Oslo and After
Edward W Said, one of the world's most influential literary and cultural critics, is also one of the leading authorities on the Middle East. This passionate and constantly insightful collection of essays is a commentary on the last six years of the peace process, in which Said has been virtually a lone voice in the West supporting the rights of the Palestinian people.
Said questions the efficacy of Arafat's leadership, which has done nothing to stop illegal land expropriation and house demolitions; and regards the Oslo Accords as a false "breakthrough" for the Palestinians, as they include no mention of self-determination and sovereignty, or of an end to the expansion of Jewish settlements. But the author is not without hope: taken together, these essays comprise an eloquent, powerful vision of how peaceful reconciliation between Palestinian and Israeli can be taken forward.
