Professor Edward Said decries the distorted image of the Arab as he is stereotyped in the West. Said finds the Arab invariably characterized as wild, hysterical, bloodthirsty, incompetent, bereft of identity and ideology, heartless and, thus, incapable of compassion. Having internalized this portrait, most Westerners are incapable of comprehending the Arab position in its conflict with Israel. What Professor Said neglects in his condemnation of Western ethnocentrism, is the degree to which many Arab "spokesmen," from the ex-Mufti elHusseini to Ahmad Shukairi and George Habash, for example, have contributed, through their harangues and actions, to the Western image of the Arab. Valid or not, unless and until Arabs themselves demonstrably refute the Western stereotype, Professor Said will remain with his grievances. In the Editor's own essay, Professor AbuLughod traces the 1967 "confrontation" to three phases of "Israel's Arab Policy." Without wishing to enter into an argument and refutation of Abu-Lughod's allegations, I find it distinctly revealing that he never considers the other side of the coin, namely, the Arab governments' Israel policy, as a factor of any significance in the conflict. Similarly, Professor Abu-Lughod is critical

of Israel's non-recognitionof the existence of the PalestinianArabs, "whom the world has relegatedto oblivion. .." (p. 79), but he again fails to make any referenceto the refusalof the Arab governments comply to with the decisionof the United Nations and establisha PalestinianState. In his study of "AmericanMass Media andthe JuneConflict," Professor MichaelW. Suleimanis critical of the reportingof the "conflict" in the major American newsHe papersand news-magazines. is perplexed by the fact thatjust priorto the war,Nasser was describedas "cautious and not interested in going to war with Israel,"and then, severaldays later, these same media "began to condemn Nasser as the cause for all the trouble"(p. 141). He can find no excusefor theirresponsibility thepress,andconcludes of that "a more responsiblepress would perform its appointedrole in a democracy and behelp bring about better understanding tween Arabsand Americans" 154).With (p. no intention of whitewashing American the news media, I would suggestthat Professor Suleiman read the analyses of the war offeredby numerous who, politicalobservers almost unanimously,conclude that Nasser, while probably not initially desiring to go to war, got caught up in his own rhetoric and actions to the point of no return.Thus, while he might not have been interestedin war with Israel during late May and early June, 1967, as reported in the press, his words and deeds sparkeda chain reaction which he recognized and with which he persistedand, thus, he was, in fact, a major "causefor all the trouble."I findit astonishing that Professor Suleiman should be so unaware of this line of analysis, especially sinceit is maintained evenby manyobservers to sympathetic Nasser. In his critique of "United States Policy Towardthe JuneConflict,"ProfessorKamel Abu-Jaber concludesthat "the UnitedStates policy[is]a one-sidedpolicyfor the advanceHis out-of-contextanalysissuffersfrom the complete absence of any considerationof United States policieswithin the framework of big-powerrelations, so he fails to alert
ment of Zionist aspirations..." (p. 168).

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Book Reviews
the readerof the Soviet Union's role in the conflict and in the Middle East in general; nor would anyone know from his essay that there is a State Department in the United States, that it plays a role in U.S. foreign policy, and that it can hardly be characterizedas favoring "Zionist aspirations." The most valuableessay in the collection is that of Professor A.L. Tibawi, "Jerusalem: Its Placein Islamand Arab History," whichdoes, to some extent,providea muchneeded elaboration on the subject of the Islamicattachmentto Jerusalem. where But ProfessorTibawifails is in his abysmallack of appreciationfor the Jewish attachment to Jerusalem. For example he maintains that he found no referenceto the Western (Wailing) Wall in the 1901 edition of the researchedthe whole of that edition of the

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to it on pages 140 and 155, and a full page picture of Jews praying at the Wall on page 143! Finally, his perversions of facts of recent history are utterly astounding, as when he charges that "Israel showed now and since 1948 no respect for religious or even international law" (p. 48), but that the Arabs respected and carefully guarded Jewish Holy Places. In sum, these and the other essays by Hisham Sharabi, Cherif Bassiouni, and Abdeen Jabara are disappointing, not so much because they are critical of Israel, but because the authors, from whom one would have expected more, fail to see the complexities of the issues and, thus, write in the standard "good-guy, bad-guy" manner of propagandists. As such, they neither contribute to understanding nor do they offer much in the Jewish Encyclopedia, and thus concludes that way of any hope for a peaceful solution to a it was of "limitedappeal"(p. 38). I haven't very tragic and volatile conflict. Jewish Encyclopedia, but in the one volume
CHAIMI. WAXMAN.

whichI did check,vol. vii, I found reference

Central Connecticut State College.

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