The Quest for Justice in the Middle East

For more than a century now, the conflict between Arab and Jew in the Middle East has been rife with brutality. In reality, this struggle is just the most recognizable part of the much larger conflict which has been going on for some fifteen centuries—ever since Arab armies burst out of the Arabian Peninsula, conquering, foribly Arabizing, spreading their 'Dar ul-Islam' in all directions, and massacring all who might disagree. Gerald Honigman's book blows the whistle on generations of duplicity (in academia, the media, the United Nations, and elsewhere), shifting the debate once again back toward the center. It demands justice for all of the region's diverse peoples—not only (but not excluding) Arabs.

For more than a century now, the conflict between Arab and Jew in the Middle East has been rife with brutality. In reality, this struggle is just the most recognizable part of the much larger conflict which has been going on for some fifteen centuries—ever since Arab armies burst out of the Arabian Peninsula, conquering, foribly Arabizing, spreading their 'Dar ul-Islam' in all directions, and massacring all who might disagree. Gerald Honigman's book blows the whistle on generations of duplicity (in academia, the media, the United Nations, and elsewhere), shifting the debate once again back toward the center. It demands justice for all of the region's diverse peoples—not only (but not excluding) Arabs.

Gerald A. Honigman is a Florida educator who has done extensive doctoral studies in Middle Eastern Affairs and National Security Policy Studies, created and conducted numerous programs for college youth, lectured on dozens of campuses and other platforms, and has publicly debated many anti-Israel scholars and other spokesmen. His articles, editorials, and op-eds have been published in hundreds of print and online newspapers, magazines, academic journals, and other publications around the world.

Honigman received his Masters Degree and was a doctoral student at the Kevorkian Center For Near Eastern Studies, a consortium of New York, Columbia, and Princeton Universities based at N.Y.U.’s Washington Square campus. Illness and financial matters led to an interruption of studies, and he next found himself based in Columbus, Ohio in a full-time position as a specialist consultant.

The heavily Nobel Laureate-sponsored academic journal, the Fall 1981 Middle East Review, showcased Honigman’s extensive article, “British Petroleum Politics, Arab Nationalism, and the Kurdish Struggle for Independence.” It covered many of the same problems on which this book now focuses, but with greater depth and detail. It was rare, indeed, for “just” a doctoral student to be honored this way. That article can be now be found on at least one major institution’s recommended reading list, one of the most prestigious universities anywhere, Paris’s acclaimed Institut d’Etudes Politiques.

Throughout the seventies (and occasionally thereafter), Honigman was invited to guest lecture at dozens of universities, colleges, and elsewhere across three states, often to balance a lecture or program by some anti-Israel spokesperson. He appeared on televised foreign policy programs several times as well.

Honigman’s main objective remains the same—to provide a greater sense of balance and broader perspective in the coverage of Middle Eastern Affairs in an era when vilifying Israel, especially in the media and academia, has become all too common.