Bias and Objectivity in the Historiography of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
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Bias and objectivity in the historiography of the Arab-Israeli conflict A case study of the time period 1967-74 ••• Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD Rikard Ehnsio School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) ProQuest Number: 10672844 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672844 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract It has frequently been said that works on the Arab-Israeli conflict are biased to a large degree, but so far there has never been a serious study carried out analyzing the issue of bias and objectivity. This is the purpose of this thesis. To assist in this task, a methodology is introduced to work as a tool for examining bias. The methodology is focused on themes (e.g. events or interpretations) present in the analyzed sources and aims at categorizing the sources used as being pro-Israeli or pro-Arab in relation to the individual themes. The time frame looked upon is the time from 1967 to roughly 1974, and the works analyzed are all written in English with a presumably Western audience in mind. The main results of this thesis are that bias occurs in the majority of sources in the majority of instances. A number of various classifications for bias have been established and are discussed in the concluding section of the thesis. In most cases, the established bias is more to be construed as being differences of opinion rather than instances of propaganda. The last major result of this thesis is that although the majority of sources analyzed are biased in the majority of cases, there are not as many clearly pro-Arab or pro-Israeli sources as could be assumed. What this means is that there is a large gray area between the clearly discernibly pro-Israeli and pro-Arab sources, and that there is a great variety in how the various authors present the subject area at hand. Due to the at least perceived ideological and emotional lines drawn in the sand regarding the writing on the history of the conflict, this is perhaps a surprising result. 3 Table of Contents 4 A note on transliteration.................................................. 8 Acknowledgments......................................................................................9 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................ 10 Introduction..............................................................................................10 Works on the historiography of the Arab-Israeli conflict....................14 General historiography........................................................................15 Israeli historiography....................................................... 18 Palestinian and Arab historiography................................................ 20 Concluding remarks............................................................................ 22 Theory: bias and objectivity in the field of history .............................. 23 Elton and C arr..................................................................................... 24 The postmodern approach ......................................................26 Arguments against a postmodern approach....................................30 Conclusion........................................................................................... 33 Methodology............................................................................................ 38 Research parameters: sources and time-frame....................................47 Some brief concluding remarks and the framing of questions...........53 2. THE WAR OF 1967 ............................................................................. 56 Introduction.............. 56 Sources......................................................................................................57 Timeline of events................................................................................... 59 Main them es.............................................................................................62 Israeli threats against Syria....................................................... 62 Partial removal of UNEF.................................................................... 65 Reasons for the removal of UNEF........................................ 69 4 UNEF on Israeli territory................................................................... 72 The closing of the Straits of Tiran ............. 75 The Egyptian-Jordanian defense treaty ............................................77 Israel’s situation leading up to the war............................................. 80 Reasons for Israel’s victoiy.................................................................83 Main themes: conclusions..................................................................86 Further Observations.............................................................................. 95 3. THE TIME FROM 1967 TO 1973 .....................................................103 Introduction............................................................................................103 Sources....................................................................................................104 Main themes.......................................................................................... 108 The secret Israeli cabinet decision ...................................................108 The nature of the Arab summit meeting in Khartoum...................110 The War of Attrition...........................................................................114 The Jarring proposal.......................................................................... 117 The Sadat plan ................................................................................... 120 Main themes: conclusion.................................................................. 123 Further observations.......................................................................,.,...128 4. THE WAR OF 1973 ............................................................................134 Introduction............................................................................................134 Sources........................................................ 136 Main Themes..........................................................................................138 The nature of the Arab war aims......................................................138 The broken cease-fire of October 22,1973......................................142 Responsibility for the war............................... 145 Main themes: conclusion...................................................................147 Further observations..............................................................................152 5. THE RISE OF THE PLO....................................................................156 Sources.................................................................................................... 158 Main Themes..........................................................................................159 The nature of the formula for a “democratic, secular state” 159 5 The battle at Karameh ............................... 162 The use of terrorism ...........................................................................164 The Jordanian expulsion of the PLO............................................... 167 The nature of the Black September Organization ............. 170 Main themes: conclusion.......................................................... ........172 Further observations..................................................................... 177 6. FOUR EXAMPLES..........................................................................180 Martin Gilbert .......................................................................................180 War of 1967......................................................................................... 181 The time of 1967-73 ........................................................................... 182 The War of 1973..................................................................................184 The rise of the PLO.............................................................................185 Conclusion..........................................................................................186 Mark Tessler ...........................................................................................187 War of 1967.........................................................................................187 The time of 1967-73 ........................................................................... 188 War of 1973.............................................. 190 The rise of the PLO .................................................... 191 Conclusion..........................................................................................193 Benny Morris..........................................................................................193