Review of Ibrahim Abu-louhod's Book

7/29/2019 Review of Ibrahim Abu-louhod's Book

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The Arab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967: An Arab Perspective by Ibrahim Abu-LughodReview by: Chaim I. WaxmanJewish Social Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2/3 (Apr. - Jul., 1971), pp. 241-243Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4466660 .

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Book Reviews 241in consumer goods. The moshav, on theother hand, has increased the extent ofcollective agriculturalcultivation where ithas provenmore effective han privatecul-tivation,particularlyorfruitorchards,unir-rigated grains, and pasture. The moshavshitufiappealsto the sametype of ideologi-cally oriented pioneer as the kibbutz. Ithas had difficulty n attractingsettlersforthe samereasonas the kibbutz.Manyof thesemoshavimshitufiyimhave developed into ex-cellent communal farms. This particularform of settlement, however, is unlikelyto play a majorrole in cooperativeagricul-ture in Israel.

MAXWELL . KLAYMAN.Universityof Akron.

LISSAK, MOSHE. Social Mobility in IsraelSociety. Jerusalem. Israel UniversitiesPress. 1969. Pp. xii, 122.This slender volume is a welcome addition

to the already considerable literature onimmigrant absorption in Israel. Its mainvalue lies in the carefully assembled andanalyzed statistical material on immigrantsof Asian and African birth as compared(or contrasted) with immigrants born inEurope and America. Each of these twomajor origin groups is subdivided into twocategories: "old-timers," that is, those whohad immigrated prior to 1948, and "newimmigrants," that is, those who arrivedafter the foundation of the State.The conclusion of the study can be sum-marized briefly: with some variation, thegeneral picture is that, when measured bysuch indices as occupational stratification,intergeneration mobility, income level,literacy, length of schooling, attendance atacademic institutions, rural-urban distribu-tion, and the like, the European and Ameri-can-born "old-timers" occupy the highestposition, the African and Asian-born "newimmigrants" the lowest, with the Europeanand American-born "new immigrants" andthe African and Asian-born "old-timers"positioned in-between these two.It also emerges that in the course of theyears, certain shifts in these relative positions

havetakenplace;for examplebetween1954and 1965therewas a marked ncrease n thepercentageof both Africanand Asian-born"old timers"and "newimmigrants"n the"liberalprofessionsand bureaucracy,"witha smallerncrease n theseprofessions mongthe European and American-born"oldtimers"and "new immigrants."Neverthe-less, Israel society remainspluralistic roma culturaland socialpoint of view.It is regrettable hat the book is marredby a poor English translationand sloppyediting and proofreading.For instance,asto style:"Pluralism anbepositivelydefinedas a society in which. . "; or "dispersionon theeconomical phere";or "there s thena recurrenceof the same phenomenon,by which social (ethnic) origin is a moredifficultobstacle to overcome. .." As toediting and proofreading:"Muslim" and"Moslem" alternate on the same page;"Traditionalcostumes," read "customs";"Cluckhohn," ead"Kluckhohn";"Atlas,"read "Attias";and "nett"read "net." TheHebrewhet is transcribed s "h" or "ch"or"h"; the khaf as "ch" or "kh";thetzade asz or z.

RAPHAEL PATAI.TheodorHerzl Institute,New York City.

ABU-LUGHOD, IBRAHIM, Ed. TheArab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967:An Arab Perspective. Evanston. North-westernUniversity Press. 1970.Pp. xiv, 201.This book consists of nine essays whichoriginally appearedin a special issue (vol. xiv,no. 10-11) of The Arab World,the monthlymagazine published by the Arab InformationCenter in New York City. Each of the essaysis authored by a professor of Arab descent,and each attempts to provide "an Arabperspective" on an essential element in theArab-Israeli conflict.To be honest, I did not approach thisbook expecting to agree with the perspectivesof the Editor and authors of the essays whichit contains. What I was hoping to find wereareas of possible dialogue between intel-

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242 JEWISH SOCIAL STUDIESlectuals on both sides of the Arab-Israeliconflict which might pave the way for themuch-needed mutual respectand understand-ing. I was, therefore, somewhat optimisticthat this book might provide the seeds ofsuch a dialogue, especially when I read inthe Editor's Preface that "with one exception,all [of the contributors] are Americans ofArab ancestry or origin," and "each of thecontributors is a scholar whose previousintellectual contributions, again with oneexception, have revolved around questionsand issues unrelated to the Palestine conflict"(p. x). Here, I felt, we have a number ofscholars, not professional propagandists, whohave the desirable intellectual detachmentand knowledge to offer the framework for adialogue with scholars of "the other side."Much to my chagrin, my optimism came tonaught.In the opening essay, "The Arabs Por-trayed," Professor Edward Said decries thedistorted image of the Arab as he is stereo-typed in the West. Said finds the Arabinvariably characterized as wild, hysterical,bloodthirsty, incompetent, bereft of identityand ideology, heartless and, thus, incapableof compassion. Having internalized thisportrait, most Westerners are incapable ofcomprehending the Arab position in itsconflict with Israel. What Professor Saidneglects in his condemnation of Westernethnocentrism, is the degree to which manyArab "spokesmen," from the ex-Mufti el-Husseini to Ahmad Shukairi and GeorgeHabash, for example, have contributed,through their harangues and actions, to theWestern image of the Arab. Valid or not,unless and until Arabs themselves demon-strably refute the Western stereotype, Pro-fessor Said will remain with his grievances.In the Editor's own essay, Professor Abu-Lughod traces the 1967 "confrontation" tothree phases of "Israel's Arab Policy." With-out wishing to enter into an argument andrefutation of Abu-Lughod's allegations, Ifind it distinctly revealing that he neverconsiders the other side of the coin, namely,the Arab governments' Israel policy, as afactor of any significance in the conflict.Similarly, Professor Abu-Lughod is critical

of Israel'snon-recognitionof the existenceof the PalestinianArabs,"whom the worldhasrelegated o oblivion. .." (p. 79),butheagain fails to make any reference to therefusal of the Arabgovernmentso complywiththe decisionof the United Nations andestablisha PalestinianState.In his study of "AmericanMass Mediaand theJuneConflict,"ProfessorMichaelW.Suleiman s criticalof the reportingof the"conflict" in the major American news-papersandnews-magazines.He is perplexedby the factthatjust priorto the war,Nasserwas describedas "cautiousand not inter-ested in goingto war withIsrael,"andthen,severaldayslater,these samemedia"beganto condemn Nasser as the cause for all thetrouble" p. 141).He can find no excuse forthe rresponsibilityf thepress,andconcludesthat "a more responsiblepress would per-formits appointedrole in a democracyandhelp bring about better understandingbe-tween Arabsand Americans"p. 154).Withno intentionof whitewashinghe Americannews media,I would suggestthat ProfessorSuleiman read the analyses of the warofferedbynumerouspoliticalobserverswho,almost unanimously, onclude that Nasser,while probablynot initiallydesiringto goto war, got caught up in his own rhetoricand actions to the point of no return.Thus,while he might not have been interested nwar with Israel duringlate May and earlyJune, 1967, as reportedin the press, hiswords and deeds sparkeda chain reactionwhich he recognized and with which hepersistedand, thus, he was, in fact, a major"cause or all thetrouble." find t astonish-ing that Professor Suleimanshould be sounawareof this line of analysis,especiallysince t is maintained venby manyobserverssympathetico Nasser.In his critiqueof "United States PolicyToward heJuneConflict,"ProfessorKamelAbu-Jaber oncludes hat"theUnited Statespolicy[is]a one-sidedpolicyfor theadvance-ment of Zionist aspirations..." (p. 168).His out-of-contextanalysissuffers rom thecomplete absence of any considerationofUnitedStatespolicieswithin the frameworkof big-powerrelations,so he fails to alert



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BookReviews 243the readerof the Soviet Union's role in theconflictand in the Middle East in general;nor would anyone know from his essaythat there is a State Departmentin theUnited States, that it plays a role in U.S.foreign policy, and that it can hardly becharacterizedas favoring "Zionist aspira-tions."The most valuableessayin the collectionis that of Professor A.L. Tibawi, "Jeru-salem:Its Place n Islamand ArabHistory,"whichdoes, to someextent,providea much-needed elaboration on the subject of theIslamicattachment o Jerusalem.But whereProfessorTibawifails is in his abysmal ackof appreciation or the Jewish attachmentto Jerusalem.For example he maintainsthat he found no reference o the Western(Wailing)Wall in the 1901 edition of theJewish Encyclopedia, and thus concludes thatit was of "limitedappeal"(p. 38). I haven'tresearched he whole of that edition of theJewish Encyclopedia, but in the one volumewhichI didcheck,vol. vii, I foundreference

to it on pages 140 and 155, and a full pagepicture of Jews praying at the Wall on page143! Finally, his perversions of facts ofrecent history are utterly astounding, aswhen he charges that "Israel showed nowand since 1948 no respect for religious oreven international law" (p. 48), but that theArabs respectedand carefully guardedJewishHoly Places.In sum, these and the other essays byHisham Sharabi, Cherif Bassiouni, and Ab-deen Jabara are disappointing, not so muchbecause they arecritical of Israel, but becausethe authors, from whom one would haveexpected more, fail to see the complexitiesof the issues and, thus, write in the standard"good-guy, bad-guy" manner of propa-gandists. As such, they neither contribute tounderstanding nor do they offer much in theway of any hope for a peaceful solution to avery tragic and volatile conflict.

CHAIMI. WAXMAN.Central Connecticut State College.


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