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HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF PALESTINE. BY NAFEZ Y. NAZZAL and LAILA A. NAZZAL (Asian/Oceanian Historical Dictionaries, 23). Lanham, MD, London, Scarecrow Press, 1997. xc, + 304 pp., L52.25.
The series of Asian/Oceanian and African Historical Dictionaries has long filled a gap in English-language reference literature by supplying basic data on countries in general little studied in Western universities. The series format varies slightly from volume to volume-some volumes carry a chronology, others do not, while at least one volume on a Middle Eastern country uses Arabic as well as Latin script for personal and place names. On the whole, however, the volumes differ little from each other. Each one carries a long introduction on the history of the country, an up-to-date English-language bibliography, and a large number of fairly brief articles (very few run to more than 1000 words) on the recent political history of the country in question. The most common category of article is the biography of a leading political figure (although intellectuals and cultural personalities also feature), followed by entries on political events (treaties, agreements, wars, revolutions, rebellions, individual laws), political parties and movements, geographical features, tribes or other social and religious groups, and a few general entries of particular aspects of each country (health, education, economy, women).
The volume under review follows the existing format closely, but gives especial emphasis to contemporary events. Both the authors and the series editor justify their focus on the present by defining Palestine in terms of the new Palestine National Authority (PNA). Thus, entries `concentrate on individuals, events, factions and institutions that have a...