Only mutual compassion can bring reconciliation and lasting peace to the Middle East. This conflict is about far more than just land. The honor of Muslims was grossly violated when Israel was implanted next to one of the holiest sites of Islam, al Haram ash Sharif in Jerusalem – which, in turn, occupies the site of the former Jewish Temple. For thirteen hundred years Jews had been able to live mostly in peace in the Muslim world, because they subordinated themselves under the rule of Islam. They could even attain high positions serving Caliphs. With a State of their own this was no longer an option. Under such changed conditions, how could there be an honorable peace? Only if Muslims recollect Surat 5:48 in the holy Koran, which commands a competition in virtue among the religions of the book. Jews can contribute by showing awareness of how shocking their sudden takeover of part of the land must have felt for the community of all Muslims, and concurrently by pleading for understanding of the deadly threat that left Jewish survivors no choice when, in 1947, the UN declared the partition of Palestine. Even more important, the very name “Israel” itself sprang up in the solution of an archetypal biblical conflict between brothers, one pregnant with meaning for today. Christians too have their share. They must contribute by helping restore one of the most fundamental values of all three religions descending from Abraham, namely peace.

A high-level insider's history of the efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from 2000 Camp David Talks to the present, that explains why successive attempts have all failed. The clash between Israel and Palestine has been one of the most emotionally engaging causes of modern times. Prophets without Honor tells the story of the grueling attempts to solve the conflict and examines the reasons for its resilience. Shlomo Ben-Ami, who participated at a high level in the July 2000 Camp David peace talks that almost led to a historic deal, uses his insider experience to illuminate the specific factors that impede a solution to the conflict. He finds that the occupation's traits of permanence, Israel's insatiable quest for Lebensraum, and a hopelessly fragmented and disoriented Palestinian national movement are to blame. Ben-Ami challenges the funereal historiography that emerged in the wake of the Camp David process, when--for the first time ever--Israelis and Palestinians engaged in the Sisyphean task of breaking the taboos surrounding the conflict. The Clinton Peace Parameters that emerged out of this process eventually became the litmus test of every serious peace proposal in the future. But ill-conceived perceptions of the other party, all-or-nothing theological fanaticism, and a lack of bold and enlightened leadership have made these attempts at peace-making a defining failure of the two-state concept. Ben-Ami scrutinizes the ominous alternatives to the two-state solution, such as the binational state, a unilateral pullout from much of the West Bank, and Donald Trump's Deal of the Century. He also examines the merits of a Jordanian-Palestinian solution. In discussing Palestine from a comparative perspective, he underlines its singularity while also shedding light on the dilemmas that stand at the center of any peace enterprise. Ultimately, his account is the most non-partisan, comprehensive, and balanced written by an insider representing one of the parties.

Drawing on a newly developed theoretical definition of “missed opportunity,” Chances for Peace uses extensive sources in English, Hebrew, and Arabic to systematically measure the potentiality levels of opportunity across some ninety years of attempted negotiations in the Arab-Israeli conflict. With enlightening revelations that defy conventional wisdom, this study provides a balanced account of the most significant attempts to forge peace, initiated by the world’s superpowers, the Arabs (including the Palestinians), and Israel. From Arab-Zionist negotiations at the end of World War I to the subsequent partition, the aftermath of the 1967 War and the Sadat Initiative, and numerous agreements throughout the 1980s and 1990s, concluding with the Annapolis Conference in 2007 and the Abu Mazen-Olmert talks in 2008, pioneering scholar Elie Podeh uses empirical criteria and diverse secondary sources to assess the protagonists’ roles at more than two dozen key junctures. A resource that brings together historiography, political science, and the practice of peace negotiation, Podeh’s insightful exploration also showcases opportunities that were not missed. Three agreements in particular (Israeli-Egyptian, 1979; Israeli-Lebanese, 1983; and Israeli-Jordanian, 1994) illuminate important variables for forging new paths to successful negotiation. By applying his framework to a broad range of power brokers and time periods, Podeh also sheds light on numerous incidents that contradict official narratives. This unique approach is poised to reshape the realm of conflict resolution.

Violence and war have raged between Zionists and Palestinians for over a century, ever since Zionists, trying to establish a nation-state in Palestine, were forced to confront the fact that the country was already populated. Covering every conflict in Israel’s history, War over Peace reveals that Israeli nationalism was born ethnic and militaristic and has embraced these characteristics to this day. In his sweeping and original synthesis, Uri Ben-Eliezer shows that this militaristic nationalism systematically drives Israel to find military solutions for its national problems, based on the idea that the homeland is sacred and the territory is indivisible. When Israelis opposed to this ideology brought about change during a period that led to the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, cultural and political forces, reinforced by religious and messianic elements, prevented the implementation of the agreements, which brought violence back in the form of new wars. War over Peace is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the role of ethnic nationalism and militarism in Israel as well as throughout the world.

With more than 1,100 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of conflict in the Middle East, this definitive scholarly reference provides readers with a substantial foundation for understanding contemporary history in the most volatile region in the world. This authoritative and comprehensive encyclopedia covers all the key wars, insurgencies, and battles that have occurred in the Middle East roughly between 3100 BCE and the early decades of the twenty-first century. It also discusses the evolution of military technology and the development and transformation of military tactics and strategy from the ancient world to the present. In addition to the hundreds of entries on major conflicts, military engagements, and diplomatic developments, the book also features entries on key military, political, and religious leaders. Essays on the major empires and nations of the region are included, as are overview essays on the major periods under consideration. The book additionally covers such non-military subjects as diplomacy, national and international politics, religion and sectarian conflict, cultural phenomena, genocide, international peacekeeping missions, social movements, and the rise to prominence of international terrorism. The reference entries are augmented by a carefully curated documents volume that offers primary sources on such diverse topics as the Greco-Persian Wars, the Crusades, and the Arab-Israeli Wars.

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA.

This is the fifteenth volume in a series that provides up-to-date summation and evaluation of the rapidly changing events in an exceptionally complex region of the world. This volume covers the period January through December 1991 and offers in-depth analysis of the Gulf War, the U.S.-inspired peace negotiations, the surge of Islamic sentiment in a number of countries, and inter-Arab relations in the wake of the Gulf War. In addition, a comprehensive survey of the affairs of each country is provided. This volume covers the year 1991, a watershed period in the Middle East. The Gulf War pitted regional and international forces of unprecedented might against each other in fierce confrontation. Local and global developments, such as the U.S.-led victory over Iraq and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, brought on the struggle for a new order in the region. The relevance of Western political modes for Middle Eastern societies was again raised for examination, highlighting the formidable complexities of such options. One of the local responses to these changes was a surge of Islamic sentiment sometimes militant in nature manifested primarily in Sudan, Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and among the Palestinians. Spearheaded by the United States, the Middle East peace process entered a more dynamic phase, as a multilateral peace conference in Madrid ushered in a new era of direct Arab-Israeli negotiations. The Arab system was slow to recover from the painful impact of the Gulf War, and inter-Arab relations continued to be characterized more by mutual vindictiveness than by reconciliation. On the whole, this was a year of considerable flux and uncertainty, with some events promising the inauguration of a new course of development for the region and others passing without long-term impact. The period surveyed in this volume, unless otherwise indicated, is from January to December 1991. In order to avoid excessive repetition while achieving a comprehensive survey of the affairs of each country individually, extensive cross-references have been used

This is the fifteenth volume in a series that provides up-to-date summation and evaluation of the rapidly changing events in an exceptionally complex region of the world. This volume covers the period January through December 1991 and offers in-depth analysis of the Gulf War, the U.S.-inspired peace negotiations, the surge of Islamic sentiment in a number of countries, and inter-Arab relations in the wake of the Gulf War. In addition, a comprehensive survey of the affairs of each country is provided.

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