Death as a Way of Life From Oslo to the Geneva Agreement

What went wrong after Oslo? How can Israelis and Palestinians make peace? How has the violence changed their lives, and their souls? For the last ten years, David Grossman, one of Israel's great fiction writers, has addressed these questions in a series of passionate essays and articles, writing not only as one of his country's most respected novelists and commentators, but as a husband and father and peace activist bitterly disappointed in the leaders of both sides. David Grossmanis the author of six novels and three works of nonfiction. He lives in Jerusalem. Ten years ago, Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat signed a Declaration of Principlesknown as the Oslo Accordsin which both sides agreed "that it is time to put an end to decades of confrontation and conflict, recognize [our] mutual legitimate and political rights, and strive to live in peaceful coexistence." It was a time of great hope for the Israeli peace movement, and the Accords enjoyed popular support among both Israelis and Palestinians. However, the following years brought a series of reversals, including Rabin's assassination and the rise of the right-wing Likud Party. Since then, provocations on both sides have led to suicide bombings on an unprecedented scale, military retaliations, and increasingly aggressive Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Ten years after Oslo, peace has never seemed further away. What went wrong? How can Israelis and Palestinians recapture the lost momentum of the peace process? How has all the violence changed their lives, and their souls? For the last ten years David Grossman, one of Israel's most celebrated novelists and journalists, has addressed these questions in a series of passionate essays, writing not only as a political commentator, but also as a husband and father, and as a peace activist disillusioned with the leaders on both sides. These essays, many of which first appeared outside Israelin American, English, French, German, Italian, and Palestinian publicationsshow us the Israel-Palestinian conflict from the inside, and in the moment. They are indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand the roots and consequences of the turmoil in the Middle East. This paperback edition ofDeath as a Way of Lifeincludes six new essays, all composed since the hardcover publication and offered here in the final pages, which together end the book on a note of cautious hope. The last of these addresses why Grossman joined the Geneva initiative. "Powerful . . . [Grossman's] depth of understanding and facility of expression rekindle regret for a decade that began with Oslo's cautious hopes and collapsednotably after Rabin's assassinationinto outright despair."Milton Viorst,The Washington Post "Grossman's position is liberal, tolerant, measured, intelligent, poignant, and persuasive, even in its despair."Jonathan Wilson,The New York Times Book Review "Powerful . . . [Grossman's] depth of understanding and facility of expression rekindle regret for a decade that began with Oslo's cautious hopes and collapsednotably after Rabin's assassinationinto outright despair."Milton Viorst,The Washington Post "Grossman is one of Israel's greatest writers, the author of imaginative novels and probing essays . . . Throughout [the essays in this book], gathered from many publications, Grossman brings a refined, discriminating passion, tempered by a novelist's eye for subtext and nuance . . . ReadingDeath as a Way of Lifeis a rewarding experience in its own right, but it has particular utility at this time for Americans who have confused support for Israel with support for Israel's right-wing policies and go

avid Grossman is the author of six novels, most recently Someone to Run With (FSG, January ’04), as well as two groundbreaking works of journalism, The Yellow Wind (1987) and Sleeping on a Wire (1993). He lives in Jerusalem.