Middle East Conflict: A tale of two peoples

Middle East Conflict: A tale of two peoples was published in January 1973. It set out the rationale for the then unfashionable idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel – known in later years as the “two-state solution”. Its novel contribution was to look at the conflict subjectively, through the eyes of each of the principal protagonists in turn. This approach led to the conclusion that any proposed solution that denied self-determination to either of the two peoples was doomed and would promote endless conflict – a prognosis borne out by the experiences of subsequent decades.