Arafat's War

August 4, 2003

Middle East scholar Karsh (Fabricating Israeli History) makes a lively case that Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat never intended to fulfill any of his peace commitments, and has in fact "used 'peace' as a strategic deception aimed at promoting the eternal goal of Israel's destruction." After sketching Arafat's pre-1993 history in a couple of chapters, the author focuses most of the book on the decade since the signing of the historic Oslo peace accords. In those years, he writes, inside the Palestinian territories, Arafat has "imposed an oppressive and corrupt regime in the worst tradition of Arab dictatorships." Outside, meanwhile, he has unleashed waves of violence on Israel, deliberately choosing to make violence "the defining characteristic of his rule." The author draws on Arabic, Hebrew and English-language sources to give what may be the most comprehensive account yet of certain events—like the Palestinian leadership's five years of maneuvering to avoid canceling, as promised, the parts of the Palestinian National Covenant that call for Israel's destruction. Karsh's conclusion is that both Arafat and his tainted Palestinian Authority must go. Many will disagree with the author, particularly because he appears to blame the failure of peace entirely on the Palestinian side, with almost no mention of Israeli settlement-building. But the book is well argued, fast-paced and engaging enough for those with a casual interest. Karsh, head of Mediterranean studies at King's College, University of London, has a stronger point of view than the Rubins (see review below), and covers recent events in greater detail.