Enemies and Neighbours

Ian Black, an experienced journalist from the Guardian, offers an important new history of one of the most controversial conflicts of the modern era. Based on a wide range of sources, from declassified documents to oral testimonies and his own decades of reporting, the book offers essential perspective and balance to the longstanding and unresolved confrontation between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem.

Starting from the final years of Ottoman rule and the period of the British Mandate, the book revisits the roots of a relationship that was doomed from the start. It sheds light on critical events such as the Arab revolution of the 1930s, Israel's independence and the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948, the 1967 war, the two Intifadas, the Oslo Accords, and Israel's shift to the right.

The book traces how, after five decades of occupation and the construction of the West Bank separation wall, hopes for a two-state solution have almost disappeared, while examining what the future may hold. However, Black goes beyond the most resonant events - wars, violence, and peace initiatives - to capture the reality of daily life on the streets of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Haifa, and Gaza, for both sides of an unequal battle.

Clear, timely, and compelling, Enemies and Neighbours illuminates a bitter conflict that shows no signs of ending, making it essential to understand.

Pages: 640, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm