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Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine
Key problems, conflicts, and decisions in Israel's past and present are analyzed in this fully documented, dramatic history of the turbulent events that have shaped the crisis in the Middle East. From the questionable policies of the British, both in the Mandate era and in 1948, to the debate over the return of territories won in the Six-Day War and the war of attrition that spills over into the rest of the world, this book carefully examines Israel and its relationship to the rest of the Middle East as well as the rest of the world.
Author Biography: Samuel Katz is a lifelong activist in the cause of Jewish national rebirth and was a member of the first Parliament of Israel. He was an adviser to Prime Minister Menachim Begin and has also served as a columnist for the Israeli newspapers Ma'ariv and Jerusalem Post. His previous books include Days of Fire, The Hollow Peace, and Battletruth. He lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.
- GenresHistoryIsraelMiddle East
322 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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September 9, 2025
I have a copy of the 1977 edition of Battleground by Samuel Katz.
But truth does not change. If something was true 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 100 years ago, it is still true today.
This treasure presents the truth clearly about the Arab-Israeli conflict and it's routes in a fascinating, illuminating, clear and compelling way.
It is more relevant than ever today, when the truth is becoming more and more obscured, in the hysterical outrage against the tiny Jewish State, that is shamefully and sickeningly becoming the norm.
Katz traces the close ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, for the last 4000 years, and how the Arab claim of being a people `driven from their homeland is a hoax'. However, as the ideological mentor of Palestinianism, Adolph Hitler said, a lie if repeated oft enough becomes known as the truth. We certainly cannot rely on the anti-Israel hate-mongers in the world media, and leftwing academia to clarify what the reality is and has been, Their task has been to obscure the truth, and together with the United Nations, Red China, the Third world power blocs led by South Africa , most of the EU, and the Islamic world are now saying as we read in verse 5 of Psalm/Tehillim 83, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, so that Israel's name will not be remembered anymore!"
Katz blows each myth and untruth which the enemies of Israel repeat, out of the water , one by one , until one becomes amazed at the clarity of the truth and outraged at the perfidy that is going on against the Jewish State , in her struggle for survival.
He points out how their has ALWAYS been a presence in the Land of Israel ("Palestine") unbroken since 1700BCE, including between the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD and the rebirth of the Jewish state in the 20th century. Of the Jewish communities in Hevron, unbroken from 1500 until the Arab massacres of the Jews there in 1929, and the unbroken, ancient Jewish communities in Safed, Tiberius and elsewhere and of what the Jews in Israel have been up against since the Arab massacres of Jews, instigated by "Palestine's" British colonial masters in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936-1939. As well as the world communities perfidious injustice against Israel since 1948, and the Goebbelesque propaganda against Jews in Israel, in the Arab world, in order to pave the way for the genocide which they have planned for so long against the Jewish people.
He outlines the hypocrisy of the world outcry, and in the United Nations, against Israel, a tiny democracy which strives for peace and justice, by the then Soviet Union, Red China, the myriad of Third World dictatorships, and also Britain, France and the US State Department. Indeed, they more things change the more they stay the same, it seems, when one looks today at the gathering of the occupiers of Tibet, the creators of genocide in Sudan and Zimbabwe, the bloodthirsty tyrants of Syria, Cuba, Red China , Vietnam , Iran etc howling in outrage , in the supposed name of `peace ` and `justice' against Israel.
He also details the sickening trail of Palestinian terror carried out by Fatah, under the direction of Yasser Arafat. Since this book was written in 1977, Arafat has ordered the murders of hundreds of thousands more people, and yet has gained world popularity. What a nightmarish reality.
The book raises many questions too. Why do leftists wildly denounce the only democracy in the Middle East , simultaneously taking the side of some of the world's worst dictatorships. And why do leftwing ideologues , if they are so opposed to imperialism , interpret the return of the Jewish people , to their ancient homeland as an act of colonialism.
If you want to make sense of the truth behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, or rather the campaign of the Arabs and their supporters to drown the Jewish state in blood, Battleground by Samuel Katz, is where you should start.
But truth does not change. If something was true 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 100 years ago, it is still true today.
This treasure presents the truth clearly about the Arab-Israeli conflict and it's routes in a fascinating, illuminating, clear and compelling way.
It is more relevant than ever today, when the truth is becoming more and more obscured, in the hysterical outrage against the tiny Jewish State, that is shamefully and sickeningly becoming the norm.
Katz traces the close ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, for the last 4000 years, and how the Arab claim of being a people `driven from their homeland is a hoax'. However, as the ideological mentor of Palestinianism, Adolph Hitler said, a lie if repeated oft enough becomes known as the truth. We certainly cannot rely on the anti-Israel hate-mongers in the world media, and leftwing academia to clarify what the reality is and has been, Their task has been to obscure the truth, and together with the United Nations, Red China, the Third world power blocs led by South Africa , most of the EU, and the Islamic world are now saying as we read in verse 5 of Psalm/Tehillim 83, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, so that Israel's name will not be remembered anymore!"
Katz blows each myth and untruth which the enemies of Israel repeat, out of the water , one by one , until one becomes amazed at the clarity of the truth and outraged at the perfidy that is going on against the Jewish State , in her struggle for survival.
He points out how their has ALWAYS been a presence in the Land of Israel ("Palestine") unbroken since 1700BCE, including between the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD and the rebirth of the Jewish state in the 20th century. Of the Jewish communities in Hevron, unbroken from 1500 until the Arab massacres of the Jews there in 1929, and the unbroken, ancient Jewish communities in Safed, Tiberius and elsewhere and of what the Jews in Israel have been up against since the Arab massacres of Jews, instigated by "Palestine's" British colonial masters in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936-1939. As well as the world communities perfidious injustice against Israel since 1948, and the Goebbelesque propaganda against Jews in Israel, in the Arab world, in order to pave the way for the genocide which they have planned for so long against the Jewish people.
He outlines the hypocrisy of the world outcry, and in the United Nations, against Israel, a tiny democracy which strives for peace and justice, by the then Soviet Union, Red China, the myriad of Third World dictatorships, and also Britain, France and the US State Department. Indeed, they more things change the more they stay the same, it seems, when one looks today at the gathering of the occupiers of Tibet, the creators of genocide in Sudan and Zimbabwe, the bloodthirsty tyrants of Syria, Cuba, Red China , Vietnam , Iran etc howling in outrage , in the supposed name of `peace ` and `justice' against Israel.
He also details the sickening trail of Palestinian terror carried out by Fatah, under the direction of Yasser Arafat. Since this book was written in 1977, Arafat has ordered the murders of hundreds of thousands more people, and yet has gained world popularity. What a nightmarish reality.
The book raises many questions too. Why do leftists wildly denounce the only democracy in the Middle East , simultaneously taking the side of some of the world's worst dictatorships. And why do leftwing ideologues , if they are so opposed to imperialism , interpret the return of the Jewish people , to their ancient homeland as an act of colonialism.
If you want to make sense of the truth behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, or rather the campaign of the Arabs and their supporters to drown the Jewish state in blood, Battleground by Samuel Katz, is where you should start.
April 16, 2018
I have a copy of the 1977 edition of Battleground by Samuel Katz.
But truth does not change. If something was true 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 100 years ago, it is still true today.
This treasure presents the truth clearly about the Arab-Israeli conflict and it's routes in a fascinating, illuminating, clear and compelling way.
It is more relevant than ever today, when the truth is becoming more and more obscured, in the hysterical outrage against the tiny Jewish State, that is shamefully and sickeningly becoming the norm.
Katz traces the close ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, for the last 4000 years, and how the Arab claim of being a people `driven from their homeland is a hoax'. However, as the ideological mentor of Palestinianism, Adolph Hitler, said, a lie if repeated oft enough becomes known as the truth. We certainly cannot rely on the anti-Israel hate-mongers in the world media, and leftwing academia to clarify what the reality is and has been, Their task has been to obscure the truth, and together with the United Nations, Red China, the Third world power blocs led by South Africa and Cuba, most of the EU, and the Islamic world are now saying as we read in verse 5 of Psalm/Tehillim 83, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, so that Israel's name will not be remembered anymore!"
Katz blows each myth and untruth which the enemies of Israel repeat, out of the water , one by one , until one becomes amazed at the clarity of the truth and outraged at the perfidy that is going on against the Jewish State , in her struggle for survival.
He points out how their has ALWAYS been a presence in the Land of Israel ("Palestine") unbroken since 1700BCE, including between the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD and the rebirth of the Jewish state in the 20th century. Of the Jewish communities in Hevron, unbroken from 1500 until the Arab massacres of the Jews there in 1929, and the unbroken, ancient Jewish communities in Safed, Tiberius and elsewhere and of what the Jews in Israel have been up against since the Arab massacres of Jews, instigated by "Palestine's" British colonial masters in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936-1939. As well as the world communities perfidious injustice against Israel since 1948, and the Goebbelesque propaganda against Jews in Israel, in the Arab world, in order to pave the way for the genocide which they have planned for so long against the Jewish people.
He outlines the hypocrisy of the world outcry, and in the United Nations, against Israel, a tiny democracy which strives for peace and justice, by the then Soviet Union, Red China, the myriad of Third World dictatorships, and also Britain, France and the US State Department. Indeed, they more things change the more they stay the same, it seems, when one looks today at the gathering of the occupiers of Tibet, the creators of genocide in Sudan and Zimbabwe, the bloodthirsty tyrants of Syria, Libya, Cuba, Red China , Vietnam , Iran etc howling in outrage , in the supposed name of `peace ` and `justice' against Israel.
He also details the sickening trail of Palestinian terror carried out by Fatah, under the direction of Yasser Arafat. Since this book was written in 1977, Arafat has ordered the murders of hundreds of thousands more people, and yet has gained world popularity. What a nightmarish reality.
The book raises many questions too. Why do leftists wildly denounce the only democracy in the Middle East , simultaneously taking the side of some of the world's worst dictatorships. And why do leftwing ideologues , if they are so opposed to imperialism , interpret the return of the Jewish people , to their ancient homeland as an act of colonialism.
If you want to make sense of the truth behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, or rather the campaign of the Arabs and their supporters to drown the Jewish state in blood, Battleground by Samuel Katz, is where you should start.
But truth does not change. If something was true 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 100 years ago, it is still true today.
This treasure presents the truth clearly about the Arab-Israeli conflict and it's routes in a fascinating, illuminating, clear and compelling way.
It is more relevant than ever today, when the truth is becoming more and more obscured, in the hysterical outrage against the tiny Jewish State, that is shamefully and sickeningly becoming the norm.
Katz traces the close ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, for the last 4000 years, and how the Arab claim of being a people `driven from their homeland is a hoax'. However, as the ideological mentor of Palestinianism, Adolph Hitler, said, a lie if repeated oft enough becomes known as the truth. We certainly cannot rely on the anti-Israel hate-mongers in the world media, and leftwing academia to clarify what the reality is and has been, Their task has been to obscure the truth, and together with the United Nations, Red China, the Third world power blocs led by South Africa and Cuba, most of the EU, and the Islamic world are now saying as we read in verse 5 of Psalm/Tehillim 83, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, so that Israel's name will not be remembered anymore!"
Katz blows each myth and untruth which the enemies of Israel repeat, out of the water , one by one , until one becomes amazed at the clarity of the truth and outraged at the perfidy that is going on against the Jewish State , in her struggle for survival.
He points out how their has ALWAYS been a presence in the Land of Israel ("Palestine") unbroken since 1700BCE, including between the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD and the rebirth of the Jewish state in the 20th century. Of the Jewish communities in Hevron, unbroken from 1500 until the Arab massacres of the Jews there in 1929, and the unbroken, ancient Jewish communities in Safed, Tiberius and elsewhere and of what the Jews in Israel have been up against since the Arab massacres of Jews, instigated by "Palestine's" British colonial masters in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936-1939. As well as the world communities perfidious injustice against Israel since 1948, and the Goebbelesque propaganda against Jews in Israel, in the Arab world, in order to pave the way for the genocide which they have planned for so long against the Jewish people.
He outlines the hypocrisy of the world outcry, and in the United Nations, against Israel, a tiny democracy which strives for peace and justice, by the then Soviet Union, Red China, the myriad of Third World dictatorships, and also Britain, France and the US State Department. Indeed, they more things change the more they stay the same, it seems, when one looks today at the gathering of the occupiers of Tibet, the creators of genocide in Sudan and Zimbabwe, the bloodthirsty tyrants of Syria, Libya, Cuba, Red China , Vietnam , Iran etc howling in outrage , in the supposed name of `peace ` and `justice' against Israel.
He also details the sickening trail of Palestinian terror carried out by Fatah, under the direction of Yasser Arafat. Since this book was written in 1977, Arafat has ordered the murders of hundreds of thousands more people, and yet has gained world popularity. What a nightmarish reality.
The book raises many questions too. Why do leftists wildly denounce the only democracy in the Middle East , simultaneously taking the side of some of the world's worst dictatorships. And why do leftwing ideologues , if they are so opposed to imperialism , interpret the return of the Jewish people , to their ancient homeland as an act of colonialism.
If you want to make sense of the truth behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, or rather the campaign of the Arabs and their supporters to drown the Jewish state in blood, Battleground by Samuel Katz, is where you should start.
March 14, 2015
I have a copy of the 1977 edition of Battleground by Samuel Katz.
But truth does not change. If something was true 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 100 years ago, it is still true today.
This treasure presents the truth clearly about the Arab-Israeli conflict and it's routes in a fascinating, illuminating, clear and compelling way.
It is more relevant than ever today, when the truth is becoming more and more obscured, in the hysterical outrage against the tiny Jewish State, that is shamefully and sickeningly becoming the norm.
Katz traces the close ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, for the last 4000 years, and how the Arab claim of being a people `driven from their homeland is a hoax'. However, as the ideological mentor of Palestinianism, Adolph Hitler, said, a lie if repeated oft enough becomes known as the truth. We certainly cannot rely on the anti-Israel hate-mongers in the world media, and leftwing academia to clarify what the reality is and has been, Their task has been to obscure the truth, and together with the United Nations, Red China, the Third world power blocs led by South Africa and Cuba, most of the EU, and the Islamic world are now saying as we read in verse 5 of Psalm/Tehillim 83, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, so that Israel's name will not be remembered anymore!"
Katz blows each myth and untruth which the enemies of Israel repeat, out of the water , one by one , until one becomes amazed at the clarity of the truth and outraged at the perfidy that is going on against the Jewish State , in her struggle for survival.
He points out how their has ALWAYS been a presence in the Land of Israel ("Palestine") unbroken since 1700BCE, including between the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD and the rebirth of the Jewish state in the 20th century. Of the Jewish communities in Hevron, unbroken from 1500 until the Arab massacres of the Jews there in 1929, and the unbroken, ancient Jewish communities in Safed, Tiberius and elsewhere and of what the Jews in Israel have been up against since the Arab massacres of Jews, instigated by "Palestine's" British colonial masters in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936-1939. As well as the world communities perfidious injustice against Israel since 1948, and the Goebbelesque propaganda against Jews in Israel, in the Arab world, in order to pave the way for the genocide which they have planned for so long against the Jewish people.
He outlines the hypocrisy of the world outcry, and in the United Nations, against Israel, a tiny democracy which strives for peace and justice, by the then Soviet Union, Red China, the myriad of Third World dictatorships, and also Britain, France and the US State Department. Indeed, they more things change the more they stay the same, it seems, when one looks today at the gathering of the occupiers of Tibet, the creators of genocide in Sudan and Zimbabwe, the bloodthirsty tyrants of Syria, Libya, Cuba, Red China , Vietnam , Iran etc howling in outrage , in the supposed name of `peace ` and `justice' against Israel.
He also details the sickening trail of Palestinian terror carried out by Fatah, under the direction of Yasser Arafat. Since this book was written in 1977, Arafat has ordered the murders of hundreds of thousands more people, and yet has gained world popularity. What a nightmarish reality.
The book raises many questions too. Why do leftists wildly denounce the only democracy in the Middle East , simultaneously taking the side of some of the world's worst dictatorships. And why do leftwing ideologues , if they are so opposed to imperialism , interpret the return of the Jewish people , to their ancient homeland as an act of colonialism.
If you want to make sense of the truth behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, or rather the campaign of the Arabs and their supporters to drown the Jewish state in blood, Battleground by Samuel Katz, is where you should start.
But truth does not change. If something was true 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 100 years ago, it is still true today.
This treasure presents the truth clearly about the Arab-Israeli conflict and it's routes in a fascinating, illuminating, clear and compelling way.
It is more relevant than ever today, when the truth is becoming more and more obscured, in the hysterical outrage against the tiny Jewish State, that is shamefully and sickeningly becoming the norm.
Katz traces the close ties of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, for the last 4000 years, and how the Arab claim of being a people `driven from their homeland is a hoax'. However, as the ideological mentor of Palestinianism, Adolph Hitler, said, a lie if repeated oft enough becomes known as the truth. We certainly cannot rely on the anti-Israel hate-mongers in the world media, and leftwing academia to clarify what the reality is and has been, Their task has been to obscure the truth, and together with the United Nations, Red China, the Third world power blocs led by South Africa and Cuba, most of the EU, and the Islamic world are now saying as we read in verse 5 of Psalm/Tehillim 83, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, so that Israel's name will not be remembered anymore!"
Katz blows each myth and untruth which the enemies of Israel repeat, out of the water , one by one , until one becomes amazed at the clarity of the truth and outraged at the perfidy that is going on against the Jewish State , in her struggle for survival.
He points out how their has ALWAYS been a presence in the Land of Israel ("Palestine") unbroken since 1700BCE, including between the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD and the rebirth of the Jewish state in the 20th century. Of the Jewish communities in Hevron, unbroken from 1500 until the Arab massacres of the Jews there in 1929, and the unbroken, ancient Jewish communities in Safed, Tiberius and elsewhere and of what the Jews in Israel have been up against since the Arab massacres of Jews, instigated by "Palestine's" British colonial masters in 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1936-1939. As well as the world communities perfidious injustice against Israel since 1948, and the Goebbelesque propaganda against Jews in Israel, in the Arab world, in order to pave the way for the genocide which they have planned for so long against the Jewish people.
He outlines the hypocrisy of the world outcry, and in the United Nations, against Israel, a tiny democracy which strives for peace and justice, by the then Soviet Union, Red China, the myriad of Third World dictatorships, and also Britain, France and the US State Department. Indeed, they more things change the more they stay the same, it seems, when one looks today at the gathering of the occupiers of Tibet, the creators of genocide in Sudan and Zimbabwe, the bloodthirsty tyrants of Syria, Libya, Cuba, Red China , Vietnam , Iran etc howling in outrage , in the supposed name of `peace ` and `justice' against Israel.
He also details the sickening trail of Palestinian terror carried out by Fatah, under the direction of Yasser Arafat. Since this book was written in 1977, Arafat has ordered the murders of hundreds of thousands more people, and yet has gained world popularity. What a nightmarish reality.
The book raises many questions too. Why do leftists wildly denounce the only democracy in the Middle East , simultaneously taking the side of some of the world's worst dictatorships. And why do leftwing ideologues , if they are so opposed to imperialism , interpret the return of the Jewish people , to their ancient homeland as an act of colonialism.
If you want to make sense of the truth behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, or rather the campaign of the Arabs and their supporters to drown the Jewish state in blood, Battleground by Samuel Katz, is where you should start.
June 18, 2020
This book was originally written just before the Yom Kippur war, as Israel contended with a vastly increased territory, ruling over large Arab minorities, in the Judea and Samaria, Gaza, the Sinai, the Golan, and of course in 1949 Israel land as well.
In hindsight, one almost smile when reading what Shmuel Katz thought of what would be. He was not forecasting another bloody war with Arab countries, certainly not so soon, think the Soviet Union had learned a lesson in 1967. He remained faithful to Jabotinsky's ideas: never relent from full sovereignty over Jewish lands, and at the same time offering full rights to the Arab minority within.
Worth remembering in days when people talk about much more radical remedies.
In hindsight, one almost smile when reading what Shmuel Katz thought of what would be. He was not forecasting another bloody war with Arab countries, certainly not so soon, think the Soviet Union had learned a lesson in 1967. He remained faithful to Jabotinsky's ideas: never relent from full sovereignty over Jewish lands, and at the same time offering full rights to the Arab minority within.
Worth remembering in days when people talk about much more radical remedies.
October 29, 2024
I am not Jewish. For a very long time I have had an affection and admiration for the Jews. But I had no idea... This book is a very well documented history of the persecution they have endured for the last 100 years. No wonder they have a bit of a chip on their shoulders.
November 17, 2023
Good summary of Middleast history
May be biased.
May be biased.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews