ABSTRACT

The Conclusion suggests that there is no angle of repose between Islam and Judaism, Muslims and Jews, or even Palestinians and Israelis. There was, in other words, no Archimedean point in which these two groups miraculously got along unscathed by the general wear and tear of social interactions. There have always been skirmishes over self-definition and the concomitant anxiety that such endeavors produce. Despite the fact that this volume is devoted to the historical and sociological interconnections between Jews and Muslims, it concludes with the need for solitude that clear boundaries ought to bring. For each group not only to survive, but to flourish, there needs to be mutual respect, dignity, and, with obvious exceptions, equality.