No Trumpets, No Drums: A Two-state Settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Hardcover

Nicely balanced, thoughtful blueprint for defusing a volatile component of the Middle East powder keg, from the unique perspective of a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian scholars. Opting for ``the logic of interests and necessity rather than of rights and desires,'' Heller, a researcher in strategic studies at Tel Aviv Univ., advances the ideas of his earlier A Palestinian State (1983) by hammering out concrete proposals for Israel- Palestine coexistence in partnership with Nusseibeh, a philosophy instructor at a West Bank university. Refreshingly (and realistically), the authors avoid utopian or sentimentalized views- -each, in fact, concedes that he (like most members of the two groups) would prefer the entire piece of land, but agrees that sharing offers ``the only chance for a stable peace.'' Their alternative, or ``least undesirable choice,'' is a two-nation setup roughly adhering to the ``Green Line'' (the 1949 boundaries), with the Palestinian state located in the separate areas of the West Bank and Gaza. Among the essential preconditions addressed here are workable solutions to such major issues as mutual security and verification, borders, refugees, water rights, and the status of Jerusalem. Included is an intriguing picture of Jerusalem as a virtual city-state, part of Israel but administered by independent Palestinian and Israeli municipal councils, each serving its respective constituency--a scheme that the authors believe will allow each nation to fulfill its goal of establishing the city as its capital. Daring in its reliance on reason and cooperation as an antidote to the usual hysteria. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In calling for an independent Palestinian nation encompassing much of the West Bank and Gaza, the authors outline a detailed "compromise solution" that goes far beyond the proposals presented in most other books. Heller, a strategic studies researcher at Tel Aviv University, and Nusseibeh, who teaches philosophy at a West Bank university, argue that their blueprint, or something like it, is "the only chance for a stable peace." Under their plan, Israel would maintain a military presence in the new Palestinian state and Israelis could continue to live and work there. The authors set forth provisions for a "sufficiently bi-political" Jerusalem, resettlement of Palestinian refugees with compensation, security agreements between Israel and an independent Palestine. The book also details potential areas for economic cooperation. Given the authors' sharp disagreements (spelled out in introductory "personal statements"), it is noteworthy that they have found so much common ground.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.