Is Objective Middle East Scholarship Possible?

Martin Kramer’s recent War on Error is a collection of essays—several of which first appeared in Mosaic—addressing abuses of Middle Eastern history committed by scholars and others intent on arriving at particular conclusions, facts be damned. Chief among such abuses is the Israeli writer Ari Shavit’s unfounded claim in My Promised Land that a “Zionist massacre” took place in Lydda in 1948. In an in-depth and provocative exchange, Kramer discusses the book with critics Benny Morris and Hussein Ibish. (Moderated by Robert Satloff. Video, 90 minutes. A written summary is available at the link below.)

Read more at Washington Institute

More about: Ari Shavit, History & Ideas, Israeli history, Lydda, Middle East

Expand Gaza into Sinai

Feb. 11 2025

Calling the proposal to depopulate Gaza completely (if temporarily) “unworkable,” Peter Berkowitz makes the case for a similar, but more feasible, plan:

The United States along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE should persuade Egypt by means of generous financial inducements to open the sparsely populated ten-to-fifteen miles of Sinai adjacent to Gaza to Palestinians seeking a fresh start and better life. Egypt would not absorb Gazans and make them citizens but rather move Gaza’s border . . . westward into Sinai. Fences would be erected along the new border. The Israel Defense Force would maintain border security on the Gaza-extension side, Egyptian forces on the other. Egypt might lease the land to the Palestinians for 75 years.

The Sinai option does not involve forced transfer of civilian populations, which the international laws of war bar. As the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other partners build temporary dwellings and then apartment buildings and towns, they would provide bus service to the Gaza-extension. Palestinian families that choose to make the short trip would receive a key to a new residence and, say, $10,000.

The Sinai option is flawed. . . . Then again, all conventional options for rehabilitating and governing Gaza are terrible.

Read more at RealClear Politics

More about: Donald Trump, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula