America's Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood

In a revisionist look at the history of U.S. relations with Palestine, Lawrence Davidson offers a critical study of the evolution of American popular & governmental perceptions of Zionism & Palestine, from the Balfour Declaration of 1917 to the founding of Israel in 1948. Zionism, which sought to transform Palestine into a Jewish state, emphasized the biblical & religious connections of the West to Palestine. Davidson argues that this orientation predisposed the American people to see Zionism as a form of "altruistic" imperialism that would bring civilization to a backward part of the world. However, American Zionists met resistance from the State Department, particularly the Division of Near Eastern Affairs, whose neutral stance until 1945 was shaped by a fear of foreign entanglements. Exploring rising tensions on both sides, Davidson describes how the American Zionists overcame this resistance & outmaneuvered the State Department by using lobbying techniques & appeals to popular sentiment. Showing how a powerful & determined interest group turned the U.S. political system to its advantage & shaped foreign policy, America's Palestine is an important study of one of the 20th century's most controversial international stories.Lawrence Davidson is the author of 'America's Palestine: Popular and Official Perceptions from Balfour to Israeli Statehood', published 2001 under ISBN 9780813024219 and ISBN 0813024218.