Monday, May 18, 2009

Hamas vs fatah

Last week i finished reading the book Hamas vs Fatah - The struggle for Palestine by Jonathan Schanzer(Amazon link)

For a person who had no idea what is going on in middle east (which is kind of sad), this book was a history lesson written in a way that makes history interesting to read. Without going into the emotional side of the war, this book states facts, covers the historical ground for events. It states what happened, how it happened, why it happened and its consequences. One good thing about this book is its non-linear structure. It would take a topic and start describing its current scheme, and then will go back in history tracing its roots, build the story from its origin to present, juggling time and details. This makes it more interesting to read, provides more context. I wonder what historians think about giving facts in non-linear fashion.

Overall, it is a very good and informative book, i would recommend it to everyone. And now coming to middle east problem, i dont think you can have a successful Islamic country which is divided by land by Israel. It didnt work for Pakistan, it will not work there as well. And i do not think that there could be any peaceful solution either. I know it is a very strong thing to say but for people who are just bent on killing without any thought on what are they actually aiming for, there is no way to negotiate. I think the only solution would be to ask civillians to rise up and start a non-violent process against the radicals. No foreign country can start this, it has to come from inside Palestine. Untill that comes, the only solution is a military one. My ideas are generally very unbalanced when it comes to these questions. I think i need to read/think more before reaching any conclusions.

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