Rashid Khalidi is the author of seven books about the Middle East,
including "Palestinian Identity," " Brokers of Deceit, Resurrecting
Empire," "The Iron Cage," and "Sowing Crisis. "His writing on
Middle Eastern history and politics has appeared in the "New York
Times," "Boston Globe," " Los Angeles Times," "Chicago Tribune,"
and many journals. For his work on the Middle East, Professor
Khalidi has received fellowships and grants from the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars, the American Research
Center in Egypt, and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. He
is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studiesat Columbia
University in New York and is editor of the "Journal of Palestine
Studies."
"
Praise for "Brokers of Deceit"
"What has happened to the Palestinian people since 1948 is one of
the great crimes of modern history. Of course, Israel bears primary
responsibility for this tragedy. However, asRashid Khalidi shows in
his smart new book, American presidents from Truman to Obama have
sided with Israel at almost every turn and helped it inflict
immense pain and humiliation on the Palestinians. At the same time,
they have employedhigh-sounding but dishonest rhetoric to cover
upIsrael's brutal behavior. As "Brokers of Deceit"makes clear, the
United States richly deserves to be called "Israel's lawyer."
John J. Mearsheimer, coauthor of "The Israel Lobby
"
Drawing on his own experience as a Palestinian negotiator and
recently released documents, Rashid Khalidi mounts a frontal attack
on the myths and misconceptions that have come to surround America
s role in the so-called peace process which is all process and no
peace. The title is not too strong: the book demonstrates
conclusively that far from serving as an honest broker, the US
continues to act as Israel s lawyer with dire consequences for its
own interests, for the Palestinians, and for the entire region.
Professor Khalidi deserves much credit for his superb exposition of
the fatal gap between the rhetoric and reality of American
diplomacy on this critically important issue.
Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at Oxford
and author of"The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World."
"Khalidi has combined history, common sense and his first-hand
understanding of arab-israeli peace talks, as brokered by
Washington, to make the case that American national security
interests would be best served by a just peace in the Middle East.
Instead, he writes with great sadness, Washington's efforts to be
an honest broker fall "somewhere between high irony and farce" and
puts democratic America, with its avowed commitment to freedom for
all, in the position of enabling the continued subjugation of the
Palestine people. This is an important book."
Seymour M. Hersh, "The" "New Yorker
"
For those of us who believe that a two-state solution is the pathto
justice and peace for Israel and Palestine, Rashid Khalidi s
trenchant analysis is powerful and disturbing.The United States has
failed repeatedly to be an honest broker, accepting the status quo
of Israeli occupation and settlements when a true peace agreement
would be deeply in the interest of all parties, Israel, Palestine,
and the US itself. Khalidi emphasizes that the deceptions of
language and deed have serious long-term costs and that the United
States might soon impose and incur still greater costs through
ill-conceived policies vis-a-vis Syria, Iran, and other countries
in the Middle East.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, author of "The End of Poverty" Praise for Rashid
Khalidi
Rashid Khalidi is arguably the foremost U.S. historian of the
modern Middle East. Warren I. Cohen, "Los Angeles Times Book
Review"
In a refreshing contrast to the yammering bazaar of complaint and
allegation that has dominated American public discussion of the
Middle East since Sept. 11, 2001, "The Iron Cage" is a patient and
eloquent work, ranging over the whole of modern Palestinian history
from World War I to the death of Yasser Arafat. Reorienting the
Palestinian narrative around the attitudes and tactics of the
Palestinians themselves, Khalidi lends a remarkable illumination to
a story so wearily familiar it is often hard to believe anything
new can be found within. Jonathan Shainin, "Salon"
Unlike most so-called Middle East experts, Khalidi actually knows a
great deal about that region Professor John J. Mearsheimer, author
of "The Israel Lobby"
""
With a deep knowledge of the Middle East and a felicitous literary
style, Khalidi ... examines the history of U.S. involvement in the
area against the backdrop of European colonialism. Ronald Steel,
"The Nation"
Rashid Khalidi s extraordinary book ["Resurrecting Empire"] is
enormously relevant for our times, especially in light of America s
growing involvement in the Middle East. Joseph Stiglitz, winner of
the Nobel Prize
Khalidi s role is as a historian, working to show how historical
forces, largely ignored in the U.S., have shaped the modern Middle
East. He takes particular delight in demolishing the various
cliches used to describe the Middle East, bred out of what he terms
America s historical amnesia. Chris Hedges, "New York Times""
Praise for "Brokers of Deceit"
"What has happened to the Palestinian people since 1948 is one of
the great crimes of modern history. Of course, Israel bears primary
responsibility for this tragedy. However, as Rashid Khalidi shows
in his smart new book, American presidents from Truman to Obama
have sided with Israel at almost every turn and helped it inflict
immense pain and humiliation on the Palestinians. At the same time,
they have employed high-sounding but dishonest rhetoric to cover up
Israel's brutal behavior. As "Brokers of Deceit" makes clear, the
United States richly deserves to be called "Israel's lawyer."
--John J. Mearsheimer, coauthor of "The Israel Lobby
"
"Drawing on his own experience as a Palestinian negotiator and
recently released documents, Rashid Khalidi mounts a frontal attack
on the myths and misconceptions that have come to surround
America's role in the so-called "peace process" which is all
process and no peace. The title is not too strong: the book
demonstrates conclusively that far from serving as an honest
broker, the US continues to act as Israel's lawyer - with dire
consequences for its own interests, for the Palestinians, and for
the entire region. Professor Khalidi deserves much credit for his
superb exposition of the fatal gap between the rhetoric and reality
of American diplomacy on this critically important issue."
--Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at
Oxford and author of"The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World."
"Khalidi has combined history, common sense and his first-hand
understanding of arab-israeli peace talks, as brokered by
Washington, to make the case that American national security
interests would be best served by a just peace in the Middle East.
Instead, he writes with great sadness, Washington's efforts to be
an honest broker fall "somewhere between high irony and farce"
--and puts democratic America, with its avowed commitment to
freedom for all, in the positi
Khalidi, a Middle East historian and Columbia University professor of modern Arab studies, continues his deconstruction of the obstacles to stability in the region. His detailing of the roots of the Palestinian struggle in The Iron Cage (2006) and his demonstration of U.S. interest in fostering instability in Sowing Crisis (2009), are synthesized here in a comprehensive exposition of what he calls the United States' role as "Israel's lawyer" in ensuring that Palestinian statehood will never be achieved. Khalidi itemizes successive administrations that have set forth two-state solutions only to back rapidly away, instead crafting "Orwellian" linguistic feats whose outcome has redefined Palestinian autonomy to mean only people, not land, and a Palestinian Authority that serves as little more than an auxiliary Israeli police force. Reagan's backtracking from an initially firm antisettlement stance, George H.W. Bush's surrender on the issue of loan guarantees to Israel, Condoleezza Rice's tone-deafness to Palestinian concerns, and the use of unquestioning support for Israel as a litmus test for presidential candidates in 2012 are ably used by Khalidi to construct a chronicle of the U.S. willfully squandering its role in "peace processes." (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |