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The Case for Peace

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The Case for Peace: How The Arab-Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved is the sequel to The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. The book champions the two-state solution and has been endorsed by President Bill Clinton, who led Mideast peace talks during his term.

Dershowitz was originally planning to write The Case Against Israel's Enemies, however, after the death of Yasser Arafat the author chose to focus on more positive and optimistic themes, believing that the death of the of the PA chairman has opened new doors to peace. Dershowitz argues that all reasonable people know that a final peace settlement will involve two states, the division of Jerusalem and a renunciation of violence.[1] Dershowitz believes that the Palestinian state may be composed of multiple disjoint areas, because in today's world of high-speed internet and cheap travel, states do not require continguity to be viable.[2] He asserts that Palestinans should not be offered more than what was during the Camp David negotations of 2000, saying it would reward violence.[1] He concentrates on the shared elements of the peace process that he says both mainstream Israelis and Palestinians agree on.

Praise

Clinton says the author "brings his exceptional skills as a legal and political thinker to this concise and compelling argument for Middle Eastern peace. The simple chord that resonates through the complex scenarios described in The Case for Peace is one of decency and respect - for Palestinians, for Israelis, and, ultimately, for humanity itself. With an eye toward shared benefits and lasting resolution, Dershowitz offers a pragmatic proposal rooted in the lessons of the past and the opportunities of the present. Hopeful and wise, the blueprint for stability presented in this book is among the best in recent years."[3]

Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel (during the book's publication) who famously led Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria, credits Dershowitz for having "been on the forefront of making the case for Israel and against terrorism. ... He understands, as I do, how difficult it is to achieve peace with security. He confronts these difficulties with insight and with the benefit of years of experience."[3]

Stuart Eizenstat, former senior official in the Carter and Clinton administrations, applauded Dershowitz for his "brilliance" as he says he presented earlier in The Case for Israel.[3]

Israeli writer and well-known advocate for the two-state solution Amos Oz praised the book for not being "based not on sentimentalist wishful thinking and not on dogmatic theorizing but on realism and empathy."[3]

Dennis Ross, former U.S. Envoy to the Middle East, encourages anyone who "believes in peace, even while having doubts about whether it can be achieved" to read the book.[3]

Michael D. Langan of The Boston Globe writes: "Dershowitz makes a compelling 'Case for Peace'...The author's advocacy skills are well-honed and incisive. In fact, one is reminded of the logical argumentation used by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica...: laying out basic questions for analysis, exploring arguments that appear reasonable, and concluding with an equivalent of Aquinas's famous 'I answer that . . .,' which gives the 'correct' answer.[4]

Criticism

Publishers Weekly remarked that Dershowitz "bombards opponents with inflammatory charges based on sometimes tendentious readings of skimpily contextualized remarks..." It also claimed that the book lacked "the judicious treatment these issues cry out for."[5]

David Bedein, the bureau chief of the Israel Resource News Agency, expressed disappointment that "Dershowitz has now adopted a strategy of 'if you can’t beat them, join them.'" Bedein criticizes several of Dershowitz's positions individually, giving each "error" its own section arguing that they are oblivious to reality. He feels the author's "failure to challenge questionable assumptions about the prospects for peace is deeply regrettable. By exaggerating the Palestinian leadership’s readiness to make peace, Dershowitz has granted credibility to those critics, many of them rank anti-Semites, who are desperate to blame the persistence of the conflict on Israel."[6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Inside Flap, The Case for Peace
  2. ^ Peace at Any Cost, Jewish Virtual Library
  3. ^ a b c d e "Amazon.co.uk: The Case for Peace: How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved: Books: Alan M. Dershowitz", online posting on the website of Amazon.com, accessed January 5, 2007.
  4. ^ "Dershowitz makes a compelling 'Case for Peace'", Michael D. Langan, The Boston Globe November 15, 2005
  5. ^ Review of The Case for Peace, Publishers Weekly
  6. ^ Alan Dershowitz’s View of Mid-East Peace, January 5, 2006

Book excerpts

Book reviews

See also

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