Shattered Dreams: The Failure of the Peace Process in the Middle East, 1995 to 2002

by Charles Enderlin

As Middle-East Bureau Chief of the French Public television network and a resident of Jerusalem since 1968, Charles Enderlin has had unequaled access to leaders and negotiators on all sides. Here he takes the reader step-by-step along the path that began with the hope of agreement but led only to the ultimate collapse of the peace process. The dramatic account moves between the occupied territories and the negotiation tables as it follows the emotional...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590510607
• ISBN13: 9781590510605
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Other Press (NY)
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

You'll feel like you were in the room

I didn't know what to expect from this book coming into it. I had never heard of it before seeing it referenced in the fantastic book Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace by Daniel C. Kurtzer. So when I saw this book in the suggested reading section I decided to give it a try, and I am certainly glad I did. This author has had enormous access to the key players in the peace process, and has put together an amazing book relying on interviews, along with other sources, with those players. This gives readers an extraordinary insight into the inner workings of these meetings, and the thought processes behind the quest for peace. The most striking aspect of this book is the focus on the human element. For readers this allows us to see just how complicated this negotiation process really is. Not only are these experts dealing with seemingly intractable issues, but they are dealing with political considerations, public opinion and the personalities of those involved in the negotiations. One gets the sense of just how tenuous this type of diplomacy really is by seeing the dynamics of the different personalities and how they mesh and sometimes clash. The reader gets to see how to people looking at the same problem from two different angles can see a completely different problem along with having a huge gulf between their possible solutions. One thing this book lays out is the failure of the Clinton administration to carry through this difficult task. Readers get to see first hand how the Clinton team pursued peace at Camp David with no real plan of action coming in to the negotiations. This really hamstrung the talks from the very beginning. This meant they were unprepared for the tough talks that were coming, and so they were forced to scramble to find solutions to problems as they arose instead of having a clear agenda from the outset. Their lack of preparation meant they relied too heavily on the Israelis to dictate the course of the discussions, and this fact reduced the confidence the Palestinians had in the process and in the Americans. In the end these talks were doomed to failure before they even began. This book also illustrates very well the extreme difficulty of trying to compromise when it comes to religious and symbolic objects of a people. It shows how once a piece of land takes on a symbolic importance for a people it becomes nearly impossible to deal with. The only way to come to an agreement, it seems, is for there to be an enormous amount of trust and faith between the two partners, and unfortunately those are two things that have been woefully lacking between these peoples for a hundred years. What this work shows readers is that this conflict boils down to trust. The Palestinians have to trust that the Israelis will abide by commitments and remove the occupation and allow the Palestinians to live freely, and the Israelis have to trust that once they do so the Palestinians will begin the process of reconciliation among the

Excellent unbiased reporting; must read

Although Enderlin's book was published in 2003 it is important and timely. Its importance resides in the fact that the author, as Bureau Chief of France 2 (the French equivalent of PBS), had direct access to most of the principal actors in the peace-process and his location in Jerusalem as well as his dual French-Israeli citizenship provide for unbiased reporting. The timeliness of the book results from two aspects. One: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to fester with no end in sight and influences U.S. political decisions in regard to the rest of the Middle East especially: Syria, Iraq and Iran. Two: Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, both former prime Ministers, are again candidates by their respective parties for the Prime Ministership in Israel's next election. Knowing a person's past behavior allows, to a certain extent, a reasonable prediction for the future. Enderlin shows us the character flaws of both individuals and how these have led to the collapse of the peace process. In contrast to the propaganda Americans are still exposed to in regard to the failure of the Camp David II negotiations, which places the blame exclusively on Yasir Arafat, Enderlin shows that the process was doomed from the start. The confidence building measures namely adherence to the Wye River agreement, which had been negotiated previously by Netanyahu, were not observed by Barak who instead insisted that everything would be solved by this final status agreement. Arafat thought that it would be impossible to do so in a hastily arranged two week meeting for a conflict on which the partners show wide disagreements. The most egregious ones were: the borders of the Palestinian state, the right of return of Palestinian refugees, the fate of the settlements and Jerusalem which both sides regard as their capital. The Jerusalem problem is compounded by the question of sovereignty over the Temple Mount which, as Haram al Sharif, is the third holiest site of the Muslim world. The American failure to understand that Arafat could not single handedly make decisions on this vital topic, without agreement by the other Arab nations, was an important aspect for the failure of the talks. For these reasons Arafat did not want a meeting which was supposed to be the "end all and be all." He agreed to come only after he had received President Clinton's assurance that he would not be blamed if the talks were to collapse. As we know Clinton did not keep this promise. There were numerous reasons why the actual talks failed: Barak never negotiated with Arafat personally and even refused to engage in private conversations with him during dinner; there was no fixed agenda and no protocols were kept, everything was negotiated orally; the "American" proposals had to be vetted by the Israelis before they could be presented to the Palestinians; sessions went on throughout all hours of the night rather than on a fixed timetable. As everybody knows, when people are sleep deprived tempers

If you want to understand the situation today, read this!

As someone who has done alot of research on the middle east, having read countless books on the matter and journals, I can honestly say that no present account is better than Enderlin's account of the failed peace process. The main reason are his sources. Most of his sources are all the people involved, from Shimon Peres, to the european delegation, Palestinian ministers, transcripts between Clinton and the leaders, even transcripts of Syria's Assad! The book is very fair in the sense that it does not place an emotional blame, just describes what happened and who did what. If you want to understand where we are now and how the tragic mistakes of the past can be avoided, read this book. You will not regret it.

International Negotiations Primer

This book is most interesting as it shows you how each side ( US, Palestinian, Israel) approached the peace negotiations process and how misunderstandings, political pressures, fundamental policy differences, promises made by one & retracted by another, the lack of preparation and trust lead all contributed to the failure of the Clinton Peace talks. It is truely a behind the scenes view of the entire process.It also covers how each side, especially the Israelis, managed the peace process. The management of press reports(pages 215 to 217)is just one aspect that I found most enlightning.I would make this book required reading for anyone engaged in the study/practice of international negotiations.

Read this book if you follow Israeli-Palestinian relations

Charles Enderlin (a French journalist in Jerusalem) has done a great service not only to Israelis and Palestinians but also to American observers of the conflict. With his inside access to the negotiators, Enderlin gives the reader a vast amount of primary material. What were the two sides discussing? How did the negotiations work? Why did the summit at Camp David fail? Did either side really want peace? Enderlin has his answers, but he also gives the reader the opportunity to make his/her own judgments.As Beilin, Sher, Ben-Ami, Ross, and others publish accounts as participants in the process, it is very helpful to have Enderlin's book as a resource. For anyone interested in understanding the failed attempt to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Enderlin's book will be essential reading.