Failing Peace: Gaza and athe Palestinian-Israeli Conflict [Paperback]

Sara Roy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0745322344 | ISBN-13: 978-0745322346

This book is the culmination of 20 years of research, fieldwork and analysis on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the impact of Israeli occupation. Discussion of Israeli policy toward Palestinians is often regarded as a taboo subject, with the result that few people -- especially in the U.S. -- understand the origins and consequences of the conflict. Roy's book provides an indispensable context for understanding why the situation remains so intractable. The focus of Roy's work is the Gaza Strip, an area that remains consistently neglected and misunderstood despite its political centrality. Drawing on more than two thousand interviews and extensive first-hand experience, Roy chronicles the impact of Israeli occupation in Palestine over nearly a generation. Exploring the devastating consequences of socio-economic and political decline, this is a unique and powerful account of the reality of life in the West Bank and Gaza. Written by one of the world's foremost scholars of the region, it offers an unrivalled breadth of scholarship and insight.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Unique ... [Roy] is humanely rather than only professionally committed in ways that are unmatched by any other non-Palestinian scholar. ... No one has reported more accurately and scrupulously on the economic devastation attendant on the Oslo process." --Edward W. Said

 

"Sara Roy’s work has played a significant, sometimes unique role, in bringing [these] issues to life. ... Indispensable." --Irene Gendzier, Professor of History, Boston University

About the Author

Sara Roy is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. A distinguished political economist, she has written extensively on the Palestinian economy and has documented over the last three decades. She is the author of The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development (1995, 2001), The Gaza Strip Survey (1986); editor of The Economics of Middle East Peace: A Reassessment (1999); and is currently completing Political Islam in Palestine: From Extremism to Civism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Press (October 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745322344
• ISBN-13: 978-0745322346
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,063,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Failing Peace continues to Fail, November 18, 2007

By 

Elaine Hagopian - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Failing Peace: Gaza and athe Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (Paperback)

Sara Roy provides an irrefutable dissection of why the Oslo "peace" process failed and actually made things worse not only in Gaza where she has special expertise, but in the 1967 Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories in general. What is particularly important about Roy's book is the fact that she reminds the reader of what the role of the intellectual is and must be - i.e., rooted in critical thought and humanism - the historical quest of moral philosophy. That is her personal context. She also insists on historical factual context for her analysis. Decrying those who describe Oslo's failure ahistorically as though there were no pre-conditons or issues and no facts on the ground which the terms of Oslo could employ to worsen conditions, Roy's work puts in stark relief the sham that was Oslo. Her conclusions stem from her meticulous research, not from any ideological paradigm.

This book is not only important for scholars of the Israel/Palestine conflict, but it is also the best book for university courses on the conflict. Students will gain a clear understanding of the issues involved in the conflict and why the structure and terms of Oslo were doomed to failure. They will also gain the dual context she presents for dissecting the present situation and "peace" efforts, valuable in and of itself.

This collection of Roy's essays chronicling the period from the 1967 Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem has stood the test of time. She offers the readers a unique chronicle of the human, social and political economy results from the terms of Oslo. This should be on anyone's reading list who is concerned about the tragedy of the Israel/Palestine conflict for both Israeli Jews and Palestinians.

Dr. Elaine C. Hagopian, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Simmons College, Boston.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, May 12, 2011

By 

Carl "Mr. K" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Failing Peace: Gaza and athe Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (Paperback)

This is one of the best books available on the nature of the Isael/Palestine conflict. Her analysis of the "peace process" as a (largely successful, for now) attempt to move analysis out of the framework of international law and into the frame of pure power relations is essential. The writing is characterized throughout by a convincing mixture of personal and moral reflection with hard empirical analysis. Professor Roy writes with rare moral and intellectual authority, and it's a pity that books like this remain unread by those responsible for making policy.