Here, the author analyzes the internal and external events that unfolded as the Palestinian national movement became a 'failed national movement', marked by internecine struggle and collapse, the failure to secure establishment of a separate state, and much more.

This work gives an internal perspective on Palestinian politics viewing political patterns from the Palestinian point of view rather than through the Arab-Israeli conflict. It presents the meaning of state-building and self-reliance as Palestinians have understood them between 1993 and 2002.

The Palestinian national movement reached a dead-end and came close to disintegration at the beginning of the present century. The struggle for power after the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 signaled the end of a path toward statehood prepared by the Oslo Accords a decade before. The reasons for the failure of the movement are deeply rooted in modern Palestinian history. As'ad Ghanem analyzes the internal and external events that unfolded as the Palestinian national movement became a "failed national movement," marked by internecine struggle and collapse, the failure to secure establishment of a separate state and achieve a stable peace with Israel, and the movement's declining stature within the Arab world and the international community.

A dual biography of the two leading figures in Palestinian politics, looking at what they gained and what they lost.

This book is a comprehensive overview and analysis of the Palestinians' travail as they move from revolutionary movement to state. Barry Rubin outlines the difficulties in the transition now under way arising from Palestinian history, society, and diplomatic agreements. He writes about the search for a national identity, the choice of an economic system, and the structure of government. Rubin finds the political system interestingly distinctive--it appears to be a pluralist dictatorship. There are free elections, multiple parties, and some latitude in civil liberties. Yet there is a relatively unrestrained chief executive and arbitrariness in applying the law because of restraints on freedom. The new ruling elite is a complex mixture of veteran revolutionaries, heirs to large and wealthy families, professional soldiers, technocrats, and Islamic clerics. Beyond explaining how the executive and legislative branches work, Rubin factors in the role of public opinion in the peace process, the place of nongovernmental institutions, opposition movements, and the Palestinian Authority's foreign relations--including Palestinian views and interactions with the Arab world, Israel, and the United States. This book is drawn from documents in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, as well as interviews and direct observations. Rubin finds that, overall, the positive aspects of the Palestinian Authority outweigh the negative, and he foresees the establishment of a Palestinian state. His charting of the triumphs and difficulties of this state-in-the-making helps predict and explain future dramatic developments in the Middle East.

The biggest obstacle to Palestinian statehood may not be Israel In September 2011, president Mahmoud Abbas stood before the United Nations General Assembly and dramatically announced his intention to achieve recognition of Palestinian statehood. The United States roundly opposed the move then, but two years later, Washington revived dreams for Palestinian statehood through bilateral diplomacy with Israel. But are the Palestinians prepared for the next step? In State of Failure, Middle East expert Jonathan Schanzer argues that the reasons behind Palestine's inertia are far more complex than we realize. Despite broad international support, Palestinian independence is stalling because of internal mismanagement, not necessarily because of Israeli intransigence. Drawing on exclusive sources, the author shows how the PLO under Yasser Arafat was ill prepared for the task of statebuilding. Arafat's successor, Mahmoud Abbas, used President George W. Bush's support to catapult himself into the presidency. But the aging leader, now four years past the end of his elected term, has not only failed to implement much needed reforms but huge sums of international aid continue to be squandered, and the Palestinian people stand to lose everything as a result. Supporters of Palestine and Israel alike will find Schanzer's narrative compelling at this critical juncture in Middle Eastern politics.

A biography of the Palestinian leader

Abu Sharif was one of the world's most notorious and dangerous terrorists in the 60's and 70's, acting as "minister of propaganda" for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and as a recruiter for terrorists like Carlos the Jackal. In 1972, a bomb was placed in a book and sent to him, leaving him half-blind, deaf in one ear, and almost fingerless. Finally abandoning the use of violence as a means to achieve his Palestinian nationalist aspirations, he aligned himself with Yasser Arafat, eventually becoming one of his closest advisors. In this book, Abu Sharif, often alongside Arafat, takes us behind the scenes of all the major events in the Middle East during the last 30 years, from the secret caves in the West Bank where Arafat hid on his way to Jerusalem in 1967 to the peace negotiations in Oslo in 1993. Arafat and the Dream of Palestine combines a deeply personal account, informed by Abu Sharif's close relationship with Arafat, with a gripping, profoundly human history of Palestine.

This book explores the development of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) from a liberation movement to a national authority, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Based on intensive fieldwork in the West Bank, Gaza and Cairo, Nigel Parsons analyzes Palestinian internal politics and their institutional-building by looking at the development of the PLO. Drawing on interviews with leading figures in the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, delegates to the negotiations with Israel, and the Palestinian political opposition, it is a timely account of the Israel/Palestine conflict from a Palestinian political perspective.

This book examines the politics of Jerusalem since 1967 and the city’s decline as an Arab city. Covering issues such as the Old City, the barrier, planning regulations and efforts to remove Palestinians from it, the book provides a broad overview of the contemporary situation and political relations inside the Palestinian community, but also with the Israeli authorities.