Every day for many decades we have heard or read in the news of incidences occurring in the Middle East - especially concerning the Israelis and the Palestinians. Some times it is hard to keep up with the names and the history and other issues connected with this conflict. The reason for this conflict is often forgotten by those of us who are not in the middle of it, maybe even by those who are involved in it. For some people there, it is all they know. This conflict spills over to Israel’s Arab neighbors and beyond. Here is a dictionary that can be of a great help in keeping things straight.

This dictionary is an updated translation of Claude Faure’s dictionary entitled Shalom, Salam: Dictionaire pour une milleure approche du conflit israelo-palestinien, which was published in France in 2002 by Librarie Artheme Fayard. This new dictionary is contained in two volumes in the A-to-Z format with entries of varying. Most are long enough to get good information on a particular topic or person. There are several black-and-white photos or illustrations as well as several black-and-white maps, cross references and see-also references, and two timelines with annotations; the first is of modern Arab-Israeli history from 1879 to 2004, and the second is of the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1897 to 2004. These are at the front of each volume; at the end of each volume are a glossary and a bibliography. Most of the bibliographical citations for books and articles are from the 1990s and the 2000s in English.

This set is recommended for academic, public, and personal libraries. People interested or concerned with the Middle East will want this set to keep up with the background to what is happening over there, especially now that what happens over there are now affecting us more here in the United States and the rest of the Western world.