Overview

Scattered over the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lie the remnants of failed peace proposals, international summits, secret negotiations, UN resolutions, and state-building efforts. The conventional story is that these well-meaning attempts at peacemaking were repeatedly, perhaps terminally, thwarted by violence. Through a rich interweaving of reportage, historical narrative, and powerful analysis, Nathan Thrall presents a startling counter-history. He shows that force has impelled each side to make its largest concessions, from Palestinian acceptance of a two-state solution to Israeli territorial withdrawals. This simple fact has been neglected by the world powers, which have expended countless resources on initiatives meant to diminish friction between the parties. By quashing any hint of confrontation and providing bounteous economic and military assistance, the United States and Europe have merely entrenched the conflict by lessening the incentives to end it. Thrall's important book upends the beliefs steering these failed policies, revealing how the aversion of pain, not the promise of peace, has driven compromise for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

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9781665270311

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Reviews

This learned and candid book is a genuine contribution to our understanding of an increasingly frightening conflict.-- Leon Wieseltier

"This learned and candid book is a genuine contribution to our understanding of an increasingly frightening conflict.-- ""Leon Wieseltier"""

Author Information

Nathan Thrall is a leading analyst of the Arab-Israeli conflict. A former staff member of the New York Review of Books, he is a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, for which he has covered Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza since 2010. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books, and his analysis is often featured in print and broadcast media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, the Financial Times, the Guardian, the Economist, Time, CNN, Democracy Now!, PRI, and the BBC. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and daughters. Stephen R. Thorne, winner of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards for narration, is a professional actor and member of the resident acting company at Providence's esteemed Trinity Repertory Company, where he has played Hamlet, Henry V, and Tom Joad.

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