Side By Side : Competing Histories Of Israel/Palestine

Description

In 2000, a group of Israeli and Palestinian teachers gathered to address what to many people seemed an unbridgeable gulf between the two societies. Struck by how different the standard Israeli and Palestinian textbook histories of the same events were from one another, they began to explore how to "disarm" the teaching of the history of the Middle East in Israeli and Palestinian classrooms.
The result is a riveting "dual narrative" of Israeli and Palestinian history. "Side by Side" comprises the history of two peoples, in separate narratives set literally side-by-side, so that readers can track each against the other, noting both where they differ as well as where they correspond. The unique and fascinating presentation has been translated into English and is now available to American audiences for the first time.
An eye-opening--and inspiring--new approach to thinking about one of the world's most deeply entrenched conflicts, "Side by Side" is a breakthrough book that will spark a new public discussion about the bridge to peace in the Middle East.

Reviews

"Innovative... A small but important step, if not toward peace, then perhaps toward understanding... Developed by a group of Israeli and Palestinian teachers, this text will prove useful not just to the young, but to anyone who quails at the thought of even attempting to unravel the knotty history of the Middle East."
--"Kirkus Reviews"

"The battle lines of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict extend to the classroom, where the two sides' versions of their shared history diverge sharply. Now, two university professors aim to change the way the conflict is taught by exposing Palestinian students to Israeli history lessons and Israeli students to the Palestinian version of history.
--"USA Today"