www.arab.net/palestine/history/pe_zionism.html To understand the beginnings of the decades-old Jewish-Muslim conflict in the Middle East, Spudberg decided to first look up the definition of a word for which he only understood the connotations. Arabnet quickly and clearly defines "Zionism" in a historical context on this page, which is part of a larger at-a-glance history of Palestine. The lessons get interesting during World War I.

www.israel.org/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00kt0 In the Middle East, there are two histories. This is Israel's, as offered in time-line fashion by Israel.org. It gets interesting before it even starts -- about 2,000 years before -- in a brief prelude. If you look for them, some stark ironies jump out of that prelude, which seems to be rationalizing in trying to explain how "a cultural, religious and national identity was formed . . ." about a "physical presence being maintained through the centuries . . ." and about the Jewish people's "many years of dispersion."

www.ipcri.org The Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information is a think tank founded in 1988. But beware, think tanks tend to be a bit long-winded. Luckily, they also have a saving grace: They put solu tions on the table (not that anyone's sitting down with them). Not only does the IPCRI explain how we got into the current mess, it tells us how we might clean it up.