Baksheesh Diplomacy: Secret Negotiations between American Jewish Leaders and Arab Officials on the Eve of World War II

(Paperback)

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Description

Could the Arab-Israeli conflict have been avoided Was it possible to achieve peace between Jews and Arabs in Palestine in the 1930s This study discusses the Fifth Avenue muti-millionaires who believed they could bring peace to the Middle East through secret diplomacy and a generous dose of "Baksheesh" (the Arabic word for bribery). Taken from documents unearthed on three continents, the story takes the reader from the elite Jewish social clubs of interwar Manhattan to the bustling bazaars of Baghdad, as it attempts to shed fresh light on the Arab-Jewish conflict, the relationship between American Jewry and the Holy Land, and the divisions within the Jewish community over the Palestinian Arab issue.

Reviews

Rafael Medoff's books and essays are always meticulously researched, and in this work he performs a much needed task. -- Marc Raphael, editor-in-chief, American Jewish History
Rafael Medoff has discovered an extraordinary and previously unknown chapter in Middle East diplomacy. His book is an exceptionally lucid and fascinating account. -- Mordechai Nisan, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem * gem *
Rafael Medoff, one of Zionism's most meticulous and imaginative historians, has written a dazzling narrative, at once scholarly and dramatic. * Judaism *
An extraordinary thriller that helps put present day problems in perspective. * Lifestyle Magazine *
History buffs will enjoy this book but it should also appeal to all who are interested in the Middle East. * Jewish Press *
Rafael Medoff's meticulous scholarship has, once again, brought to light previously unknown episodes in Zionist and American Jewish history. This convincing, well-documented historical workthat reads like a mystery novelwill be welcomed by scholars and general readers alike. -- Jeffrey S. Gurock, Yeshiva University
Medoff has unveiled an important new dimension to both American Jewish history and Middle East diplomatic history, one which will fascinate readers and change our current understanding of the characters involved in the history he describes. * American Jewish History *

Author Bio

Rafael Medoff is Visiting Scholar in Jewish Studies at Purchase College, the State University of New York. His previous books include the Historical Dictionary of Zionism (with Chaim I. Waxman, 2000), Zionism and the Arabs: An American Jewish Dilemma (1997), and The Deafening Silence: American Jewish Leaders and the Holocaust, 1933-1945 (1987).