Table Of ContentPRAISE FOR DISHONEST BROKER
Naseer H. Aruri’s Dishonest Broker: The U.S. Role in Israel and Pales
tine should come packaged with the advisory: Urgent! This is a work that
should be read immediately by anyone trying to understand why the
so-called “peace process” has undermined the possibility of peace; why,
after volumes of praise for Oslo, the struggle between Israel and the Pales
tinians is more bitter and protracted than ever. Aruri’s book aims to clarify
these and other related questions in a brief survey that is based on U.S.,
Palestinian, and Israeli sources that provides evidence and insights into
the continuing causes of conflict as well as the nature of the Israeli occu
pation of the West Bank and Gaza—evidence seldom published in the
U.S. media and for that reason, little known to its readers. It is U.S. policy
that is Aruri’s main theme in a work that exposes the false claims of U.S.
impartiality and its consistent undermining of an agreement that would
have led to “an end to the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a
Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel.”
Professor Irene Gendzier, Boston University
DISHONEST BROKER
THE U.S. ROLE IN ISRAEL
AND PALESTINE
NASEER H. ARURI
South End Press
Cambridge, MA
Copyright © 2003 by Naseer H. Aruri.
Any properly footnoted quotation of up to 500 sequential words may be
used without permission, as long as the total number of words quoted does
not exceed 2,000. For longer quotations or for a greater number of total
words, please write to South End Press for permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aruri, Naseer Hasan, 1934-
Dishonest broker : the US role in Israel & Palestine / Naseer Aruri.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-89608-688-7 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-89608-687-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Arab-Israeli conflict— 1993—Peace. 2. United States—Foreign rela
tions—Israel. 3. Israel—Foreign relations—United States. 4. United
States—Politics and government— 1993-2001. 5. Israel—Politics and govern
ment— 1993- 6. Palestinian Arabs—Politics and government— 1993- 7. Dip
lomatic negotiations in international disputes. I. Title.
DS119.76.A773 2003
327.73054’09’045—dc21
2002042886
South End Press, 7 Brookline Street, #1
Cambridge, MA 02139-4146
www. southendpress. org
07 06 05 04 03 12 3 4 5
Printed in Canada
For Joyce, my wife and best friend
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: A Flawed Peace Process xi
1 Palestine, the Arabs, and U.S. Policy 1
2 The Evolution of U.S. Global Strategy 15
3 The Special Relationship and Strategic Alliance During 35
and After the Cold War
4 The Obstruction of Peace 51
5 The Marginalization of the Palestine Question 61
6 The Further Marginalization of the Palestine Question 81
7 Unreciprocal Reciprocity 103
8 Jerusalem and a Changing American Policy 127
9 The United States and the Palestine Refugee Question 149
10 Camp David, the Intifada, and the End of Oslo 167
11 Bush and Sharon: Defining the Path 193
12 Redress, the Single State, and International Solidarity 217
Conclusion: A Peace Process or a Negotiating Strategy? 237
Appendix: Settlements and Settlers in the West Bank: 247
1967-2001
Index 249
About the Author 267
About South End Press 268
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincere thanks go to colleagues, family members, and friends, from
whom I derived inspiration and encouragement to write this book. I am
greatly indebted to them for their consistent support and contributions,
without which this project would not have come to fruition. My wife,
Joyce, was the leading and constant advocate of the need for a new book
that would attempt to present a concise history of the U.S. involvement in
the Palestine-Israel conflict, particularly at the present juncture in which
the current U.S. president has given Israel carte blanche in the Occupied
Territories, unprecedented both in its substance and lack of ambiguity.
She also read a number of chapters and offered useful criticism. My son,
Jamal, has also made substantive comments and suggestions. My col
league and long-time friend, Professor Samih Farsoun of the American
University in Washington, D.C. made invaluable contributions and al
lowed me to rely on some of the work we had written together.
My good friend, Professor Cheryl Rubenberg, was a constant source
of encouragement and a penetrating critic who read some of the chapters
and made valuable suggestions. I would like to acknowledge the enor
mous insight I gained from the numerous telephone conversations I had
with my cousin, Professor Tayseer Arouri of Bir Zeit University in the oc
cupied West Bank. He was always generous with his ideas and forthright
in his scholarly analysis while under prolonged curfews, together with
more than two million Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. My good
friend Elaine Hagopian of Simmons College has rendered invaluable con
tributions, having read much of what I have written not only for this book,
but for other publications that had an impact on this book. Her comments
were always poignant and original. My daughter-in-law, Danielle, was ex
tremely generous with her time and typing skills, even when she had to
care for two of my granddaughters at home.
I would like to extend my gratitude to Anthony Amove of South End
Press, who was a solid source of support and enlightenment, particularly
X Dishonest Broker
as he proposed a thoughtful scheme for updating and replacing my earlier
book, The Obstruction of Peace. I am grateful for his help and for his
shepherding of this book from the inception. I wish to gratefully acknowl
edge the gracious permission kindly granted by Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi,
chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of Interna
tional Affairs (PASSIA) in Jerusalem to reproduce ten of their remarkable
maps, which constitute an exceptional asset to this book. Mahmoud Abu
Rmeileh, PASSIA’s very able webmaster, offered vital assistance in the
reproduction of these maps. I would like to express sincere thanks to two
young scholars who rendered crucial assistance with footnotes: Rosemary
Carroll of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Bader Albanna of
Yale University. To all those and other unnamed persons, I offer sincere
gratitude as well as exemption from any blame for errors of analysis,
omission, commission, or facts. These will remain as entirely mine.
