The Truth About Camp David The Untold Story About the Collapse of the Middle East Peace Process

by Swisher, Clayton E

• ISBN13: 9781560256236
• ISBN10: 1560256230
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-21
• Publisher: Bold Type Books

Summary

The collapse of both sets of Arab-Israeli negotiations in 2000 led not only to recrimination and bloodshed, with the outbreak of the second intifada, but to the creation of a new myth. Syrian and Palestinian intransigence was blamed for the current disastrous state of affairs, as both parties rejected a "generous" peace offering from the Israelis that would have brought peace to the region. The Truth About Camp David shatters that myth. Based on the riveting, eyewitness accounts of more than forty direct participants involved in the latest rounds of Arab-Israeli negotiations, including the Camp David 2000 summit, former federal investigator-turned-investigative journalist Clayton E. Swisher provides a compelling counter-narrative to the commonly accepted history. The Truth About Camp David details the tragic inner workings of the Clinton Administration's negotiating mayhem, their eleventh hour blunders and miscalculations, and their concluding decision to end the Oslo process with blame and disengagement. It is not only a fascinating historical look at Middle East politics on the brink of disaster, but a revelatory portrait of how all-too-human American political considerations helped facilitate the present crisis.

Author Biography

Clayton E. Swisher, a former marine reservist and federal criminal investigator, was educated at the University of Pittsburgh and Georgetown University, and is currently studying Law & Economics part-time at George Mason University. Swisher works as an associate for a Middle East consulting firm in Washington, D.C. where he resides.

Table of Contents

Barak takes charge
An Israeli Deus Ex Machina	p. 3
Misgivings about Barak	p. 14
Leaning toward Syria	p. 34
The Palestinians accept a bad-faith bargain	p. 47
Barak opts for Syria first
"Find me a way to fudge it"	p. 61
Showdown at Shepherdstown	p. 77
Collapse of the Israeli-Syrian track	p. 90
The truth about Geneva	p. 110
The Camp David disaster
Gathering storm clouds	p. 133
Roadblocks and reversals	p. 164
A dose of false hope	p. 183
The decision to go for broke	p. 213
Camp David 2000	p. 250
Epilogue : the politics of blame	p. 335
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