Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March

Death Tango traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27–29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel’s history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield.

Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities—politicians, generals, and a star journalist—involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister’s Office—where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat—to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion.

Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of “death tango.”

1139956449
Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March

Death Tango traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27–29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel’s history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield.

Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities—politicians, generals, and a star journalist—involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister’s Office—where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat—to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion.

Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of “death tango.”

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Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March

by Yossi Alpher
Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March

Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, and Three Fateful Days in March

by Yossi Alpher

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Overview

Death Tango traces the Middle East dynamic back to the events of March 27–29, 2002. March 27, Passover Eve, witnessed the most bloody and traumatic Arab terrorist attack in Israel’s history, the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. On March 28, an Arab League summit in Beirut adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, the most far-reaching Arab attempt to set parameters for ending the Israel-Arab conflict. The next day, Israel invaded and reoccupied the West Bank in Operation Defensive Shield.

Alpher illustrates the interaction between these three critical events and depicts the key personalities—politicians, generals, and a star journalist—involved on all sides. It moves from a suicide bombing to the deliberations of Arab leaders; from the Israel Prime Minister’s Office—where Ariel Sharon fulminated against Yasser Arafat—to Washington, where the United States fumbled and misunderstood the dynamics at work; and on to the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli soldiers won a bloody military battle but Israel lost the media battle of public opinion.

Based on extensive interviews and his deep personal knowledge, Alpher analyzes the three days in late March 2002 as a catalyst of extensive change in the Middle East, concluding that Arabs and Israelis are dancing a kind of “death tango.”


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781538162088
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date: 02/15/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 232
File size: 1 MB

About the Author

Yossi (Joseph) Alpher is a consultant and writer on Middle East strategic issues. He is the author of Periphery: Israel’s Search for Middle East Allies and No End of Conflict: Rethinking Israel-Palestine. His books have won the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize, the Chechik Prize, and the Chaikin Prize. He lives in Israel.

Table of Contents

Map

Acknowledgments

Introductory Note

Glossary of Terms

Prologue: Time and History

1 March 27, 2002: Netanya, Tulkarm, Beirut

2 March 27, 2002: Passover Eve in Netanya and Jerusalem

3 Zinni

4 On Suicide Bombings as a Strategy

5 March 28, 2002, Jerusalem: Israel Prime Minister’s Office

6 March 28, 2002, Beirut: The Arab Peace Initiative I

7 The Arab Peace Initiative II: A Conversation with Thomas L. Friedman

8 The Arab Peace Initiative III: The Document Is Written and Approved

9 Ariel Sharon and the Arab Peace Initiative

10 A Kind of Death Tango: Sharon and Arafat

11 March 29, 2002: Operation Defensive Shield and the “Inner Palestinian Soul”

12 Sharon, Weissglass, and the American Effort

13 The Fence

14 Russia

15 Behind the Events of March 2002

16 2002–2021

17 Conclusion: March 27, 28, and 29 as a Turning Point

Appendix I: The Arab Peace Initiative as Ratified in Beirut, March 28, 2002

Appendix II: The Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East, April 30, 2003

Persons Interviewed for This Book

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

About the Author

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