Lest the Civilized World Forget: The Colonization of Palestine
New York: Americans for Middle East Understanding Inc., 1992. A pro-Palestinian documentary and advocacy pamphlet devoted to the dispossession of Palestinians accompanying the establishment of Israel in 1948 and its aftermath. The principal feature is an alphabetical register of 394 Palestinian towns and villages identified as having been depopulated or destroyed, compiled over six years by a research committee led by Faiez Jaber of the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs in Amman. The entries record place names, locations, populations, and cultivated acreage, preserving what the publishers describe as a documentary “deed” to Palestinian identity and an aid to eventual reconstruction and return.
Preliminary material includes John F. Mahoney’s account of the publication’s preparation; a map of Palestinian villages depopulated or destroyed in 1948; an historical introduction by Palestinian-American physician Jamil A. Fayez; and Rudolf T. Zarzar’s “Myths About Israel’s Colonization of Palestine,” which challenges religious, historical, and political arguments advanced in support of Zionism and Israeli territorial claims. Illustrated with historical photographs from the Library of Congress’s Eric Matson Collection and images of Palestinian refugee camps supplied by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. A pointed example of early-1990s American pro-Palestinian advocacy, emphasizing the Nakba, refugee rights, collective memory, and United Nations Resolution 194.
Stapled, map-illustrated wrappers, 47 pp., one map, photographs. Faint foxing to wrappers, light spine wear, very good. Item #15267
Price: $35.00