War Without End: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Struggle for a Promised Land - Hardcover

Anton La Guardia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312276699 ISBN 13: 9780312276690

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2002

Synopsis

The struggles of the Israelis and Palestinians - with their terrible histories of disaster and redemption - command the obsessive attention of the world. Statesmen tinker with peace plans for the Middle East and generals worry about future wars there. Religious leaders stoke the violent passions of the devout while pilgrims flock to find God and archaeologists dig to find the origins of His revelations. All this goes on under the watchful eye of an army of reporters, observers, diplomatic envoys, and aid workers.

Between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, dreams and ideals collide with the reality of violent nationalist struggle, and God's name is invoked in defense of the jealousies of men. With the experienced journalist's eye for irony, anecdote, and telling detail, Anton La Guardia offers an intimate look into the Israelis as they come to terms with the "post-Zionist" demolition of national myths, and the Palestinians as they try to build their own state. A classic in the making, War Without End is the definitive book on Israel and her people.

About this title

Review:

In 1905, an Arab journalist and Ottoman official observed that two important phenomena were rising in the corners of the Turkish Empire: the awakening of Arab nationalism and efforts by European immigrants to found a Jewish state in Palestine. "Both of these movements are destined to fight each other continually," he concluded, "until one of them wins." So it has seemed, and the title of British journalist Anton La Guardia's book speaks volumes: for the last century, when the children of the Diaspora began to return in numbers to Palestine, two visions of that "promised land" have battled for supremacy, with no apparent resolution in sight--as witness the daily headlines. La Guardia charts the origins and course of the long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, remarking that much of it owes to all-too-human causes (the humiliation of the Arabs over having been defeated so often and so decisively in five decades of warfare; the mutual hatred of Arafat and Sharon) and offering thoughts from both sides on how peace might be reached, short of the annihilation of one or the other combatant. Those who themselves struggle to comprehend the news from the Middle East will find La Guardia to be a reliable, illuminating guide. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Anton La Guardia was Middle East correspondent for the Daily Telegraph from 1990 to 1998 and is now Diplomatic Editor. He lives in London and this is his first book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0312276699
• ISBN 13: 9780312276690
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432