Overview

How the ""peace process"" has made life impossible for ordinary Palestinians. This book is not about suicide bombers. Tending one's fields, visiting a relative, going to the hospital: for ordinary Palestinians, such everyday activities require negotiating permits and passes, curfews and closures, ""sterile roads"" and ""seam zones""—bureaucratic hurdles ultimately as deadly as outright military incursion. Not since the late Edward Said has there been such an articulate Arab voice on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In devastating detail, Saree Makdisi reveals how the ""peace process"" institutionalized Palestinians’ loss of control over their inner and outer lives. He shows how Israel's massive concrete walls going up around Gaza and the West Bank isolate communities from their lands, their livelihoods, and each other. Through eye-opening statistics and day-by-day reports, we learn how Palestinians have seen their hopes for freedom and statehood culminate in the creation of abject ""territories"" comparable to open-air prisons. Anyone surprised at Arab anger or the election of Hamas must read this book.

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9780393338447

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Reviews

An extraordinarily detailed portrait... Weaves together a tapestry of harrowing narratives in a lucid and measured tone. The Times Higher Education Supplement A chilling insight into how the 'peace process' is isolating communities from their lands, their livelihoods and each other. Diplomat ...compelling narrative... Frontline Club Magazine

This book needs to be required reading for all who seek a peaceful future for these two long-tormented peoples. -- Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Palestine An extraordinarily detailed portrait... Weaves together a tapestry of harrowing narratives in a lucid and measured tone. A lucid, invaluable chronicle of Palestinian daily life in the occupied territories.

Author Information

Saree Makdisi is a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

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