The End of the Peace Process: Oslo and After - Softcover

Said, Edward W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0375725741 ISBN 13: 9780375725746

Publisher: Vintage, 2001

Synopsis

     Soon after the Oslo accords were signed in September 1993 by Israel and Palestinian Liberation Organization, Edward Said predicted that they could not lead to real peace.  In these essays, most written for Arab and European newspapers, Said uncovers the political mechanism that advertises reconciliation in the Middle East while keeping peace out of the picture.

     Said argues that the imbalance in power that forces Palestinians and Arab states to accept the concessions of the United States and Israel prohibits real negotiations and promotes the second-class treatment of Palestinians.  He documents what has really gone on in the occupied territories since the signing.  He reports worsening conditions for the Palestinians critiques Yasir Arafat's self-interested and oppressive leadership, denounces Israel's refusal to recognize Palestine's past, and—in essays new to this edition—addresses the resulting unrest.  

   In this unflinching cry for civic justice and self-determination, Said promotes not a political agenda but a transcendent alternative: the peaceful coexistence of Arabs and Jews enjoying equal rights and shared citizenship.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"Said (author of the highly praised memoir Out of Place) once again brings acute insight to a controversial subject.... Deeply concerned with the fate of the Palestinian people, and without mincing words, Said probes their relationship to the Israeli government and their lives under Arafat's Palestinian Authority... A potent analysis--one that refuses to follow a party line--of the complexities and stark realities of Middle Eastern politics. "
--Publishers Weekly

From the Inside Flap:

Edward Said demonstrates why he is considered the preeminent observer and critic of the Middle East peace process in this collection of fifty essays, written mostly for Arab and European newspapers in the last five years and previously not readily available to American readers.
Said uncovers the political mechanism that advertises reconciliation in the Middle East while keeping peace out of the picture. He cites the imbalance of power that forces Palestinians and Arab states to accept the concessions of the United States and Israel, thus prohibiting real negotiations and promoting the second-class treatment of Palestinians. He critiques Arafat's self-interested leadership and the oppressive Palestinian Authority, criticizes the general quiescence of Palestinian life, and denounces Israel's refusal to recognize Palestine's past. In this unflinching cry for civic justice and self-determination, Said promotes not a political agenda but a transcendent alternative: the peaceful coexistence of Arabs and Jews enjoying equal rights and shared citizenship.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0375725741
• ISBN 13: 9780375725746
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 411