End of the Peace Process

Edward W. Said, one of the world's most influential literary and cultural critics, is also one of the leading authorities on the Middle East. This passionate, engaged and constantly insightful collection of essays is a commentary on the last six years of the peace process, in which Said has been virtually a lone voice in the West supporting the rights of the Palestinian people. Among the issues he covers are the questionable efficacy of Arafat's leadership, which has done nothing to stop illegal land expropriation and house demolitions; and the false 'breakthrough' the Oslo Accords have turned out to be for the Palestinians, as they include no mention of self-determination and sovereignty, or of an end to the expansion of Jewish settlements. But Said is not without hope: taken together, these essays comprise an eloquent, powerful vision of how peaceful reconciliation between Palestinian and Israeli can be taken forward.