Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Notes from My Travels or Israel

Notes from My Travels: Visits with Refugees in Africa, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Ecuador

Author: Angelina Joli

Three years ago, award-winning actress Angelina Jolie took on a radically different role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Here are her memoirs from her journeys to Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Ecuador, where she lived and worked and gave her heart to those who suffer the world's most shattering violence and victimization. Here are her revelations of joy and warmth amid utter destitution...compelling snapshots of courageous and inspiring people for whom survival is their daily work'and candid notes from a unique pilgrimage that completely changed the actress's worldview -- and the world within herself.



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Israel: A History

Author: Martin Gilbert

Israel is a small and relatively young country, but since the day of its creation half a century ago, its turbulent history has placed it at the center of the world stage. In this new account, Martin Gilbert traces Israel's history from the struggles of its pioneers in the nineteenth century up to the present day. Along the way, he describes the defining moments in the history of the Jewish people, among them the Balfour Declaration of 1917; the United Nations Partition Resolution of 1947; and the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.

The desire for statehood long preceded the declaration of the State: For two millennia the Jews, dispersed all over the world, prayed for a return to Zion. The prayer "Next Year in Jerusalem" seemed a fantasy--until Theodor Herzl, in the last decade of the nineteenth century, transformed Zionism into a modern political movement. Soon the earlier trickle of Jewish immigrants turned into a flood as Jews sought fulfilment of their national aspirations or fled persecution in Europe.

The declaration of Statehood in May 1948 and the War of Independence were only the beginning of the drama. Israel's subsequent development was dominated by the conflicts of Suez, the Six Day War, the October War, the Lebanon and the Intifada, as well as by diplomatic watersheds--from the early armistice agreements to the Camp David negotiations, the Madrid conference, and the Oslo peace process. Guiding us through the events that have shaped modern-day Israel, Gilbert examines not only Israel's political history and personalities from Ben-Gurion to Rabin, Peres, and Netanyahu, but also its society, culture, and economy.

Israel is often at the center ofworld attention--usually because of wars, political and social divisions, conflict with her Arab neighbors and the Palestinians in her midst, and the stark intrusion of acts of terror into daily life. But even though conflict has been so much a part of everyday existence, the history of Israel ultimately uplifts and inspires. During the past fifty years, the quality of life has been transformed: Israel is a vibrant and flourishing nation that has made significant achievements in science, agriculture, trade, and industry--and has grown in population from just over half a million to almost six million.

Basing his narrative on a wealth of contemporary documents and eyewitness accounts, as well as on his own intimate knowledge of the country, Martin Gilbert provides a riveting and moving account of the history of Israel.

This is a riveting account of the history of Israel on its fiftieth anniversary by one of the world's preeminent historians.The founding of the State of Israel in May 1948 was a dramatic event in the history of the twentieth century. In Israel: A History, Martin Gilbert tells the gripping story of the events and personalities in the half century leading up to the declaration of statehood, and of Israel's subsequent development. It is a story punctuated by the conflicts of the War of Independence, Suez, the Six-Day War of 1967, the October War of 1973, the Lebanon and the Intifada, as well as by the diplomatic watersheds, from the armistice agreements of 1949 to the Camp David negotiations, the Madrid conference, and the Oslo accords. As Gilbert chronicles the growth of this flourishing but often troubled nation, he examines not only Israel's political history from Ben-Gurion to Rabin, Peres, and Netanyahu, but also its society, culture, and economy. Based on contemporary documents and eyewitness accounts, and rooted in the author's intimate knowledge of the country and its people, Israel: A History will be essential reading on the nation's fiftieth anniversary.

Publishers Weekly

Gilbert's impassioned history adds immeasurably to our understanding of the forces that have shaped contemporary Israel. Digging up a wealth of primary source material and quoting liberally from letters, memoirs, eyewitness accounts, interviews, memoranda and diaries of David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Abba Eban, Shimon Peres, Teddy Kollek and dozens of ordinary people, the eminent British historian (The Holocaust) has produced a gripping epic. Gilbert's extensive behind-the-scenes and on-the-battlefield coverage of Israel's numerous wars with its Arab neighbors adds much new detail. While the narrative focuses predominantly on politics, high-level diplomacy and war, it also illuminates other topics, including the Jewish settlement of Palestine in the early years of this century, tensions between secularists and Orthodox Jews, Israeli military intelligence operations, the current impasse in negotiations with Palestinian Arabs and the ferment of Israeli society, which Gilbert portrays as a diverse mixture of immigrant peoples that embody many different strands of Judaism yet are united by Israeli culture. (Apr.)

Library Journal

From Churchill's official biographer: a 50th-anniversary history of Israel.

Booknews

Traces Israel's history from the struggles of its pioneers in the 19th century through the present day, and details defining moments in the history of the Jewish people. Examines not only the country's political histories and personalities, but also its society, culture, and economy. Includes some 70 b&w photos, plus maps and a glossary. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Kirkus Reviews

One of the first in a slew of books forthcoming to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel: a thorough and thoroughly entertaining history of that nation's first half centuryþfrom a Labor Party point of view. The prolific historian and Churchill biographer Gilbert (A History of the Twentieth Century, 1997; Holocaust Journey, 1997) covers the remarkable story of Israel's miracles and debacles from the time a Zionist state was a gleam in Theodor Herzl's eye to the latest shrill attack on current Prime Minister Netanyahu for building Jewish housing in the old city of Jerusalem. But Gilbertþs pro-Labor bias somewhat distorts not only his interpretation of the past but his perspective on the present and future of a nation that is becoming increasingly oriental and traditional and is now governed by a coalition representing those, rather than Laborþs, interests. A rich history with a progressive stance.



Table of Contents:
Introduction
Acknowledgements
List of photographs
List of maps
1Ideals of statehood3
2Towards Zion16
3Beyond the Balfour Declaration, 1918-192936
4Threats and dangers, 1929-193759
5Hopes ... and blows, 1937-193982
6The Second World War, 1939-1945100
7The British Mandate continues, 1945-1946121
8Year of decision, 1947141
9Undeclared war, November 1947-April 1948153
10The conflict intensifies, April-May 1948170
11The War of Independence, May 1948 to the first truce186
12From the first truce to the second truce209
13From the second truce to the armistice agreements223
14The last four months of the war240
15The ingathering of the exiles250
16Conflicts and achievements, 1952-1955279
17Paths to war, December 1955-October 1956306
18The Sinai campaign320
19A State in being, 1956-1963329
20Years of growth, 1963-1966349
21Nasser's challenge365
22The Six Day War384
23The dilemmas of victory396
24The October War, Yom Kippur 1973426
25The fourth postwar era462
26To the Lebanese war and beyond496
27Intifada525
28Towards Madrid and Oslo543
29The peace process568
30'Shalom, haver' - Peace, my friend588
Maps621
Glossary665
Bibliography of works consulted671
Index681

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