Laurence J. Silberstein is Philip and Muriel Berman Professor of Jewish Studies at Lehigh University, where he directs the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies.

• Part I Frameworks and perspectives: reading perspectives/perspectives on reading - an introduction, Laurence J. Silberstein. Part II The transition to statehood - Jews and Arabs in conflict: the transition from Yishuv to state - social and ideological changes, Jehuda Reinharz; the origins of the Palestinian refugee problem, Benny Morris; early state policy towards the Arab population, 1948-1955, Don Peretz; one hundred years of social change - the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem, Kenneth W. Stein; initial Israeli policy guidelines towards the Arab minority, 1948-1949, Elie Rekhess; Arab historiography of the 1948 War - the quest for legitimacy, Avraham Sela. Part III Myths, symbols, values - the struggle for national identity: attitudes of the young state of Israel toward the Holocaust and its survivors - a debate over identity and values, Dina Porat; myths, symbols and rituals of the emerging state, Myron J. Aronoff; new beginning, old past - the collective memory of pioneering in Israeli culture, Yael Zerubavel; at half-mast myths, symbols, and rituals of the emerging state - a personal testimony of an "Israeli Arab", Anton Shammas. Part IV Conflicts within and conflicts wihout - diplomacy and foreign policy: Israel's global foreign policy, 1948-1956, Uri Bialer; Zionist-Arab diplomacy - patterns and ambiguities on the eve of statehood, Neil Caplan; Israel-Diaspora relations in the early years of the state, Ronald W. Zweig.

Laurence J. Silberstein is Philip and Muriel Berman Professor of Jewish Studies at Lehigh University, where he directs the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies.

• Part I Frameworks and perspectives: reading perspectives/perspectives on reading - an introduction, Laurence J. Silberstein. Part II The transition to statehood - Jews and Arabs in conflict: the transition from Yishuv to state - social and ideological changes, Jehuda Reinharz; the origins of the Palestinian refugee problem, Benny Morris; early state policy towards the Arab population, 1948-1955, Don Peretz; one hundred years of social change - the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem, Kenneth W. Stein; initial Israeli policy guidelines towards the Arab minority, 1948-1949, Elie Rekhess; Arab historiography of the 1948 War - the quest for legitimacy, Avraham Sela. Part III Myths, symbols, values - the struggle for national identity: attitudes of the young state of Israel toward the Holocaust and its survivors - a debate over identity and values, Dina Porat; myths, symbols and rituals of the emerging state, Myron J. Aronoff; new beginning, old past - the collective memory of pioneering in Israeli culture, Yael Zerubavel; at half-mast myths, symbols, and rituals of the emerging state - a personal testimony of an "Israeli Arab", Anton Shammas. Part IV Conflicts within and conflicts wihout - diplomacy and foreign policy: Israel's global foreign policy, 1948-1956, Uri Bialer; Zionist-Arab diplomacy - patterns and ambiguities on the eve of statehood, Neil Caplan; Israel-Diaspora relations in the early years of the state, Ronald W. Zweig.

Laurence J. Silberstein is Philip and Muriel Berman Professor of Jewish Studies at Lehigh University, where he directs the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies.

• Part I Frameworks and perspectives: reading perspectives/perspectives on reading - an introduction, Laurence J. Silberstein. Part II The transition to statehood - Jews and Arabs in conflict: the transition from Yishuv to state - social and ideological changes, Jehuda Reinharz; the origins of the Palestinian refugee problem, Benny Morris; early state policy towards the Arab population, 1948-1955, Don Peretz; one hundred years of social change - the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem, Kenneth W. Stein; initial Israeli policy guidelines towards the Arab minority, 1948-1949, Elie Rekhess; Arab historiography of the 1948 War - the quest for legitimacy, Avraham Sela. Part III Myths, symbols, values - the struggle for national identity: attitudes of the young state of Israel toward the Holocaust and its survivors - a debate over identity and values, Dina Porat; myths, symbols and rituals of the emerging state, Myron J. Aronoff; new beginning, old past - the collective memory of pioneering in Israeli culture, Yael Zerubavel; at half-mast myths, symbols, and rituals of the emerging state - a personal testimony of an "Israeli Arab", Anton Shammas. Part IV Conflicts within and conflicts wihout - diplomacy and foreign policy: Israel's global foreign policy, 1948-1956, Uri Bialer; Zionist-Arab diplomacy - patterns and ambiguities on the eve of statehood, Neil Caplan; Israel-Diaspora relations in the early years of the state, Ronald W. Zweig.