The book which is entitled ‘Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T.E. Lawrence, Aaron, Aaronsohn, and the seeds of the Arab-Israeli conflict is written by Ronald Florence in the year 2007 (Florence i). He has also authored eight other books. The author is a British officer who studied at Harvard University and Berkeley at the University of California. He obtained a Ph.D. from the above universities in European history. Ronald has traveled broadly throughout the Middle East and Europe to research his books. In addition, he has trained at the State University, Sarah Lawrence College, and Harvard University. Moreover, Florence is a historian and a novelist (Florence para. 1).
The Arab-Israel disagreement is believed to have some biblical basis in its foundations, with Abraham’s children contending an everlasting and ancient rivalry. On the other hand, it is thought that the conflict started one century ago due to World War I. Due to the above arguments, Ronald Florence decided to write a book concerning the argument. Therefore, Ronald wrote the book to explain the origin of the Arab-Israel conflict which continued to attack the Middle East.
Some of the sources which Ronald Florence used include biography where he grounds the fight between the Jewish and Arab nationalisms within the fall down of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. In this source, he highlights the T.E Lawrence who was an Arabian, passionate partisan, and ostentatious British officer of a mythicized Arab individuals and paved collectively an anti-Turkish upheaval from awkward Bedouin clans. In addition, the biography highlights another person called Aaron Aoronsohn who was an expert and a Palestinian Jew who started the Zionist force to create the desert bloom, planned a stag ring to give insight to Ottoman ramparts in Palestine (Florence 470-477).
Secondly, Ronald used detailed and voluminous diaries which had been written by Aaron Aaronsohn concerning his adult life and portions of WWI. Similarly, letters have been used such as letters obtained from Kalman Kantor’s wife between October and November in the year 1889. Journals have also been used as sources like the Sefer Toldot Hahagana journal by Menahem Sheinkin volume 1 and issue number 135. The second journal used is called the Arab Bulletin volume 11, issue number 64 and pages 388-392, written by Bidwell. This journal brings out the issue of Aaronsohn as a leader who gave directions during the Jewish movement (Florence 478-501).
The ‘Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T.E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronsohn and the seeds of the Arab-Israel conflict’ book which was written by Ronald Florence contains extra information apart from the text. This extra information includes; maps, acknowledgment, index, notes, photo-insert credits, prologue, epigraph, and appendices. For instance one of the maps can is found on page eleven and gives an overview of an area called Hejaz (Florence 11).
This book has been addressed to individuals who experienced the conflict during World War I in the Middle East. Therefore, the audiences of this book are those who did not experience the WWI so that they can read and understand what happened and how the war or conflict was controlled or managed. These people were stressed and worried during such times since they did not know where to go and how to escape from the war. In addition, these people were under tough situations or moments since they were struggling with how to live, what to eat and where to stay during such harsh times. These people were important during those times of conflict because some of them gave ideas on how to stop or end the war. These ideas worked because after the affected people gathering together and deciding to unite the Arabs and Israelites to create unity made the war reduce and eventually brought peace between the two tribes.
The subject of this book is emblematic of the time and culture in which those individuals lived. This is because, during the period on WWI where the Great authority secretly invaded the prospect of the Middle East, Ronald Florence imagined or came up with new ideas on how Lawrence who was to became the Lawrence of Arabia, would utilize his responsibility of coordinating the support of Arab for British war plans to improve or develop the visions of the Arab nation. This is shown through the promises which Lawrence had made though; he was unable to fulfill those promises which he had made to the Arab fighters when he was giving directions during World War I. On the other hand, Aaronsohn who was a gleaming agronomist to the endurance of the Zionist colonies in Palestine ended up being a spy which was great jeopardy to his family and himself. Moreover, Aaronsohn’s sister was also a British spy and was attacked by the Turkish personnel or officers and finally, she committed suicide. Aaron Aaronsohn decided to give up on a differentiated profession in the field of science and together with his sister developed a furtive spy network during WWI in Palestine. Their main aim was to give intelligence to the warfighters and as a result, the British were able to overcome Turks. In addition, their disagreement in wartime at Cairo led to political conflicts which are currently happening in the Middle East. On the contrary, these two key men in this book, Lawrence and Aaronsohn, were from different tribes and were not regarded as good friends by their generations, though they were fascinating during World War I (Florence par. 2).
Several things can be deduced from the person’s life in those periods. First of all, this person (Lawrence) was courageous since he was able to lead people during wartime. Secondly, the person gave promises to the Arab fighters which he could not fulfill; hence, he is a liar. In addition, the person (Aaronsohn) was a British spy; therefore, he was in a position to conduct the war appropriately and give correct and relevant information to the Turks’ opponents the British. However, his family and himself were at great risk since when the Turkish suspected him, he could be tortured just like his sister or get killed. The characteristics of the two key men during World War I can be related to today’s movement since they reflect on several happenings that are observed daily in people’s life. The aspect of failing to fulfill his promises helps people understand why most of the people in the leadership give promises and do not fulfill them. This is because they declare them without any strategies set aside on how to go about achieving the given promises. Similarly, there are individuals in day-to-day life who have devoted themselves to help their nations, people, or families. Therefore, the aspect of total devotion or volunteering like in the case of Aaronsohn despite himself or his family being at risk helps people understand why some individuals have devoted themselves to assist others or their nations.
In conclusion, the subject of this book is emblematic since it is symbolic or representative of what happened during World War I and in the Middle East today.
Works Cited
Florence, Ronald. Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T.E. Lawrence, Aaron Aaronsohn, and the seeds of the Arab-Israel. 2007.Web.
Florence, Ronald. Lawrence and Aaronsohn: T.E. Lawrence, Aaronsohn and the Seeds of the Arab-Israel Conflict. The Library of Congress. 2007. Web.