A collection of essays by literary and cultural critic, Edward W. Said. It provides a commentary on the peace process in the last six years of the 20th century, in which Said has been virtually a lone voice in the West supporting the rights of the Palestinian people. Said questions the efficacy of Yasser Arafat's leadership, which has done nothing to stop illegal land expropriation and house demolitions; and regards the Oslo Accords as a false "breakthrough" for the Palestinians, as they include no mention of self-determination and sovereignty, or of an end to the expansion of Jewish settlements. But the author is not without hope: taken together, these essays comprise a vision of how peaceful reconciliation between Palestinian and Israeli can be taken forward.