Home Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy by Shlomo Ben-Ami (ISBN: 9780195325423)

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Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy Paperback - 2007 - 1st Edition

Name: Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy
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Author: Ben-Ami, Shlomo
ISBN: 9780195325423

by Shlomo Ben-Ami

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An Oxford-trained historian who became Israeli Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami was a key figure in the Camp David negotiations and many other peace talks. He offers here an unflinching account of the Arab-Israeli conflict, informed by his firsthand knowledge.

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From the publisher

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami was a key figure in the Camp David negotiations and many other rounds of peace talks, public and secret, with Palestinian and Arab officials. Here he offers an unflinching account of the Arab-Israeli conflict, informed by his firsthand knowledge of the major characters and events.

Clear-eyed and unsparing, Ben-Ami traces the twists and turns of the Middle East conflict and gives us behind-the-scenes accounts of the meetings in Oslo, Madrid, and Camp David. The author paints particularly trenchant portraits of key figures from Ben-Gurion to Bill Clinton. He is highly critical of both Ariel Sharon and the late Yasser Arafat, seeing Arafat's rejection of Clinton's peace plan as a crime against the Palestinian people. The author is also critical of President Bush's Middle East policy, which he calls "a presumptuous grand strategy." Along the way, Ben-Ami highlights the many blunders on both sides, describing for instance how the great victory of the Six Day War launched many Israelis on a misbegotten "messianic" dream of controlling all the Biblical Jewish lands, which only served to make the Palestinian problem much worse. In contrast, it has only been when Israel has suffered setbacks that it has made moves towards peace. The best hope for the region, he concludes, is to create an international mandate in the Palestinian territories that would lead to the implementation of Clinton's two-state peace parameters.

Scars of War, Wounds of Peace is a major work of history--with by far the most fair and balanced critique of Israel ever to come from one of its key officials. This paperback edition features a new Epilogue by the author featuring an analysis of the most recent events in the Israeli-Arab situation, from the disappearance of Ariel Sharon from public life to the emergence of Hamas and Israel's recent war against Hizballah. It is an absolute must-read for everyone who wants to understand the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

First line

The encounter between Zionism and the Palestinian Arabs started as an experiment in mutual ignorance, an obsessive determination by each to overlook the powerful, genuine national sentiments and the spirit of communal identity that motivated the other.

Details

Title Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy
Author Shlomo Ben-Ami
Binding Paperback
Edition number 1st
Edition 1
Pages 428
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher Oxford University Press, Cary, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Publication date 2007-06-04
Features Bibliography, Index, Maps, Table of Contents
ISBN 9780195325423 / 0195325427
Weight 1.15 lbs (0.52 kg)
Dimensions 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 in (21.59 x 13.97 x 2.79 cm)
Themes
- Chronological Period: 1990's
- Chronological Period: 21st Century
- Cultural Region: Middle Eastern
Category History - General History
Library of Congress subjects Arab-Israeli conflict, Israel - Politics and government
Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2005025383
Dewey Decimal Code 956.940

About the author

An Oxford-trained historian, Shlomo Ben-Ami had a distinguished career at the University of Tel Aviv before he was appointed Israel's ambassador to Spain in 1987. He later became a member of the Knesset, Minister of Public Security, and finally Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has been a key participant in many Arab-Israeli peace conferences, most notably the Camp David summit in 2000.