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Behind the Myth: Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Revolution
Book by Gowers, Andrew, Walker, Tony
407 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 27, 2020
After spending nearly a month taking notes and cross referencing the information painstakingly collected in this volume, I feel practically transformed by its contents. A wealth of sources including interviews with Arafat himself have opened up my understanding of not just the struggle of the Palestinian people, but also the nations of Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Lebanon and so many more. The authors have laid bare not just intifadas, but the Lebanese Civil War, the 6 Days War, the Gulf War and more. For most Americans, the Middle East seems to be considered a homogeneous mess of warlike desert tribes and cartoonish dictators. The reality is more analogous to a feverish chessboard that surpasses any machinations from a George R. R. Martin novel. Though the American tendency is to deal in good and bad, the book brings to light the host of gray areas that have left the Middle East conflicts opaque to most of my millennial generation. The sheer breadth and magnitude of this work preclude me from offering more detail, but leave me with a profound respect for the Middle East and the multitude of men and women who deserve far greater acclaim for their valiant, if often fruitless, struggles. I strongly recommend it.
July 27, 2013
Again, a book I had bought 20yrs ago and only came to reading now.
Written by two journalists working for the Financial Times with years of experiences in the Middle-East.
I enjoyed reading the book.
What makes this book good are the personal interviews with PLO activists of the top rank. Names, everyone interested in Palestinian-Israeli conflict knows rather well. But also interviews with Western politicians like Kissinger and Israeli Generals like Ahron Yariv. Well, and not to forget the interviews with Yasser Arafat himself. Abu Iyad who played a major role within the PLO was dead by the time of the interviews, so parts of his biography have been added to certain topics, like the time of the civil war in Lebanon.
Overall this book gives a very good insight to the struggles within the PLO which Arafat surprisingly survived too as the suicide attacks on his life in that time.
A pure tactician playing off the various supporting and hostile partners in the Arab World, who I guess were frustrated that he constantly put the "Palestine card" on every political stage which they had to put up with at a high monetary cost. Btw, 5 to 7% of the Palestinians income,living and working in the Gulfstates, was withdrawn and transferred to the PLO.
I recommend this book highly for people who want to get deeper information about the time of the Lebanese civil war. Very good description of all actions and participants.
Written by two journalists working for the Financial Times with years of experiences in the Middle-East.
I enjoyed reading the book.
What makes this book good are the personal interviews with PLO activists of the top rank. Names, everyone interested in Palestinian-Israeli conflict knows rather well. But also interviews with Western politicians like Kissinger and Israeli Generals like Ahron Yariv. Well, and not to forget the interviews with Yasser Arafat himself. Abu Iyad who played a major role within the PLO was dead by the time of the interviews, so parts of his biography have been added to certain topics, like the time of the civil war in Lebanon.
Overall this book gives a very good insight to the struggles within the PLO which Arafat surprisingly survived too as the suicide attacks on his life in that time.
A pure tactician playing off the various supporting and hostile partners in the Arab World, who I guess were frustrated that he constantly put the "Palestine card" on every political stage which they had to put up with at a high monetary cost. Btw, 5 to 7% of the Palestinians income,living and working in the Gulfstates, was withdrawn and transferred to the PLO.
I recommend this book highly for people who want to get deeper information about the time of the Lebanese civil war. Very good description of all actions and participants.
June 29, 2008
This book would hardly have been an inspiration to Arafat and his supporters.
It shows the world that the man tried to be a ecognised world leader [sadly without a country to lead] and at the same time he tried to please too many people. He also, regularly, made the wrong [ill-fated] choices that would eventually condem him to die in a semi demolished compound surrounded by Israeli bulldoers...
Quite sad for a man with such big ideas.
It shows the world that the man tried to be a ecognised world leader [sadly without a country to lead] and at the same time he tried to please too many people. He also, regularly, made the wrong [ill-fated] choices that would eventually condem him to die in a semi demolished compound surrounded by Israeli bulldoers...
Quite sad for a man with such big ideas.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews