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Palestine: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Geography

Physical and human geography is discussed in Atlas of Israel: Cartography, Physical and Human Geography, 3rd ed. (1985; originally published in Hebrew, 3rd ed., 1985); Geography (1973), compiled from material originally published in the Encyclopaedia Judaica; and Ewan W. Anderson, The Middle East: Geography and Geopolitics (2000). Also of interest is An Atlas on Palestine: The West Bank and Gaza (2000).

History

The multivolume Cambridge Ancient History provides an authoritative survey of Palestine in all periods of antiquity.

The dating of Palestine’s early history is linked to Egyptian dating as interpreted by Rolf Krauss, Sothis- und Monddaten (1985). Prehistory and early history are examined by Jacques Cauvin, Les Premiers Villages de Syrie-Palestine du IXème au VIIème millénaire avant J.C. (1978); Lorenzo Viganò, “Literary Sources for the History of Palestine and Syria: The Ebla Tables,” Biblical Archaeologist, 47(1):6–16 (March 1984); A.T. Olmstead, History of Palestine and Syria to the Macedonian Conquest (1931, reissued 1972); Michael Grant, The History of Ancient Israel (1984, reissued 1997), a good general account; John Bright, A History of Israel, 4th ed. (2000); Kathleen M. Kenyon, Archaeology in the Holy Land, 4th ed. (1979, reprinted 1985); and F.E. Peters, Jerusalem: The Holy City in the Eyes of Chroniclers, Visitors, Pilgrims, and Prophets from the Days of Abraham to the Beginnings of Modern Times (1985, reissued 1995).

Hellenistic and Roman Palestine are the subject of Victor Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews, trans. from Hebrew (1959, reprinted 1999); M. Rostovtzeff, The Social & Economic History of the Hellenistic World, 3 vol. (1941, reprinted 1986); and A.H.M. Jones, The Herods of Judaea (1938, reissued 1967). The most valuable multivolume general modern work is Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.–A.D. 135), rev. and ed. by Geza Vermes and Fergus Millar, trans. by T.A. Burkill et al. from German (1973– ). Other useful works are E. Mary Smallwood, The Jews Under Roman Rule: From Pompey to Diocletian (1976, reprinted 1981); and Michael Avi-Yonah, The Jews of Palestine: A Political History from the Bar Kokhba War to the Arab Conquest, trans. from Hebrew (1976; reprinted as The Jews Under Roman and Byzantine Rule, 1984).

Studies of the periods of Muslim rule before 1516 include Guy Le Strange (trans.), Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500 (1890, reprinted 1975), a collection of medieval Arabic sources; K.J. Asali (ed.), Jerusalem in History (1989, reprinted 2000); Shlomo D. Goitein, “Jerusalem in the Arab Period (638–1099),” The Jerusalem Cathedra, 2:168–196 (1982); and Amnon Cohen and Gabriel Baer (eds.), Egypt and Palestine: A Millennium of Association (868–1948) (1984).

Among many recent works on Ottoman Palestine, the following are the broadest and most valuable: Beshara Doumani, Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700–1900, (1995); Alexander Schölch, Palestine in Transformation, 1856–1882 (1993; originally published in German, 1986); Moshe Maʿoz (ed.), Studies on Palestine During the Ottoman Period (1975); Amnon Cohen, Palestine in the 18th Century: Patterns of Government and Administration (1973); David Kushner (ed.), Palestine in the Late Ottoman Period: Political, Social, and Economic Transformation (1986); Gershon Shafir, Land, Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 1882–1914, updated ed. (1996); and Neville J. Mandel, The Arabs and Zionism Before World War I (1976, reissued 1980).

Some useful general studies that cover the 20th century are Edward W. Said, The Question of Palestine (1979, reissued 1992); Samih K. Farsoun and Christina E. Zacharia, Palestine and the Palestinians (1997); Baruch Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal, Palestinians: The Making of a People (1993); Fred J. Khouri, The Arab-Israeli Dilemma, 3rd ed. (1985); Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel, 2 vol. (1976–87); Rosemary Sayigh, Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries (1979), a collection of interviews with camp Palestinians in Lebanon; Bruce R. Kuniholm and Michael Rubner, The Palestinian Problem and United States Policy: A Guide to Issues and References (1986), with an extensive bibliography; Michael W. Suleiman (ed.), U.S. Policy on Palestine: From Wilson to Clinton (1995); Muhammad Y. Muslih, The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism (1988); Pamela Ann Smith, Palestine and the Palestinians, 1876–1983 (1984); Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 4th ed. (2001); Mark Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1994); and Ian J. Bickerton and Carla L. Klausner, A Concise History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 3rd ed. (1998).

The period of the British mandate is covered by Tarif Khalidi, “Palestinian Historiography: 1900–1948,” Journal of Palestine Studies, 10(3):59–76 (Spring 1981); Adnan Mohammed Abu-Ghazaleh, Arab Cultural Nationalism in Palestine During the British Mandate (1973); Sami Hadawi, Bitter Harvest: A Modern History of Palestine, 4th rev. and updated ed. (1991); Ann Mosely Lesch, Arab Politics in Palestine, 1917–1939: The Frustration of a Nationalist Movement (1979); Y. Porath, The Emergence of the Palestinian-Arab National Movement, 1918–1929, trans. from Hebrew (1974), and The Palestinian Arab National Movement: From Riots to Rebellion, 1929–1939, trans. from Hebrew (1977); Kenneth W. Stein, The Land Question in Palestine, 1917–1939 (1984); Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949 (1987); Issa Khalaf, Politics in Palestine: Arab Factionalism and Social Disintegration, 1939–1948, (1991); Avi Shlaim, Collusion Across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine (1988), also published in a rev. abridged ed. as The Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine, 1921–1951 (1998); and Wm. Roger Louis and Robert W. Stookey (eds.), The End of the Palestine Mandate (1985).

Among the many studies on the Palestinian Arabs from 1948 to the present, the following are particularly worth consulting: Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (1997); Helena Cobban, The Palestinian Liberation Organisation: People, Power, and Politics (1984); F. Robert Hunter, The Palestinian Uprising: A War by Other Means, rev. and expanded ed. (1993); Ann Mosely Lesch, Transition to Palestinian Self-Government (1992); Shaul Mishal, The PLO Under ʿArafat: Between Gun and Olive Branch (1986); Don Peretz, The West Bank: History, Politics, Society, and Economy (1986), and Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising (1990); Julie M. Peteet, Gender in Crisis: Women and the Palestinian Resistance Movement (1991); Laurie A. Brand, Palestinians in the Arab World: Institution Building and the Search for State (1988); Barry Rubin, The Arab States and the Palestine Conflict (1981); Edward W. Said and Jean Mohr, After the Last Sky: Palestinian Lives (1986, reissued 1999); Zeʿev Schiff and Ehud Yaʿari, Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising—Israel’s Third Front, ed. and trans. by Ina Friedman (1991; originally published in Hebrew, 1990); and Elia T. Zureik, The Palestinians in Israel: A Study in Internal Colonialism (1979).

Rashid Ismail Khalidi

Article Contributors

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  • Harlan Wilkerson

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Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Media added. Oct 15, 2024
Article revised and updated. Oct 04, 2024
Added cross reference. May 10, 2024
Added cross-reference. Apr 24, 2024
Added cross-reference. Mar 13, 2024
Added cross-reference. Mar 10, 2024
Added cross-reference. Jul 14, 2023
Added cross-reference. May 11, 2023
Added cross-reference. Apr 14, 2023
Add new Web site: Jewish Virtual Library - Pre-State Israel: The Arabs in Palestine. Feb 16, 2023
Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Palestine. Nov 13, 2022
Media added. Aug 13, 2021
Media added. Jun 25, 2021
Updated the discussion of tensions in April–May 2021. Jun 03, 2021
Added mention of the Palestinian elections that were planned for 2021 and the heightened tensions in Jerusalem beginning in April 2021. May 11, 2021
In the People section, updated the discussion on the concerns about Israeli annexation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Feb 24, 2020
In the History section, updated the discussion of the 2019 financial situations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip respectively. Jan 30, 2020
In the History section, added mention of events from 2014 through the beginning of 2019. Mar 28, 2019
In the People section, updated demographic and population information. Mar 28, 2019
Add new Web site: History Learning Site - Palestine 1918 to 1948. Jan 16, 2019
Added cross-references. May 12, 2017
Article revised and updated. Apr 27, 2016
Article revised and updated. Apr 27, 2016
Article revised and updated. Apr 26, 2016
Replaced photograph. Jun 18, 2014
Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Palestine. May 04, 2014
Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - Palestine. Apr 05, 2014
Add new Web site: Maps of World - Palestine. Dec 27, 2012
History section revised and updated. Nov 30, 2012
Add new Web site: History World - Syria and Palestine. Sep 28, 2011
Add new Web site: CRW Flags - Flag of Palestine. Jul 27, 2011
Video added. Aug 25, 2010
Described the various reasons cited by the UN Palestine Commission for its difficulties in selecting provisional councils of government. Jun 04, 2010
Mentioned UN Resolution 181 by name, described the establishment of the UN Palestine Commission, and noted that the mandate was scheduled for termination no later than Aug. 1, 1948. Jun 04, 2010
Media added. Oct 23, 2009
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Geography - Geography of Palestine. Jul 17, 2008
Changed "Arab High Committee" to "Arab Higher Committee." May 08, 2008
Article revised and updated. May 08, 2008
Added new Web site: HistoryWorld - History of Palestine and Phoenicia. Feb 27, 2008
Added new Web site: Salaam - Palestine. Feb 27, 2008
Added new Web site: United Nations - Palestine. Sep 28, 2006
Added new Web site: The Official Site of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. Jul 20, 2006
Added new Web site: Arab.net - Palestine. Jun 02, 2006
Added new Web site: Arab.net - Palestine. Jun 02, 2006
Article revised. Oct 06, 2005
Article revised. Feb 24, 2005
Article added to new online database. Jul 26, 1999
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