Arabs & Jews
Via the pro-Palestinian blogger The Arabist, a review of a book which examines how a network of Arab informers flourished in pre-1948 Palestine:
"Army of Shadows" chronicles a tragic chapter in the people's history of Palestine, one that many Arab scholars have refrained from writing because it contradicts the dominant ethos of Palestinian national unity. Zionists have abstained from recording it as well because it undermines their claim that the Palestinians were able to unify and fight against the establishment of a Jewish state after the UN partition resolution of November 29, 1947. Cohen reveals that many Palestinians signed pacts with the Zionists during the 1948 war and that some even fought with the Jews against the Arab armies.
On the culture front, Our Girl In Chicago writes in praise of "The Band's Visit", a low-key comedy about an Egyptian police band stranded in a small Israel town. Here's the trailer.