Arafat : the biography / Andrew Gowers and Tony Walker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walker, Tony.

Contributor:

Gowers, Andrew.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arafat, Yasir, 1929-2004.

Arafat, Yasir.

Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah.

Heads of state--Palestine--Biography.

Heads of state.

Arab-Israeli conflict.

Palestine--Politics and government--1948-.

Palestine.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xx, 490 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

Revised and updated edition.

Place of Publication:

London : Virgin, 2003.

Summary:

It is over thirty years since Yasser Arafat swept onto the world stage as leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, a machine gun in one hand and an olive branch in the other. In that time he has become many things to many people: to ordinary Israelis a terrorist godfather whose desire for the complete annihilation of their state is only thinly veiled; to previous US administrations a Nobel Peace Prize-winner and the only Palestinian to do business with; to the Bush Whitehouse, a pariah once more. Fully up to date, and based on hundreds of frank and revealing interviews with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, including Arafat himself, Arafat: The Biography examines his once-triumphant transition from terrorist to statesman, and his subsequent marginalisation following the tragic collapse of the Oslo Peace Accords. The book examines the charge that the bitter personal blood-feud between Arafat and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is itself a major obstacle to peace in the Middle-East. It separates Arafat the man from Arafat the myth, and offers a penetrating, balanced insight into the international and intelligence links, and the internal machinery, of the Palestinian regime.

Contents:

1. Mr Palestine 3

2. Struggle 20

3. Taking Control 41

4. Blood Feud 63

5. Black September 82

6. Lost Illusions 101

7. Guerrilla-Diplomat 118

8. The Lebanese Quagmire 134

9. Knocking on Washington's Door 155

10. On the Defensive 162

11. Invasion 183

12. The War of Independence 208

13. Climbing Back 224

14. The Odd Couple 236

15. Intifada 253

16. Independence 270

17. The Wrong Horse 286

18. Engulfed 308

19. In the Wilderness 331

20. The Reckoning 347

21. Accord 359

22. Body-Blow 369

23. Doldrums 385

24. Disappointment 405

25. Besieged 421.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1852279249

OCLC:

50877204