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Only Language They Understand : Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine by Nathan Thrall (2017, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherHolt & Company, Henry

ISBN-101627797092

ISBN-139781627797092

eBay Product ID (ePID)224335521

Product Key Features

Book TitleOnly Language They Understand : Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine

Number of Pages336 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2017

TopicInternational Relations / General, World / Middle Eastern, Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Middle East / General

GenrePolitical Science, Social Science, History

AuthorNathan Thrall

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.1 in

Item Weight18.7 Oz

Item Length9.4 in

Item Width6.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2016-036968

Reviews"Both the book and the title of The Only Language They Understand perfectly encapsulate the attitudes of the two sides to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The title also illustrates Thrall's main thesis: that over the entire hundred years of this conflict, only force or the threat of force, whether military, political, economic, diplomatic or in another form, has obligated the two sides to compromise. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why this conflict is so intractable and remains unresolved." --Rashid Khalidi, author of Brokers of Deceit and Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, Columbia University "A terrific piece of analysis by a keen and empathic observer of the region." --Lawrence Wright, author of Thirteen Days in September "These are the toughest criticisms anywhere of decades of Israeli policy. The failings of the Palestinians are here as well--but the arrows are aimed at Jerusalem. Serious supporters of Israel should have their answers ready--or be prepared to lose debates to opponents quoting Nathan Thrall." --Elliott Abrams, Deputy National Security Advisor, George W. Bush administration, "Nathan Thrall's commentary on the most intractable dispute of our time is something shocking: it is fair. Into a debate consumed by ferocious passions he enters dispassionately, except that he has a passion for peace. For this reason he is uncommonly trustworthy. His familiarity with the infamous complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian tangle is remarkable, as is his mental composure. This learned and candid book is a genuine contribution to our understanding of an increasingly frightening conflict." --Leon Wieseltier "Both the book and the title of The Only Language They Understand perfectly encapsulate the attitudes of the two sides to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The title also illustrates Thrall's main thesis: that over the entire hundred years of this conflict, only force or the threat of force, whether military, political, economic, diplomatic or in another form, has obligated the two sides to compromise. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why this conflict is so intractable and remains unresolved." --Rashid Khalidi, author of Brokers of Deceit and Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, Columbia University "A terrific piece of analysis by a keen and empathic observer of the region." --Lawrence Wright, author of The Looming Tower and Thirteen Days in September "These are the toughest criticisms anywhere of decades of Israeli policy. The failings of the Palestinians are here as well--but the arrows are aimed at Jerusalem. Serious supporters of Israel should have their answers ready--or be prepared to lose debates to opponents quoting Nathan Thrall." --Elliott Abrams, Deputy National Security Advisor, George W. Bush administration "For those who look at the Middle East and throw up their hands at a hopeless morass, Nathan Thrall's brilliant book is a compelling corrective. This most well-informed and well-connected of experts gives rigorous attention to the reality lurking behind the myths: that in this seemingly frozen conflict, carefully applied power and assiduous compulsion have often been the midwives of progress. Eloquent, fact-rich, full of vivid characters, and relentlessly contemporary in its narrative, The Only Language They Understand is a withering indictment of conventional wisdom--and a necessary, essential book." --Mark Danner, author of Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War "Nathan Thrall argues with great power and lucidity that the only language the two sides to the conflict understand is force. This strong view, strongly held by Thrall, has serious political implications. He may be right, he may be wrong, but he must be read by anyone who hasn't given up the idea and the hope of ending this bloody conflict." --Avishai Margalit, author of On Compromise and Rotten Compromises, "Nathan Thrall is one of the most important writers on the conflict." -- Diaa Hadid, The New York Times "In their combination of clear-eyed criticism and level-headed realism, Thrall's reports from and on Israel have consistently been outstanding." --Perry Anderson, New Left Review "Probably no one writing in English about the Israel-Palestine conflict is as great as Nathan Thrall right now." --Professor Joshua Stacher, Kent State "Nathan Thrall brilliantly dissects the follies of U.S. peace processors."--Stephen Walt, coauthor of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy

TitleLeadingThe

Table Of ContentPreface 1 I. FORCING COMPROMISE 1. The Only Language They Understand 5 II. DOMINATION Israeli Conquest and Its Justifications 2. Feeling Good About Feeling Bad 77 3. Going Native 94 III. COLLABORATION Easing Occupation as a Failed Strategy of Liberation 4. Our Man in Palestine 111 5. Palestinian Paralysis 124 6. The End of the Abbas Era 130 IV. CONFRONTATION Palestinian Pressure and Its Limits 7. Not Popular Enough 137 8. Rage in Jerusalem 149 9. Hamas's Chances 157 10. Trapped in Gaza 167 V. NEGOTIATION "Political Horizons" and Other Euphemisms for False Hope 11. More Than One State, Less Than Two 181 12. Faith-Based Diplomacy 190 13. Obama's Palestine Legacy 210 Notes 225 Acknowledgments 309 Index 313

SynopsisIn a myth-busting analysis of the world's most intractable conflict, a star of Middle East reporting, one of the most important writers in the field ( The New York Times ), argues that only one weapon has yielded progress: force. Scattered over the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lie the remnants of failed peace proposals, international summits, secret negotiations, UN resolutions, and state-building efforts. The conventional story is that these well-meaning attempts at peacemaking were repeatedly, perhaps terminally, thwarted by violence. Through a rich interweaving of reportage, historical narrative, and powerful analysis, Nathan Thrall presents a startling counter-history. He shows that force--including but not limited to violence--has impelled each side to make its largest concessions, from Palestinian acceptance of a two-state solution to Israeli territorial withdrawals. This simple fact has been neglected by the world powers, which have expended countless resources on initiatives meant to diminish friction between the parties. By quashing any hint of confrontation, promising an imminent negotiated solution, facilitating security cooperation, developing the institutions of a still unborn Palestinian state, and providing bounteous economic and military assistance, the United States and Europe have merely entrenched the conflict by lessening the incentives to end it. Thrall's important book upends the beliefs steering these failed policies, revealing how the aversion of pain, not the promise of peace, has driven compromise for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Published as Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza reaches its fiftieth anniversary, which is also the centenary of the Balfour Declaration that first promised a Jewish national home in Palestine, The Only Language They Understand advances a bold thesis that shatters ingrained positions of both left and right and provides a new and eye-opening understanding of this most vexed of lands., In a myth-busting analysis of the world's most intractable conflict, a star of Middle East reporting, "one of the most important writers" in the field ( The New York Times ), argues that only one weapon has yielded progress: force. Scattered over the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lie the remnants of failed peace proposals, international summits, secret negotiations, UN resolutions, and state-building efforts. The conventional story is that these well-meaning attempts at peacemaking were repeatedly, perhaps terminally, thwarted by violence. Through a rich interweaving of reportage, historical narrative, and powerful analysis, Nathan Thrall presents a startling counter-history. He shows that force--including but not limited to violence--has impelled each side to make its largest concessions, from Palestinian acceptance of a two-state solution to Israeli territorial withdrawals. This simple fact has been neglected by the world powers, which have expended countless resources on initiatives meant to diminish friction between the parties. By quashing any hint of confrontation, promising an imminent negotiated solution, facilitating security cooperation, developing the institutions of a still unborn Palestinian state, and providing bounteous economic and military assistance, the United States and Europe have merely entrenched the conflict by lessening the incentives to end it. Thrall's important book upends the beliefs steering these failed policies, revealing how the aversion of pain, not the promise of peace, has driven compromise for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Published as Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza reaches its fiftieth anniversary, which is also the centenary of the Balfour Declaration that first promised a Jewish national home in Palestine, The Only Language They Understand advances a bold thesis that shatters ingrained positions of both left and right and provides a new and eye-opening understanding of this most vexed of lands., In a myth-busting analysis of the world's most intractable conflict, a star of Middle East reporting, "one of the most important writers" in the field ( The New York Times ), argues that only one weapon has yielded progress: force. Scattered over the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea lie the remnants of failed peace proposals, international summits, secret negotiations, UN resolutions, and state-building efforts. The conventional story is that these well-meaning attempts at peacemaking were repeatedly, perhaps terminally, thwarted by violence. Through a rich interweaving of reportage, historical narrative, and powerful analysis, Nathan Thrall presents a startling counter-history. He shows that force--including but not limited to violence--has impelled each side to make its largest concessions, from Palestinian acceptance of a two-state solution to Israeli territorial withdrawals. This simple fact has been neglected by the world powers, which have expended countless resources on initiatives meant to diminish friction between theparties. By quashing any hint of confrontation, promising an imminent negotiated solution, facilitating security cooperation, developing the institutions of a still unborn Palestinian state, and providing bounteous economic and military assistance, the United States and Europe have merely entrenched the conflict by lessening the incentives to end it. Thrall's important book upends the beliefs steering these failed policies, revealing how the aversion of pain, not the promise of peace, has driven compromise for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Published as Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza reaches its fiftieth anniversary, which is also the centenary of the Balfour Declaration that first promised a Jewish national home in Palestine, The Only Language They Understand advances a bold thesis that shatters ingrained positions of both left and right and provides a new and eye-opening understanding of this most vexed of lands.

LC Classification NumberDS119.7.T487 2017