Beyond Oslo The Struggle For Palestine

With new talks in the Middle East Peace Process about to begin, the shadows of previous negotiations fall heavily across all involved. In this powerful and absorbing testimony, one of leading figures of the Oslo talks, former Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie ('Abu Ala') takes us behind closed doors and inside the negotiating rooms of Wye River, Stockholm and Camp David, where the terms of peace and a Palestinian state were sketched out, argued over, and eventually lost. Larger than life figures emerge from the minutes of these dramatic meetings - released here for the first time. Qurei recounts both the Israelis' intractability and the dynamic inside the Palestinian camp with candour and insight. This indispensable first-hand account provides a completely new perspective on the history, issues and personalities that will determine the future of the Middle East.

"With new talks in the Middle East Peace Process about to begin, the shadows of previous negotiations fall heavily across all involved. In this powerful and absorbing testimony, one of leading figures of the Oslo talks, former Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie ('Abu Ala') takes us behind closed doors and inside the negotiating rooms of Wye River, Stockholm and Camp David, where the terms of peace and a Palestinian state were sketched out, argued over, and eventually lost. Larger than life figures emerge from the minutes of these dramatic meetings - released here for the first time. Qurei recounts both the Israelis' intractability and the dynamic inside the Palestinian camp with candour and insight. This indispensable first-hand account provides a completely new perspective on the history, issues and personalities that will determine the future of the Middle East."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. The quest for an inclusive and independent state has been at the center of the Palestinian national struggle for a very long time. This book critically explores the meaning of Palestinian statehood and the challenges that face alternative models to it. Giving prominence to a young set of diverse Palestinian scholars, this groundbreaking book shows how notions of citizenship, sovereignty, and nationhood are being rethought within the broader context of decolonization. Bringing forth critical and multifaceted engagements with what modern Palestinian self-determination entails, Rethinking Statehood sets the terms of debate for the future of Palestine beyond partition.

PART I - The Camp David Process -- First Steps, Harsh Truths -- "A Secluded Northern Castle" -- Back to Square One -- Longing for Hizballah -- Forcing the Leaders' Hand -- A Conceivable Endgame? -- The Promise of an American Steamroller -- Inauspicious Beginnings -- Clinton: "We Have Exhausted the Beauty of this Place" -- A Gamechanger (or so it looked..) -- O Jerusalem (and its lies...) -- Saeb Erakat: "Arafat is Interested in a Crisis" -- Albright's Intermezzo; Clinton's Last Push -- Our Faintest Hour -- Arafat: "Barak Has Gone Beyond my Partner Rabin" -- Making Most of Success -- Moments of Grace on Precipice Edge -- PART II - A Savage War for Peace -- "With Our Blood and Soul We'll redeem Palestine" -- Diplomacy Under Fire -- Trapped in No-Win Conditions -- Neither Inspiring nor Intimidating -- "Take it or Leave It" - The Clinton Peace Parameters -- "A Crime Against the Palestinian People" -- Barak in a Cage of Doves -- Taba: "The Boss Doesn't Want an Agreement" -- Post Mortem -- Part III. 2001-2020: A Story of Promise and Deceit -- The Conversion of the Hawks -- The Impossible Triangle: Obama-Netanyahu-Abbas -- The Geneva Understandings as a Parable -- The Failed Zionization of Palestine -- The International Community - A Broken Reed -- The Occupation's Traits of Permanence -- PART IV. Denouements -- Ominous Unravellings -- Exit Oslo, Enter Madrid -- PART V. Defying the Logic of Conflict Resolution -- Palestine - A Comparative Perspective.

"A Crown Center for Middle East Studies Book."

"The quest for an inclusive and independent state has been at the center of the Palestinian national struggle for a very long time. This book critically reexamines this quest by exploring the meaning of Palestinian statehood and the challenges that face alternative models to it today. Rethinking Statehood in Palestine gives prominence to a young set of diverse Palestinian scholars, both men and women, to show how notions of citizenship, sovereignty, and nationhood are being currently rethought within the broader context of decolonization. Bringing forth critical and multifacetted engagements with what Palestinian self-determination entails within a larger regional context, this groundbreaking book sets the terms of debate for the future of Palestine beyond partition"--

In this book a former United Nations Envoy offers an insider perspective on conflict management and peace efforts during the three most recent failed peace initiatives and three wars in Gaza. Robert Serry shares his reflections on walking the tight rope of diplomacy between Israel and Palestine and his analysis of what has gone wrong and why a “one-state reality” may be around the corner. Offering fresh thinking on how to preserve prospects for a two-state solution, this book examines the UN’s uneasy history in the Arab-Israeli conflict since partition was proposed in resolution 181 (1948) and provides a rare insight into the life of a United Nations Envoy in today’s Middle East.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most prolonged, contentious and divisive in the modern era. But, despite the volatile nature of the conflict, which frequently flares up in armed confrontations between the two, there have been advancements towards a settlement through an admittedly protracted peace process. In this book, Jacob Eriksson argues that the impact of small states, such as Sweden or Norway, should not be ignored when it comes to the ongoing efforts to negotiate between Israel and Palestine. Although small states lack coercive power, the talks they have sponsored in this particular instance (such as the Norwegian-mediated Oslo Accords) have transformed both the conflict and the conceptions of a solution to it. Of course, the diplomatic and financial power of larger states such as the USA is undoubtedly central to a negotiated solution. But by looking at conflict resolution from the perspective of the small state, Eriksson offers a unique analysis of power and diplomacy in the context of negotiations and efforts towards peace settlements.