Adopting a systematic yet non-technical approach. Jacob Metzer's book is the first to analyse the divided economy of Mandatory Palestine from the viewpoints of modern economic history and development economics. While the existing literature has tended to focus on the Jewish economy, this book explores the socio-economic attributes of both the Arab and Jewish communities within the complex political economy of the period. A concluding chapter reviews the uneasy record of Arab-Jewish economic coexistence in the area of Mandatory Palestine, composed of present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The book makes a significant contribution to the economic history of the modern Middle East and to an understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It will appeal to economic historians, development economists and to scholars in the related fields of social and political history.

This book explores the nature of the severe conflict over immigration in Palestine during the British Mandate (1922-1948). It considers the perspectives of the British authorities, the Palestinian Jewish community, and the Palestinian Arabs in their permanent opposition to Jewish immigration, expressed through strikes, demonstrations, and revolt towards the Jewish community in Palestine, as well as the British authorities. It serves to contribute to a debate in the history of Palestine, whilst seeping into other disciplines such as economics, sociology, law, and maritime history.

For a brief moment in the history of Acre, there was a Hebrew community that linked old and new settlements. It had a national-Zionist orientation and consisted of Jews of local and Mizrachic origin. This community is no longer visible in the cityscape, and its history has disappeared from the collective Zionist memory - but it played a role in building the Jewish national community in Palestine. The unusual history of Acre shows how it succeeded in attracting new, nationalist settlers. The book seeks to illuminate the complexity and diversity of the Zionist enterprise in relation to the Arab and mixed towns of Mandatory Palestine by raising questions about the relationship between the "history of a place" and "national history." By describing the failure of the Hebrew settlement in the Mandate territory of Acre, the book views the Zionist project as a fascinating intersection between the dreams of those who created the leading narratives and between local interests and the unique geographical conditions of the region.

First published in 1950, Palestine Under the Mandate is an account of the role of Britain in Palestine during the British mandate period from 1920 to 1948. The author served as the chief immigration officer in British Mandate of Palestine from 1921 to 1934 and considers this book an attempt to dissipate the fog of propaganda in which the whole subject is shrouded. He delineates the difference between the terms Jew, Jewish and Zionist before situating the central question of his argument: What would have been the position of the Jewish National Home today if its germ had not been carefully nursed and protected for a quarter of the century after the acceptance of the Mandate? Since the author was a government employee, it is no surprise that his loyalty lies with the British government; however, this book is still an important record of the arguments employed to both build and destroy Palestine and will be worth reading for students of history, politics, international relations, global studies, and geography.