Description
Book SynopsisFor most of the 20th century, considered opinion in the US regarding Palestine has favored the inherent right of Jews to exist in the Holy Land. That Palestinians, as a native population, could claim the same right has been largely ignored. This book shows how the endurance of such assumptions has impeded a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Trade Review"Breaks new ground through the sheer scope of its analysis, tracing 130 years of formulation of American perceptions of the Middle East and their ultimate manifestation in U.S. government policy. It is unhesitatingly recommended, as a standard text, to anyone wishing to better understand the conflict." - Nigel Parry, Middle East International "There is no shrewder observer of the American-Palestinian-Israeli triangle. Christison has written a masterful treatise on how it is that the United States managed to ignore the Palestinians for a century." - Donald Neff, Journal of Palestine Studies "After reading this book, it will be impossible not to wince the next time a representative of the U.S. government describes America as an honest broker." - Lawrence Davidson, Middle East Journal
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. Palestinians in the Nineteenth-Century Mind
2. Woodrow Wilson: "Rising Above" Self-Determination
3· Franklin Roosevelt: Locked In
4· Harry Truman: History Belongs to the Victors
5· Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson: Possession Is Nine-Tenths of the Law
6. Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford: An Unrecognizable Episode
7· Jimmy Carter: Making a Difference
8. Ronald Reagan: Missed Opportunities
9· George Bush: No Illusions
10. The Pictures in Our Heads
11. Afterword: Clinton's Legacy
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
