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The Arabs and the Holocaust

The Arab–Israeli War of Narratives

Gilbert Achcar G. M. Goshgarian

$44.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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French
Saqi Books
01 July 2025
The Arab-Israeli conflict goes far beyond the wars waged on Middle Eastern battlefields. There is also a war of narratives revolving around the two defining traumas of the conflict: the Holocaust and the Nakba. One side is charged with Holocaust denial, the other with exploiting a tragedy while denying the tragedies of others.

In this path-breaking book, eminent political scientist Gilbert Achcar explores these conflicting narratives and considers their role in today's Middle East dispute. He analyses the various Arab responses to the Holocaust, from the earliest intimations of the genocide, through the creation of Israel and the occupation of Palestine, and up to our own time, critically assessing the political and historical context for these responses.

Achcar offers a unique ideological mapping of the Arab world, in the process defusing and international propaganda war that has become a major stumbling block in the path of ArabWestern understanding.

'A magisterial study of breath-taking empathy, examining one of the most painful and emotion-laden topics in the modern world with dispassion, sensitivity and high erudition'

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Columbia University

'An erudite, perceptive, and highly original study'

Avi Shlaim

'A volume of tremendous historical importance'

Robert Fisk, Independent on Sunday

'A fascinating, subtle and original analysis of Israeli and Arab historical narratives' Simon Sebag Montefiore, BBC History Magazine

'This exhaustive survey of Arabic sources is particularly important in correcting the many distortions circulated by polemicists seeking to paint Arabs and Muslims as anti-Semites.'

Eugene Rogan, Times Literary Supplement

'A refreshing and original study, showing clearly that Muslim anti-Semitism is neither universal, nor inevitable, nor subject to pat explanations.'

The Economist
By:  
Translated by:  
Imprint:   Saqi Books
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Edition:   2nd New edition
Dimensions:   Height: 234mm,  Width: 156mm,  Spine: 30mm
Weight:   480g
ISBN:   9781849250795
ISBN 10:   1849250790
Pages:   400
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming

Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has written extensively on politics and development economics, as well as social change and social theory. His publications include The Clash of Barbarisms: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder, published in fifteen languages; Perilous Power: The Middle East and US Foreign Policy, with Noam Chomsky; The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising; and Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprisings; and The New Cold War: The United States, Russia and China, from Kosovo to Ukraine.

Reviews for The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab–Israeli War of Narratives

'A fascinating, subtle and original analysis of Israeli and Arab historical narratives' -- Simon Sebag Montefiore 'An erudite, perceptive, and highly original study' -- Avi Shlaim 'A systematic and scholarly refutation of the simplistic myths that have arisen following the formation of Israel - The best book on the subject so far' -- Tariq Ali, The Guardian '[Achcar] carefully examines the long history of Arab-Jewish conflict back through the 19th century, illuminating the range of opinions' -- The Washington Post 'Achcar offers a careful parsing of a most incendiary topic: the use of references to the Holocaust in the rhetoric of the Arab-Israeli conflict - Calm and judicious in tenor yet unyielding in its intellectual rigor, this selection may show the path out of a seemingly intractable dispute.' Booklist -- Booklist 'Lucid and penetrating' Stephen Howe, The Independent 'Excellent' -- New Statesman '[The Arabs and the Holocaust is] of tremendous historical importance' -- Robert Fisk, The Independent 'A standard reference for years to come. Scrupulous in its scholarship, firm in political principle, ruthless in exposure' -- Socialist Review


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