The Arabs and the Holocaust The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives [Paperback]

There is no more inflammatory topic than the Arabs and the Holocaustthe phrase alone can occasion outrage. Political scientist Gilbert Achcar analyzes the various Arab responses to Nazism, from the earliest intimations of the genocide, through the creation of Israel and the destruction of Palestine and up to our own time, critically assessing the political and historical context for these responses and offering by the same token a unique ideological mapping of the Arab world. While challenging distortions of the historical record, Achcar makes no concessions to anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial. This pathbreaking, essential book provides a new basis for Arab-Israeli and Arab-Western understanding.

Gilbert Achcar, who grew up in Beirut, has taught at the University of Paris-VIII and at the French-German Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin. He is currently professor of development studies and international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Among his many books areThe Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World DisorderandPerilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy, co-authored with Noam Chomsky.

Achcar offers a careful parsing of a most incendiary topic. . . . Calm and judicious in tenor yet unyielding in its intellectual rigor,The Arabs and the Holocaustmay show the path out of a seemingly intractable dispute. Booklist

This is a refreshing and original study, showing clearly that Muslim anti-Semitism is neither universal, nor inevitable, nor subject to pat explanations. The Economist

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

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 (London)

A sensitive and inslÓ