LOST YEARS, THE(ISBN=) 英文原版

ForeWord Magazine

“This absorbing story of the unraveling of the
Middle East and the Persian Gulf includes interviews with the
political leaders, diplomats, and intelligence agents who have
tried to avoid, or who have contributed to these failures.”

Kirkus

From Enderlin, the Middle East bureau chief for France 2, a
journalistic account of the current era of troubles in Israel and
Palestine.In the author’s view, the seating of Ariel Sharon’s
government in February 2001 signaled the end of the Camp David era
of negotiation with the Palestinian government of Yasir Arafat,
undoing years of effort on the part of the Clinton administration.
Sharon declared that Arafat was an unfit partner for peace.
Although most Israelis agreed that a joint venture with the
Palestinians was essential, most also accepted that Arafat was an
enemy arguing for the destruction of Israel; worse enemies
notwithstanding, he became “Arafat the terrorist” once more. In
response to the growing intifada, Israel put new procedures in
place. “The military police no longer immediately investigated the
circumstances of a civilian death,” Enderlin charges, freeing
troops to “react more spontaneously” in the field. That
spontaneity, the journalist calculates, led to a lopsided body
count: During the next five years, some 3,185 Palestinian civilians
died in confrontations with the Israeli Defense Force, “among whom
were hundreds of bystanders.” This confrontation was inevitable,
argued Israel and its allies in the American government—most
notably, in Enderlin’s view, neoconservative theoretician Richard
Perle, then chair of Bush’s Defense Policy Board. It was
inevitable, the author agrees, to the extent that all other
possibilities but confrontation were systematically eliminated,
freezing out Arafat (who bitterly complained, “Am I bin Laden?”)
and fueling a vicious circle of rising radicalism and
intransigence. Rejecting warnings by Bush administration moderates
such as Colin Powell, the Sharon government finally decided it must
either expel Arafat from Palestine or kill him. When he died of
cancer in 2004, however, the cycle of violence continued, climaxing
with the disastrous Lebanon invasion of 2006. Enderlin urges Israel
to negotiate with the new government of Mahmoud Abbas based on the
principle of “territory for peace”—without which, he reasonably
concludes, peace will be impossible. An evenhanded view of a most
partisan conflict.

Library Journal

This French journalist, with long experience in the Middle East,
presents a detailed chronicle of the recent period of military,
diplomatic, and political conflict between Israel and the
Palestinians. He concludes that verbal commitment to mutual
recognition and negotiation by both sides could not overcome
Israeli determination for military action and unilateralism or
Palestinian ineptitude and internal divisions. Militant Palestinian
continuation of the intifada and Israeli reprisals resulted in lost
opportunities and continuing occupation and misery.

Charles Enderlin
Charles Enderlin has been the Bureau Chief for France 2 since 1990.
When Shattered Dreams (Other Press, 2003) was first published in
France it was an immediate bestseller and led to a documentary
series aired worldwide. The Lost Years also became the basis for a
television documentary, “The Years of Blood,” to be aired in its
American version by the Discovery Times Channel and in its
international version by TV stations all over Europe. He has lived
in Jerusalem since 1968.

Suzanne Verderber
Suzanne Verderber is Associate Professor of English and Humanities
at Pratt Institute. She recently translated Jean-Michel Rabaté’s
The Ethics of the Lie and Charles Enderlin’s The Lost Years.