Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising (review)

136 SHOFAR Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising, by Don Peretz. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990. 246 pp. $38.50. In five concise chapters Professor Peretz examines the origins of the Intifada, its impact on Israeli and Palestinian society, Israel's policy toward the uprising, and the international repercussions. It is a well written, straightforward presentation from which the reader may draw hislher own conclusions. Peretz demonstrates that the Intifada is essentially a Palestinian response to the prolonged Israeli occupation and "creeping annexation" of the West Bank and Gaza in the context of "the 70-year-old Arab-Israeli conflict" whose roots reside in the competing Arab nationalist and Zionist claims in Palestine (p. 1). However, the uprising is unique in that it is a popular action involving all social strata and groups, utilizing mass, nonviolent civil resistance , and coherently articulating its objective of an independent state alongside Israel. It is a local movement, not orchestrated from outside, reflecting both the despair and the determination of the Palestinians. Nevertheless, as Professor Peretz points out, the most fundamental objective of the intifada-an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel-is opposed by "powerful forces, principally Israel's two dominant parties, Labor and Likud, and the U.S. government. Indeed," he writes, "as Palestinians became more resolute in their efforts to obtain their goal, Israeli militants became more determined in their opposition to it" (p. 190). In a related and useful discussion, Peretz analyzes the complicated relationships among the Israeli government, American Jewish supporters of Israel, and the American government (pp. 167-181). Relying primarily on Israeli source material Professor Peretz documents Israel's myriad efforts to halt the intifada-the "iron fist" of "might, power, and beatings" (p. 45), deportations, political assassination, administrative detention, mass arrests, curfews, punitive economic measures, and the efforts to break communal structures. He also examines the impact of the intifada on Israeli political life including the emergence of numerous peace groups such as Yesh Gvual (There's a Limit), an organization of reserve soldiers who refuse to serve in the occupied territories; Oz v'Shalom (Courage and Peace), a group of orthodox religious individuals who advocate "peace and justice" in dealing with the Palestinians; and Women in Black, who hold weekly protest vigils in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Perhaps the most startling revelation in this volume is Professor Peretz's description of the "mood in Israel" after two years of the Intifada: In short, while the Intifada had its costs, they were relatively small for most Israelis-in terms of Jewish lives, far smaller than those in any of Israel 's five or six wars. After nearly two years of confrontation with the in- Volume 10, No.2 Winter 1992 137 habitants of the territories, barely a score of Israelis had lost their lives, fewer than in any month of traffic accidents and fewer than a twentieth of the Arab lives lost. The fact that few had suffered led to acceptance of the situation, reinforced by persistence of the national self-image: Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East; "purity of arms" in the IDF; equality of all citizens; the Arabs against peace and the Jews for it. One critic described this as the "psychology ofself-deception" ... (p. 157). Given this public mood together with the increasing power of the extreme nationalists and the religious right evidenced in one instance by the inclusion of the Moledet (Motherland) Party in the government in the spring of 1991-a party that advocates the "transfer," Le., expulsion of the Palestinians from the territories, it is difficult to be optimistic about a peaceful settlement of the IsraelilPalestinian conflict or about the future security of either Israelis or Palestinians. Professor Peretz has done an admirable job of presenting the complexities of this enduring conflict. Cheryl A. Rubenberg Department of Political Science Florida International University Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice, by John Quigley. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1990. 337 pp. $42.50 (c); $18.95 (p). This book takes up the question: "To whom does Palestine really belong ?" The author's professed aim is to assess conflicting claims rather than to propose solutions. He attempts to demonstrate that the Palestinians...