Customer Reviews

Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Paul McGeough's "Kill Khalid" is an excellent example of journalistic writing done right. It tells the story of Khalid Mishal and what makes him tick, going back into some of the most complicated events in recent history and unravelling them with precision and enthusiasm.

"Kill Khalid" is an intense book, with every meaning of the word. McGeough brings to light some of the best-kept secrets of Middle Eastern politics in a very talented manner. He does an excellent job of explaining the reasons for some of the most twisted of diplomatic plots & actions; showing just how sensitive these matters were and how each and every step taken in Middle East politics has an amplified effect on the world at large.

"Kill Khalid" is more than just the story of Hamas and its mysterious and charismatic leader - it's an insight into the minds of leaders and influential philosophers that have shaped the current Palestinian situation ever since the start of the British Mandate in the early 90s.

Paul McGeough does an excellent job of telling a sensitive story, researching and putting forth the facts as they happened. It's very objectively told, and McGeough doesn't hold back any punches when it comes to putting the blame for the current mess where it belongs: on the shoulders of politicians from ages past.

McGeough does a splendid job of explaining such a difficult subject in an incredibly easy and down-to-earth manner, and "Kill Khalid" is a thriller that shares much wisdom and imparts much knowledge while remaining very comprehensible and a - dare I say it - fun read.

This is a wonderfully well-researched book. Its journalistic style avoids it being seen as a Ph.d. dissertation. Full of end-of-chapter notes, it reveals McGeough carefulness in detailing what happened and why it happened. The ascent ofHamas is a lesson from Machiavellian plotting.The author bases his argument in FOIA-released affidavits and a lot of personal, confidential interviewing with the personalities involved.

Kudos !



Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas

Don't hear the cries of the Zionists reviews. Always arguing who is worse than whom, who has suffered more - and exploiting theirs and sentiment of guilt of others.

Is a great reading to understand the dynamics of the Israeli - Palestinian - Hamas conflict.

This book contains a huge amount of data about people, places, things, and the ideologies they project. Most names of people and places are Arabic, stretching the ability of my personal brain to retain them. So, it is not a quick read. It is, however, definitely a worthwhile read and, except for the Arabic names (for me) is not difficult. "Kill Khalid" traces the birth of Hamas from the Muslim Brotherhood (which Israel once supported over Arafat's Fatah)and its growth into something comparable to the IRA, with a political arm and a military arm called the Qassam Brigades. Khalid Meshal is currently the overall head of the organization and lives in exile in Syria following an attempt on his life in Jordan by Israel's Mossad (1997). Hence the title chosen for this book.
I grew to respect the Meshal and Hamas of the present after learning where they came from both physically and intellectually. I no longer believe the propaganda that presents Hamas as the "evil entity" that seized power from Israel's and the U.S.' current collaborator and favorite, Fatah. You will need to read the book to find out why: the explanation is too detailed & complex to do fairly in an unofficial review.

Great history of the Middle East with unique insites about the underlying problem of religion and politics. A balanced view of what has happened re the Israel/Palistine problem for the last 60 years. Reads like a mystery novel.

This is a must read for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of the current situation in the Middle East.

This book caught my eye. As someone very interested in the history of the region, the intersection of history, politics, and a crime novel involving a current leader of Hamas and the now once-again Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, struck me as something both fascinating and relevant. In some respects it was both. But, I couldn't get by the one-sided depiction of a terrorist movement and the complete and utter minimization of its murderous methodology.

Biographers often fall in love with their subjects, but Khalil Mishal is not such a loveable man. This man is a brutal terrorist, who stands for principles such as Islamic extremism, murder, and anti-Semitism. Yet, to read this book, you'd think he was just a driven man running a valid political movement, distant from the distasteful (though not presented as horrifying) acts committed by his cohorts. Israel may have been wrong to try to kill him, but not because he deserved mercy, but because the plan was deeply flawed, a conclusion that Paul McGeogh undoubedly agrees with.

The book is painfully one sided, presenting Israel in as dark a light as possible and Hamas in as bright one. McGeogh doesn't even have the integrity to admit his bias. He describes the development of the Palestinian issue by reference to Israeli historian Ilan Pappe. Clearly the author knows that this viewpoint is not a mainstream opinion and that Mr. Pappe is the author of anti-Israel diatribes such as the sensationally misnamed "Ethnic cleansing of Palestine". Page 107 details a Hamas suicide attack that wasn't particularly bad because "most of the wounds were slight; none was life threatening" and then contrasts it to the 1994 rampage of Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein, who attacked without organizational support. But the worst calumny on that page is the statement following that "[d]uring the protests that followed, Israeli troops would kill another dozen", implying that the Israeli troops are moral collaborators in mass murder with Mr. Goldstein. This is but one example of the continual trend to minimize Hamas atrocity and demonize Israel.

McGeogh knows how to write, so the book does run smoothly. Its that ability to convey subtle political commentary that makes the book disquieting. This book is more than a description of a botched assassination in Amman, but a justification for Hamas and a celebration of its ability to frustrate the West and its agents. In its presentation, it is one sided, ignores any refrence to the Jewish narrative, and presents the Boim and Holy Land Foundation litigation in a false light (though, in its defense it may have been completed before major developments in that regard).

If you can read between the lines, there's a lot of information here. If you can't, there is a lot of disinformation here. The story itself is fascinating. I just wish it was presented objectively.

Please reclassify this book as fiction.

Sections of this book are simply not true. There were only 1,900 people in the village of Silwad (Khalid's birthplace) in 1945, and today it has approximately 6,000 residents as opposed to the 8,000 residents claimed in the book. Silwad is not at the end of a track to nowhere (that's in Kansas). Has the "author" visited the land about which he writes? It is impossible to see to Jaffa and Haifa from Silwad.

How objective is any author who refers to the creation of Israel as a "calamity"?

McGeough claims the Palestinian refugees of 1948 represented one of "the biggest forced migrations in modern history." What about the approximate 800,000 Jews in Arab countries who were mostly forced out of their homes during the same time period? Over 14 million became refugees in the 1948 resulted from partition of India; in contrast there were 700,000 or fewer Palestinian refugees of 1948. Last I heard, 800,000 and over 14 million are both greater numbers than the 700,000 (Palestinians) the "author" mentions.

It only took reading a few pages to recognize the distortions and biases of the author. Much of what the author offers as "history" is just not true. How can the reader believe the "historical facts" about the main incident of the book knowing that the whole historical background is distorted? Save your time and money.