PEACE AND ITS DISCONTENTS: Essays on Palestine...

PEACE AND ITS DISCONTENTS: Essays on Palestine in the Middle East Peace Process by Edward W. Said (Vintage: $12; 188 pp.). An expatriate Palestinian, Columbia University professor Edward Said criticizes the Palestinian leadership for its lack of preparation during the Oslo negotiations, and accuses Yasir Arafat of cronyism, corruption and putting his own interests ahead of those of the Palestinian people. Although Said insists he desires “peace between equals,” his rhetoric seems to belie the statement: He refers to “the murderous anti-Arab ideology, backed by the Israeli state itself,” of the Oslo accords, and calls Hamas “a protest movement using terrorism to express the justifiable frustration and anger of almost the entire Palestinian people.” His provocative opinions were originally printed in the Arab-language magazines al-Hayat and al-Ahram Weekly.