A review by lauraschwemm
Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History by Nur Masalha

Reading to untangle the knots that are the Middle East.  This book provided historical information in the first 9 chapters.  So much that I did not know. 

Spoiler

once the author reaches 1948 Masalha lists name-changes and place-name changes, and anything else, as stemming only from the Israeli need to erase Palestine and Palestinians.  That certainly was one motivation, but there were many other forces at work. 

.  There are events and facts, it’s the interpretations that can never be straightforward.  I will spend a lot of time thinking about Masalha’s book.  If the history from 1948 were easier to explain, people would not be tearing up the world right now.