From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map

June 28, 2004
In the three years before he died of leukemia in September 2003, noted critic and commentator Said (Culture and Imperialism
, etc.) observed with sputtering rage some of the grimmest moments in the tragic history of the Middle East conflict. The commentaries collected here, written mostly for two Arabic-language publications, are caustic and heartbroken, heaping scorn on the "demonic" Ariel Sharon, but reserving plenty of contempt for the "ruinous regime" of Yasir Arafat. Said has few allies in his call for Palestinians and Israelis to unite in a single binational state, but his critique of Oslo's approach to a two-state solution has come to seem prescient. He denounces suicide bombing, advising Palestinians instead to "seize the moral high ground" and build a civil society, but he insists that Israel's occupation, settlements and counterterrorist reprisals are primarily responsible for the conflict. After September 11, Said worries about the "Israelization of U.S. policy." But regarding Iraq, Said, who opposed Hussein's rule as well as the sanctions policy and the American invasion, doesn't suggest an alternative. He often criticizes all of the messy options available to policy makers, placing his hopes in nonviolent resistance movements that don't yet exist. Still, these essays are a reminder of what has been lost: a passionate and eloquent spokesman for the aspirations of progressives in the Arab world. Agent, Andrew Wylie.

August 1, 2004
Until his 2003 death, Said was the American academic community's most passionate and prolific Palestinian. This selection collects 46 of Said's final political essays, previously published in " Al-Hayat" of London and the Egyptian " Al-Ahram Weekly" as well as " Le Monde " and the" Guardian " between 2000 and 2003; most have not previously been published in the U.S. The core insight at the heart of this book--that the fate of the Palestinians and the key to the Middle East conflict depend on American public consciousness--should not be a new one for those familiar with Said's work, but his essays are as insightful as ever and cover a surprisingly broad range of issues related to his perennial theme. In "What Is Happening to the United States?" Said laments the hijacking of words; in "Adrift in Similarity," he continues a 10-year clash with Samuel Huntington and Bernard Lewis. Said fans will likely feel a twinge of sadness in his ardent, frustrated final essays; those discovering him for the first time here may be drawn to his now-classic earlier works. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)