Scholarship on the Arab-Israeli conflict is a self-sustaining industry

Evidence

In promoting a cause, it is very important to select the right enemy. This may help of course to win a victory, but more important it will help to arouse curiosity. This curiosity, and the means of gratifying it, are probably the two most important reasons for the greater prominence of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the media. Apart from that, there are of course a variety of what one might call special interests. There are those who are moved by loyalty to one side or another or by ulterior motives of one kind or another; those who support Israel because it is Jewish and those who oppose Israel for the same reason. There are those who choose their side for professional or commercial reasons; many careers have been built up on the Arab-Israeli conflict and its solution may cause havoc and devastation, particularly in the academic world to which I belong. Think of all the lectures and research projects which may go down the drain. It has become a major industry in itself. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1642

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ‘retention of attention’ economics of conflict coverage and the career incentives that sustain long-running disputes.