The Arabs and the Holocaust &#8211; a talk with Gilbert Achcar

The Arabs and the Holocaust

The Arab–Israeli War of Narratives

About the Book

The Arab–Israeli conflict goes far beyond the wars waged on Middle East battlefields. There is also a war of narratives revolving around the two defining traumas of the conflict: the Holocaust and the Nakba. One side is charged with Holocaust denial, the other with exploiting a tragedy while denying the tragedies of others.

In this path-breaking book, political scientist Gilbert Achcar explores these conflicting narratives and considers their role in today’s Middle East dispute. He analyzes the various Arab responses to the Holocaust, from the earliest intimations of the genocide, through the creation of Israel and the occupation of Palestine, and up to our own time, critically assessing the political and historical context for these responses.

Achcar offers a unique ideological mapping of the Arab world, in the process defusing an international propaganda war that has become a major stumbling block in the path of Arab–Western understanding.

Books, Gilbert Achcar, Holocaust, Independent Socialists in Wellingborough

Gilbert Achcar is a Professor at SOAS, University of London. He is the author of many books, including The People Want. A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising (new edition with a new preface forthcoming). His next new book will be titled The New Cold War: Chronicle of a Confrontation Foretold.

The Arabs and the Holocaust – a talk with Gilbert Achcar