Under Siege - by Rashid Khalidi (Paperback)

About the Book

Under Siege is Rashid Khalidi's firsthand account of the 1982 Lebanon War and the complex negotiations for the evacuation of the P.L.O. from Beirut.

Book Synopsis

Under Siege is Rashid Khalidi's firsthand account of the 1982 Lebanon War and the complex negotiations for the evacuation of the P.L.O. from Beirut. Utilizing unconventional sources and interviews with key officials and diplomats, Khalidi paints a detailed portrait of the siege and ensuing massacres, providing insight into the military pressure experienced by the P.L.O., the war's impact on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, and diplomatic efforts by the United States. A new preface by Khalidi considers developments across the Middle East in the thirty years since the conflict. The preface also cites recently declassified Israeli documents to offer surprising new revelations about the roles and responsibilities of both Israeli leaders and American diplomats in the tragic coda to the war, the Sabra and Shatila massacres.

Review Quotes

[An] important study.--Ibrahim Abu-Lughod "Journal of Palestine Studies"

A first-rate study.-- "Foreign Affairs"

A gold-mine of empirical evidence and insights for students of decision-making under crisis. Khalidi is first and foremost an involved historian... [his] work is a much needed and welcome contribution to the modern literature on Middle Eastern history and politics.--Fawaz A. Gerges "Bulletin (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies)"

A unique perspective on PLO decisionmaking not available in materials previously published by Israeli and Western writers.-- "Middle East Journal"

An extremely valuable analysis of how and why the P.L.O. made the decisions it did during that fateful summer of 1982. For students of the Middle East, his generally objective, lucid and incisive account of P.L.O. decisionmaking fills a critical void in the literature about the Israeli invasion.--Thomas L. Friedman "The New York Times"

Khalidi is eloquent and judicious.... The reader is rewarded with many insights into guerilla warfare... equally valuable and compelling are his sketches of how military peace-keeping failed because of American diplomatic naïveté. Under Siege is painful to read. It is also essential.-- "Military Affairs"

Khalidi presents an objective and closely reasoned analysis of the defeat of the P.L.O. and its allies. The study reveals the effect of battlefield events on the complex quadrilateral diplomacy between the P.L.O., the Lebanese government, the U.S. and Israel.-- "Publishers Weekly"

Khalidi's very thorough analysis will provide vital material for historians of this most futile and destructive of all wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors.-- "International Affairs"

About the Author

Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies, and the author of Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness.