Required reading for understanding the Israel-Palestine crisis:

To get a quick course in the background of the confusing and heartbreaking conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, take a look at Arabs and Israel For Beginners, written by Ron David, illustrated by Susan David and published by Writers & Readers publishing. In a short time this book will pull away the veil that is kept firmly in place by American establishment media to keep the sources of this problem obscure. It is not a "centuries-old struggle between Jews and Arabs." There is no essential conflict between the Jewish and Arab ethnic groups, they live together peacefully in many places in the world. The problems that are now exploding in mass murder can be traced to events earlier in the 20th Century, notably the rise of the Zionist movement, which was a separatist movement based on the principle that Jews must give up trying to assimilate in the countries of the world where they have lived for centuries and must instead live in a state established only for Jews. Spurred on by the unthinkable horrors of the holocaust, this movement took root. Unfortunately, to establish the state so envisioned required space. The space chosen was Palestine, where other people were already living. These people were pushed out of their homes and in the case of thousands massacred. Today they live under intolerable oppression just for being in the way of this grand idea of Jewish separatism. Of course they have fought back, and as a result, more innocent people have died, about one Israeli for every 10 murdered Palestinian. Arabs and Israel For Beginners is not unbiased, there is no such book on the Middle East. But it is up-front about its bias and will help clarify the biases of the major media.

--dc