"First published in the United States 2021. This edition published 2022." -- Title page verso

Includes bibliographical references and index

Part one: What's going on?: Jews and Israel: where do we start? ; The Zionist idea: organizing, immigrating, building (1860s-1917) ; Wait, there were people here: what about the Palestinians? ; The British are coming: World War I, the Balfour Declaration, and the establishment of the British Mandate (1917-1939) ; Israel and the Nakba: independence and catastrophe (1947-49) ; The dispossessed ; The fifties: state building and Suez ; The big bang: the 1967 war and the reality it created ; Roller coaster: from the Yom Kippur War to the First Intifada (1968-87) ; Shaking it off: the First Intifada ; Israel is waiting for Rabin ; As the clever hopes expire: the end of Oslo ; The bulldozer's last surprise ; The democracy recession -- Part two. Why is it so hard to talk about Israel?: The map is not the territory ; Israel's Arab citizens: shared society of segregation ; A love story? Israel and the American Jewish community ; The settlements ; What we talk about when we talk about BDS ; The a-word ; The other a-word ; Red cows in the heartland: Israel and Armageddon ; The case for hope -- A lexicon of the conflict

From the expert who understands both sides of one of the world's most complex, controversial topics, a modern-day Guide for the Perplexed-a primer on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Can't you just explain the Israel situation to me? In, like, 10 minutes or less?" This is the question Daniel Sokatch is used to answering on an almost daily basis as the head of the New Israel Fund, an organization dedicated to equality and democracy for all Israelis, not just Jews, Sokatch is supremely well-versed on the Israeli conflict. Can We Talk About Israel? is the story of that conflict, and of why so many people feel so strongly about it without actually understanding it very well at all. It is an attempt to grapple with a century-long struggle between two peoples that both perceive themselves as (and indeed are) victims. And it's an attempt to explain why Israel (and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) inspires such extreme feelings-why it seems like Israel is the answer to zwhat is wrong with the worldy for half the people in it, and zwhat is right with the worldy for the other half. As Sokatch asks, is there any other topic about which so many intelligent, educated and sophisticated people express such strongly and passionately held convictions, and about which they actually know so little? Complete with engaging illustrations by Christopher Noxon, Can We Talk About Israel? is an easy-to-read yet penetrating and original look at the history and basic contours of one of the most complicated conflicts in the world. -- Provided by publisher