The Slopes of Lebanon

November 1, 1989
Although Israeli writer Oz calls it ``a deadly enemy,'' he nevertheless urges Israelis to talk peace with the PLO and work toward the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel. Written between 1982 and 1988, these articulate, impassioned articles and speeches include pieces on ``that righteous gentleman'' Kurt Waldheim; the Austrian origins of tens of thousands of Nazis; Claude Lanzmann's Holocaust film Shoah ; the 1984 hijacking of a bus by Arab terrorists; the weakening of the Labor party; the search for peace. Oz, a leader of the Peace Now movement, condemns Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon as a perverted use of power. He fears Israel is on the verge of becoming a stagnant society, one conditioned by fear, that lives in the past.