Yasir Arafat: A Political BiographyOxford University Press, 14 aug 2003 - 395 pagina's Yasir Arafat stands as one of the most resilient, recognizable and controversial political figures of modern times. The object of unrelenting suspicion, steady admiration and endless speculation, Arafat has occupied the center stage of Middle East politics for almost four decades. Yasir Arafat is the most comprehensive political biography of this remarkable man. Forged in a tumultuous era of competing traditionalism, radicalism, Arab nationalism, and Islamist forces, the Palestinian movement was almost entirely Arafat's creation, and he became its leader at an early age. Arafat took it through a dizzying series of crises and defeats, often of his own making, yet also ensured that it survived, grew, and gained influence. Disavowing terrorism repeatedly, he also practiced it constantly. Arafat's elusive behavior ensured that radical regimes saw in him a comrade in arms, while moderates backed him as a potential partner in peace. After years of devotion to armed struggle, Arafat made a dramatic agreement with Israel that let him return to his claimed homeland and transformed him into a legitimized ruler. Yet at the moment of decision at the Camp David summit and afterward, when he could have achieved peace and a Palestinian state, he sacrificed the prize he had supposedly sought for the struggle he could not live without. Richly populated with the main events and dominant leaders of the Middle East, this detailed and analytical account by Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin follows Arafat as he moves to Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, and finally to Palestinian-ruled soil. It shows him as he rewrites his origins, experiments with guerrilla war, develops a doctrine of terrorism, fights endless diplomatic battles, and builds a movement, constantly juggling states, factions, and world leaders. Whole generations and a half-dozen U.S. presidents have come and gone over the long course of Arafat's career. But Arafat has outlasted them all, spanning entire eras, with three constants always present: he has always survived, he has constantly seemed imperiled, and he has never achieved his goals. While there has been no substitute for Arafat, the authors conclude, Arafat has been no substitute for a leader who could make peace. |
Inhoudsopgave
11 | |
The Che Guevara of the Middle East 19671971 | 37 |
The Teflon Terrorist 19711975 | 57 |
Fouling His Own Nest 19751983 | 77 |
Far Away from Home 19841991 | 101 |
Hero of the Return 19911995 | 125 |
There Is a Tide in the Affairs of Men 19951999 | 161 |
The Moment of Truth 2000 | 185 |
Overige edities - Alles bekijken
Yasir Arafat : A Political Biography: A Political Biography Barry Rubin,Judith Colp Rubin Gedeeltelijke weergave - 2003 |
Veelvoorkomende woorden en zinsdelen
Abu Alaa Abu Iyad Abu Jihad Abu Mazin accept Al-Hayat American Amman April Arab world Arafat never army August Bank and Gaza Barak Beirut Black September Cairo Camp David Clinton compromise concessions December defeat demanded diplomatic Egypt ensure Fatah FBIS February fighting forces Gaza Strip goal Ha'aretz Hamas Hussein Ibid Interview Intifada Islamist Israel Israeli January Jerusalem Post Jihad Jordan Jordanian Journal of Palestine July June killed king Kuwait later leaders leadership Lebanese Lebanon March meeting Middle East military Muslim Nasser negotiations Netanyahu Notes to Pages November October Oslo Agreement Palestine Report Palestine Studies Palestinian Palestinian Legislative Council peace process percent Peres PFLP PLO's political prime minister Rabin Ramallah refugees rejected revolutionary Ross Rubin Saudi strategy summit Syria talks territory terrorism terrorist attacks U.S. Embassy U.S. official United victory violence Washington Post West Bank YASIR ARAFAT York
Populaire passages
Pagina vii - But I, that am not shap'd for sportive tricks, Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass; I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty, To strut before a wanton ambling nymph: I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion, Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time Into this breathing world, scarce half made up...
Pagina vii - There is a tide in the affairs of men Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.
Pagina vii - That dogs bark at me as I halt by them; Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, Have no delight to pass away the time...
Pagina 7 - The situation in which he finds himself today is largely of his own making. He's missed his opportunities and thereby betrayed the hopes of the people he's supposed to lead.