Hamas' mass murder, Israel's harsh response, and the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians who are paying the price for this rekindled war are terrifying the world. Between politics, the press and propaganda, people are looking for reliable information that really helps to understand the conflict. Also in book form: Quite a few readers have asked us about it in the last few days.
We discussed this question in the editorial office and also passed it on to proven Middle East experts. Many of their recommendations are only available in English, for a simple reason, as one expert wrote to us: "The academic discussion on the topic hardly takes place in German."
However, there are current, easy-to-understand introductory works, for example:
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Richard C. Schneider
The Matter of Israel
A SPIEGEL book: Five questions about a complicated country
Publisher: DVA
Number of pages: 192
A SPIEGEL book: Five questions about a complicated country
Publisher: DVA
Number of pages: 192
Buy for €22.00
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Richard C. Schneider: "The Matter of Israel: Five Questions about a Complicated Country." Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, 2023. 192 pages, 22 euros
The author reported from Israel for ARD from 1989 to 2016 and has been writing for SPIEGEL for two years. He is a proven expert on the political situation and its causes. In the book, he explains the "extremely complex, complicated country" in a gripping and comprehensible way using questions that play a major role in the current debate, such as: Is Israel an apartheid state? Is criticism of Israel anti-Semitic? Does Palestine belong to the Palestinians? Schneider's SPIEGEL articles can be found here.
Muriel Asseburg and Jan Busse: "The Middle East Conflict: History, Positions, Perspectives". C.H. Beck, 2023. 128 pages, 12 euros
The volumes of the so-called Beck series are concise, comprehensible and serious. Written by renowned experts, we journalists also like to use them for an initial, concise overview.
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Tom Segev
Once upon a time there was a Palestine - Jews and Arabs before the founding of the State of Israel
Translation: Doris Gerstner
Publisher: Pantheon
Number of pages: 672
Translation: Doris Gerstner
Publisher: Pantheon
Number of pages: 672
Buy for €16.00
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Tom Segev: "Once upon a time there was a Palestine: Jews and Arabs before the founding of the State of Israel". Pantheon, 2006. 672 pages, 16 Euro
Israeli Tom Segev is both a historian and a journalist. He has mastered the art of telling history in stories, vividly, distinctively and competently. In this standard work, he asks the question of the causes of the conflict – and finds it on all sides. Here is an article from SPIEGEL History, which is also based on "Once upon a time there was a Palestine".
Michael Wolffsohn: "Who owns the Holy Land? The Roots of the Dispute between Jews and Arabs". Piper, 2011. 304 pages, 12 Euro
This, too, is a standard work that seriously presents the historical-religious roots of the conflict and the founding history of Israel. Wolffsohn is known to be opinionated, but he doesn't hide it: where he comments, he makes it clear.
An eye for detail
If you are looking for more than a well-founded overview, you will find a wealth of sources that explain the conflict in a variety of ways. Just like the book by ...
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Joseph Croitoru
Al-Aqsa or Temple Mount
Publisher: C.H.Beck
Number of pages: 365
Publisher: C.H.Beck
Number of pages: 365
Buy for €26.95
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Joseph Croitoru: "Al-Aqsa or Temple Mount". C.H. Beck, 2021. 365 pages, 26,95 Euro
Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque and Western Wall are among the most controversial places in the world. Croitoru opens up the conflict by looking at the details: he addresses the central sanctuaries of Jerusalem as the culmination points of the Middle East conflict.
Even more special is the following book, which attempts nothing less than to portray Zionism as the driving force that led to the founding of the State of Israel – and into the Middle East conflict.
Derek J. Penslar: "Zionism: An Emotional State". Rutgers University Press, 2023. 321 pages, approx. 29 euros
Penslar is a professor of Jewish history at Harvard, and his book is currently making waves in the scientific community. He explains the Zionist movement not only politically, ideologically and historically, but also as an emotional phenomenon – from the perspective of the Zionists as well as from that of their opponents. Here is an interview with the author.
Tips for Deep Immersion: Books to Help Middle East Experts Inform Themselves
We put the question of in-depth sources to a number of proven experts on the Middle East conflict. Foreign-language titles are given with approximate prices, due to exchange rate fluctuations. Here are the reading tips:
Recommendations from Johannes Becke
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Johannes Becke ist Professor für Israel- und Nahoststudien an der Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg
Alan Dowty: »Arabs and Jews in Ottoman Palestine: Two Worlds Collide« . Indiana University Press, 2019. 301 Seiten, ca. 28 Euro (Taschenbuchausgabe 2021)
Becke: »Wer die Frühzeit des arabisch-israelischen Konflikts verstehen will, muss sich mit der spätosmanischen Herrschaft über das Land Israel/Palästina beschäftigen – schon vor der britischen Kolonialherrschaft bilden sich hier zwei unterschiedliche Nationalbewegungen aus, die beide legitime Ansprüche auf dasselbe Territorium stellen.«
Raja Shehadeh: »Streifzüge durch Palästina. Notizen zu einer verschwindenden Landschaft« . Promedia, 2008. 184 Seiten, 19,90 Euro
Becke: »Halb Autobiographie, halb Wanderbericht – und ein wichtiger Einblick in die Auswirkungen des Siedlungsprojekts auf die Palästinenser in den besetzten Gebieten.«
Eran Kaplan und Derek Penslar, Hrsg.: »The Origins of Israel, 1882-1948. A Documentary History« . University of Wisconsin Press, 2011. 380 Seiten, ca. 39 Euro
Becke: »Eine exzellente Quellensammlung zur Geschichte des Zionismus und des Staates Israel. Bietet einen umfassenden Überblick über die verschiedenen ideologischen Strömungen des Zionismus, die jüdisch-arabischen Beziehungen im britischen Mandatsgebiet Palästina und den Institutionenaufbau vor der israelischen Staatsgründung.«
Empfehlungen von Simon Wolfgang Fuchs
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Simon Wolfgang Fuchs ist Professor für Islamwissenschaft und Nahoststudien an der Hebräischen Universität in Jerusalem
Foto: Peter Himsel
Tom Segev: »Die ersten Israelis. Die Anfänge des jüdischen Staates« . Pantheon, 2010. 416 Seiten, 18 Euro
Fuchs: »Segev hat ein scharfes Auge – sowohl für die Vertreibung und Enteignung der arabischen Bevölkerung als auch für die intrajüdischen Spannungen zwischen verschiedenen Ethnien, zwischen orthodoxen und säkularen Israelis.«
Sophia Stamatopoulou-Robbins: »Waste Siege: The Life of Infrastructure in Palestine« . Stanford University Press, 2019. 344 Seiten, ca. 28 Euro
Fuchs: »Eine ungewöhnliche, aber extrem faszinierende Perspektive auf die bedrückende tägliche Lebensrealität der palästinensischen Bevölkerung unter israelischer Besatzung in der Westbank. Die Autorin zeigt auf, wie sehr unter anderem Schmutzwasser und Mülldeponien das Miteinander von Gemeindeverwaltungen, der palästinensischen Autonomiebehörde, NGOs, der Internationalen Gemeinschaft und Israel prägen.«
Jonathan Marc Gribetz: »Defining Neighbors. Religion, Race, and the Early Zionist-Arab Encounter« . Princeton University Press, 2019. 308 Seiten, ca. 29 Euro
Fuchs: »Heute begreifen wir den Nahostkonflikt vor allem als einen unerbittlichen Kampf um Land zwischen verfeindeten Religionsgruppen. Dieses exzellent dokumentierte Buch weitet unseren Blick auf die Zeit vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg, als sich Araber und Juden in Palästina vor allem als Nachbarn, weniger als Feinde wahrnahmen.«
Empfehlungen von Steffen Hagemann
Steffen Hagemann ist wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter Policy Analyse und Politische Ökonomie an der RPTU Kaiserslautern. Von 2018 bis 2022 war er Leiter des Büros Tel Aviv der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.
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Muriel Asseburg
Palästina und die Palästinenser - Eine Geschichte von der Nakba bis zur Gegenwart
Verlag: C.H.Beck
Seitenzahl: 365
Verlag: C.H.Beck
Seitenzahl: 365
Für 16,95 € kaufen
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Muriel Asseburg: »Palästina und die Palästinenser. Eine Geschichte von der Nakba bis zur Gegenwart«. C.H. Beck, 2021. 365 Seiten, 16,95 Euro
Hagemann: »Das Buch liefert eine nuancierte Darstellung palästinensischer Geschichte, Politik und Gesellschaft. Es diskutiert innerpalästinensische Perspektiven auf den israelisch-palästinensischen Konflikt und ordnet diese ein.«
Gudrun Krämer: »Geschichte Palästinas« . C.H.Beck, 2015. 446 Seiten, 18,95 Euro
Hagemann: »Das Buch bietet eine differenzierte Geschichte Palästinas vom Beginn der osmanischen Herrschaft bis zur Gründung des Staates Israel. Es liefert präzise historische Hintergründe zu aktuellen Entwicklungen und erzählt multiperspektivisch die Beziehungsgeschichte von jüdischer und arabischer Nationalbewegung.«
Empfehlungen von Eckart Woertz
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Eckart Woertz ist Direktor des GIGA Institutes für Nahoststudien und Professor an der Universität Hamburg
Foto: Privat
David Shipler: »Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land« . Broadway Books, 1986, überarbeitete Neuauflage Penguin, 2002/2015. 565 Seiten, ca. 40 Euro
Woertz: »Ein Buch darüber, wie sich Palästinenser und Israelis gegenseitig wahrnehmen von einem Journalisten der ›New York Times‹, der für die erste Edition des Buches 1987 den Pulitzerpreis erhalten hat.«
Benny Morris: »Righteous victims: A history of the Zionist-Arab conflict, 1881-2001«. Vintage Books, 2001, ca 12 Euro (als eBook)
Woertz: »Historie des Konfliktes bis zum Zusammenbruch des Friedensprozesses und dem Beginn der zweiten Intifada durch den führenden Vertreter der ›neuen historischen Schule‹ in Israel, die seit den Neunzigerjahren aufgrund neu zugänglicher Archivquellen zionistische Gründungsmythen hinterfragt hat, insbesondere was die Vertreibung von Palästinensern im Krieg 1948 betrifft.«
Recommendations from Andreas Böhm
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Andreas Böhm is Director of the Centre of Excellence for Philanthropy at the University of St.Gallen and lecturer in the Master's programmes International Affairs and Governance (MIA) and International Law (MIL)
Photo: Private
Rashid Khalidi: »The Hundred Years War on Palestine« . Profile Books, 2020. 336 pages, approx. 14 euros
Böhm: "Khalidi is the scion of a long-established family of the Palestinian upper class and an outstanding historian. In this way, he combines family history and real history to create a depiction of the Palestinian striving for freedom. The book is pointedly written, and does not spare Palestinian actors from sometimes biting criticism.«
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Michael Brenner
Israel - Dream and Reality of the Jewish State
Publisher: C.H.Beck
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: C.H.Beck
Number of pages: 288
Buy for €24.95
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Product reviews are purely editorial and independent. Via the so-called affiliate links above, we usually receive a commission from the merchant when making a purchase. More information here
Michael Brenner: "Israel. Dream and Reality of the Jewish State«. C.H. Beck, 2016. 288 pages, 16 Euro (paperback edition)
Böhm: "Brenner argues with great knowledge and consideration, with sympathy, without losing the necessary distance to his subject. The book is aimed at a larger audience and is accessible even without previous knowledge, and is also a pleasure to read. If you read Brenner and Khalidi side by side, you get two pages, not a round picture, but an exciting one."
Recommendations from Roy Karadag
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Roy Karadag is a research associate at the Institute for Intercultural and International Studies (InIIS) at the University of Bremen
Photo: University of Bremen
Michael Tessler: "A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". Indiana University Press, 2009. 906 pages, 55-63 euros (reprint of the original 1994 edition)
Karadag: "Balanced. Aims to take Israeli and Palestinian historiography into account when evaluating the Arab-Israeli wars and the many, unfortunately failed, efforts to end the Middle East conflict. Even long explanations and descriptions are very well and vividly written, in order to be able to understand the entire tragedy of the conflict well and to be able to form a judgment about military escalations. The only disadvantage is that, due to the fact that it was first published in 1994, it only takes into account the state of research in the early <>s."
Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim: "The War for Palestine. Rewriting the History of 1948« . Cambridge University Press, 2008. 310 pages, approx. 31 euros
Karadag: "This volume brings together a group of impressive experts who deconstruct in a very convincing way the ideas about the motives of the Arab warring parties that are widespread in Israeli and Western publics. For the German discourse on the Middle East conflict, this anthology certainly has the greatest added value.«
Gershon Shafir: "A Half Century of Occupation: Israel, Palestine, and the World's Most Intractable Conflict". University of California Press, 2017. 288 pages, approx. 29 euros
Karadag: "Critical examination of the Israeli occupation policy since 1967. The book is a great asset for people who only have a general idea of what occupation means and would like to understand more about how unjust Israel's occupation policy is, how it changes over time, and against what forms of opposition it has been strengthened time and time again."
Free Web Sources
On the Internet, it is difficult to distinguish partisan information from information that strives for objectivity or scientific correctness. Opinions differ on the conflicts in the Middle East, and their portrayal always depends on the perspective of the viewer. If you want to inform yourself as independently as possible, you should rely on well-known sources that can be assessed in terms of their tendency.
The Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb), for example, offers a wealth of information – also on the web. On the subject, we recommend ...
Issue »Israel« of the journal »From Politics and Contemporary History« «: via the bpb website as a single article, epub and PDF download or to order in paper form (free of charge)
The topic page »Israel« offers the contents of the 2018 issue of the magazine »Information on Political Education« of the same name in the form of individual articles, as a downloadable PDF or for ordering in paper form (free of charge, shipping costs are paid by the customer).
Thematic collection "History of the Middle East Conflict": a compact overview of the wars and peace efforts of the past 75 years between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
bpb's eurotopics service includes a curated, translated press review of the European media on selected topics. The topic page on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is currently updated daily.
The Security Policy Press Review, which has been compiling international news on security policy since 2001, can be delivered daily: Particularly interesting is its archive, which can be sorted by specific topics or searched in full text for keywords of one's own choosing.