The View from the Fence (2005)

The Arab-Israeli conflict has for too long been seen as a simple tale of right versus wrong, good versus evil or, since the 1967 War, the strong versus the weak. This original account from an author outside the fray shows that the conflict ranges beyond Jew versus Arab, and shatters a series of myths surrounding the conflict itself.  These include assumptions about how the assassination of the Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, affected later events, and the notion that the Palestinian Authority president, Yasser Arafat, alone rejected a peace agreement with Israel in 2000 that would have ended the conflict.  View this intractable dilemma from only one perspective simply generates further propaganda for whichever side.  This book provides a full grasp of the issues which drive the conflict, including the attempts by the United States to broker a settlement.

“View from the Fence” was shortlisted for the 2006 Jewish Quarterly / Wingate Literary Prizes for fiction and non-fiction.

Press acclaim

“Clearly written, provocative, and well-balanced study of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
Middle East Quarterly

“Unlike Dershowitz, Neill Lochery, author of the book under review, has worked as an advisor to Middle Eastern politicians on both sides of the divide. A concise and highly readable history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He takes a genuinely non-partisan approach to a complex and intractable political problem.”
Muslim News

“Neill Lochery's View from the Fence: The Arab-Israeli Conflict from the Present to Its Roots (Continuum) attempts something very rare - an even-handed analysis of the history of the Middle East - and dissects the failure of recent peace efforts. It reminds us that, although the conflict is steeped in religious argument, most of the protagonists are secular or only moderately religious. They choose to use religious symbols because of their huge resonance with their followers, not because the dispute is, today, innately religious. Lochery provides valuable insights for those seeking peace.”
Judges review, from the 2006 Wingate Book Awards

WALL by David Hare - featuring extracts from View From The Fence.  Released by National Film Board Canada, 2018.  Watch trailer >>

WALL (Trailer) from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.

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