Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
Peace Diplomacy
Hanan Ashrawi. This Side of Peace: A Personal Account (Touchstone Books) 1996
Ashrawi, a former PLO spokeswoman, academic, and women’s rights activist, describes the inner workings of the Palestinian political elite during the diplomatic negotiations with Israel in the Oslo years. This is an autobiographical account with anecdotes of growing up as a Christian in the predominantly Muslim Palestinian territories, under the pressure of the Israeli occupation. Today Ashrawi heads MIFTAH – the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. 320 pages.
George Ball. The Passionate Attachment: America’s Involvement with Israel, 1947 to the Present (1992)
A highly critical analysis of the US support for Israel by a former Assistant Secretary State.
Gershon Baskin. The Oslo Peace Process – Lessons Learned (2002)
An analysis of why the Oslo process collapsed and the lessons that can be learned for the future.
Kathleen Christenson. Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy (1999)
The story of how the Palestinian narrative of the conflict has been largely absent in the thinking of Americans and American policy-makers.
Richard Curtiss. Stealth PACs: How Israel’s American Lobby took Control of U.S. Middle East Policy (1990)
Argues for the power of pro-Israel PACs in creating the US-Israel Alliance via PAC contributions to lawmakers.
Paul Findley. They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel’s Lobby (1985)
The former Congressman argues that the powerful pro-Israel lobby terrorizes Congress and limits free speech about Mid-East policy.
Samuel G. Freedman. Jew vs. Jews: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry (2000)
A somewhat journalistic account of the religious and political struggles among American Jews over Israel and other issues.
Galia Golan. Israel and Palestine: Peace Proposals and Plans from Oslo to Disengagement (2007), second edition
Golan, an Israeli activist and professor of government, dissects each of the major Israeli and Palestinian peace attempts, from Oslo in 1993 to the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, and evaluates the current prospects for peace.
Peter Grose. Israel in the American Mind (1983)
A look at the historical perceptions that Americans have about Israel and Jews.
Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon (Editors). Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-PalestinianConflict (2003)
Essays by a diverse group of progressive Jewish writers on the current situation in the Middle East and the prospects for peace.
Sari Nusseibeh, Mark Heller. No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-State Settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1991)
A pre-Oslo blueprint for peacemaking laid out in a joint effort by an Israeli and a Palestinian scholar. Nusseibeh has gained great notoriety as a Palestinian representative in Jerusalem and a leading Palestinian voice for moderation and compromise.
Shimon Peres. The New Middle East (1993)
Peres’ book lays out his hopeful and idealistic vision of the peaceful co-existence that he imagined the Oslo process would produce.
William Quandt. Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict Since 1967 (University of California Press) 2001
Quandt, formerly of the National Security Council under Nixon and Carter and presently a professor of politics at the University of Virginia, provides a detailed account of America’s evolving foreign policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict. Covering developments from 1967 until the death of Yasir Arafat, Quandt shows the integral role the US plays Mid-East peace efforts. 504 pages.
Itamar Rabinovich. Waging Peace: Israel and the Arabs, 1948-2003 (Princeton University Press) 2004
Israeli scholar and diplomat Rabinovich looks at Arab-Israeli relations since 1948 and possibilities for normalization and peace in the future. This updated version includes analysis on Iraq, Ariel Sharon, the US role in the Middle East, and the expanding role of religion in the conflict between Israel and Arab nationalism. 344 pages.
Dennis Ross. The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) 2005
Ross, former chief Middle East negotiator in the first Bush administration and under president Clinton, offers a unique and comprehensive view of US peace efforts spanning from the Madrid conference in 1991 to the breakdown at Camp David in 2001. With details on backroom deal- making and insights into the personalities of Middle East leaders, including Arafat, Netanyahu, and Barak, this is an insider’s account like no other. 840 pages.
Edward Said. Politics of Dispossession (1994); Peace and Its Discontents (1996); The End of the Peace Process: Oslo and After (2000)
Deeply critical essays on the Oslo process by a leading Palestinian scholar.
David Shulman. Dark Hope: Working for Peace in Israel and Palestine (2007)
An inside look at the work of the Arab-Israeli peace group Ta’ayush, by an American-Israeli activist and professor of religion at Hebrew University.
Uri Savir. The Process: 1,100 Days That Changed the Middle East (1999)
Personal account of the Oslo process from one of its leading Israeli architects and chief negotiator from 1993-96.