State of Failure: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Unmaking of the Palestinian State

If the news media and world governments and organizations had been doing their jobs correctly, one of two things would have happened: The information revealed in STATE OF FAILURE would not be unknown to most people and/or the problems might not have reached the state they did. In either case, the lives of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza would much better and there may have been an independent, viable Palestinian state decades ago.
Instead, the media, governments, and organizations, particularly the United Nations, for several self-serving, short-sighted reasons, ignored what was really going on with the Palestinian leaders and focus their attention on blaming Israel for most problems and propping up Yasser Arafat and show more Mahmoud Abbas instead of demanding that they actually demonstrate responsibility.
The chapters in STATE OF FAILURE are rather short for such an important topic. However, Jonathan Schanzer packs a lot of information into them. The thoroughly-referenced data provides a very concise history of why there is yet to be a Palestinian state even though it was supposed to be founded at the same time Israel was born.
He puts most of the blame on the Palestinian leaders, primarily Yasser Arafat, for being more focused on remaining in control and increasing their own net worth. By the time there was any demand for fiscal oversight, competently attempted by Salam Fayyad, billions of dollars had disappeared, mostly diverted by Arafat and his cronies.
Mahmoud Abbas who succeeded Arafat was thought to be the man to put things in order. Instead, he has turned into another dictator, enriching himself at the expense of his people.
Schanzer briefly examines the histories of the PLO (created in 1964), Palestinian Authority (1994), Fatah (1950s in Kuwait), Hamas (1987) and their key personnel as well as discussing US policy towards Israel and the Palestinians since Woodrow Wilson’s administration. He writes about Palestinian rivalries and how the pressure to stay in charge affected their decisions including being able to sign a peace treaty with Israel. He explains why the Palestinian people elected Hamas, their feelings towards their government, and why there are currently two separate groups, Gaza and the West Bank. He writes about Palestinian and Arab involvement with the Nazis in World War II as well as Israel’s history and what it did or didn’t do (including the reasons) to contribute to many of the problems.

But the major problem was the lack of interest, at best, of the media and world leaders to look beyond the Israel/Palestine situation. In fact, most of the major problems had very little, if anything, to do with that. They should have realized that different skills are needed for building a viable nation than for leading a revolt.
They should have demanded transparency, meeting objectives for building a state, and good governance before throwing more money at the Palestinian leaders. They also should have demanded that high expectations should be met. “Too often the West is guilty of what US president George W. Bush termed ‘the soft bigotry of low expectations.’” They should have reported on intragroup conflicts and following the money instead of on Israel/Palestine issues.
He said Israel’s unilateral move passing Gaza to the Palestinians was a “strategic mistake.” It allowed Hamas to produce and receive weapons without Israeli interference and claim that “violence works.”
He writes of the negative effects of unilateralism as Palestinians turned to the UN for recognition of statehood without having to actually show they could govern a state. He discusses the persecution of journalists, news media, and individuals who criticize the government.
STATE OF FAILURE ends by listing fourteen points necessary to enable the Palestinians to achieve a functional state capable of serving the needs of the people. It ends by stating
The good news is that the Palestinian leadership can still make these changes and right the ship. But this will not happen in a vacuum. World leaders must begin to make their demands heard. The United States and Europe will need to lead the charge. And when they do, they should make it clear that these demands are not punishment for past transgressions. Rather, they are heightened expectations that can help the Palestinians actualize their dream.

STATE OF FAILURE is well-written, well-organized and easy to comprehend. I hope people pay attention to the message so that the Palestinians can live a peaceful, productive life in an independent, viable state next to its Jewish neighbor, Israel. It’s tragic that it has taken so long for this message to get out. It can be corrected starting now but only if the media, world governments, and world organizations step in to demand, guide, and support genuine, honest improvement.

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads Early Readers. show less

This is an accessible and well-documented, if pretty brief, overview of the past 60 years of the pursuit of a Palestinian state. Though it's popular to peg Israel as the reason there is no Palestinian state, Schanzer thoroughly demonstrates that the obstacles to statehood are many, serious, and mostly the fault of the Palestinian leaders themselves. The main problems are governmental corruption, nepotism, devotion to violence and terrorism, greed, and a lack of stable institutions. (Schanzer does acknowledge that Israel doesn't make things easy for the Palestinians, and he also blames the international aid-giving community for not requiring more of the Palestinians.)

The book does seem to implicitly accept that there SHOULD be a show more Palestinian state and that a two-state solution is actually possible. Anyone looking for a substantive or more abstract discussion of these propositions won't find it in this book, but they will find a clear, even-handed record of the efforts to achieve statehood, the reasons they've failed, and a brief list of recommendations for the future.

If you're new to the subject, or are looking for a "just the facts" summary, I think this book is a good place to start. (It's certainly difficult to come out of it believing the narrative that Israel is the problem.) show less

The Palestinian Authority wasted and misspent nearly $2.7 billion in European aid between 2008 and 2012. Jonathan Schanzer State Of failure provides us with a detailed history of the Palestinian Authority that clearly shows how its leaders have failed their people by choosing not to develop the infrastructure and political culture that could support an independent state. Top PLO leaders have been politically and financially enriched while the average Palestinian got nothing. Salam Fayyad, who served as finance minister and later as prime minister, tried feverishly for years to find and account for Arafat’s assets, to set up a national PA treasury, and to bring PA finances up to accounting standards but was stopped by those at the show more highest levels of authority within the PA. As long as the western allies including U.S. and European Union continue to send billions in aid to the PA while not choosing to hold the Palestinians accountable for state-building, for ending ignorance and terrorism, and for responsible financial practices, the Palestinians will be left either stateless or with a totally inept and failed state. show less

For anyone interested in a fuller understanding of the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian situation in the Middle East, "State of Failure" is an important resource to have. Instead of simply pointing fingers at "the other side", it suggests that accountability and concern for nation above self will be the key to any lasting "solution" to the ongoing conflict. While the focus is on the failures of the Palestinian leadership to adequately prepare for state-building, hopefully it will encourage honest soul-searching on both sides. How sad to think that so much potential and opportunity for peace can be undermined by devotion to violence as a way of "building" a future.

The Palestinian 'state' has constantly been shooting itself in the foot. It has been consistantly plagued by corruption and mismanagement to the point where few outside entities are inclined to invest in any kind of infrastructure. The downside of this book is that it is filled with quotes from other sources and little original material. That said it is a good look at a disfunctional wannabe state.

"Lost in all the hoopla was one crucial question: Are the Palestinians prepared for this next step [statehood]? Is the Palestinian Authority (PA)....an efficient, transparent or financially viable authority that is prepared to function as a government for the Palestinian people? This book will explain why the answer, unfortunately, is "no." The reason: the PA and its antecedents have been beset by bad governance." Stating the purpose of the book and going on to support his premise is Schanzer's task. He gives an historical outline of the events leading up to Mahmoud Abbas's efforts before the UN for nonmember observer state status and eventually Palestinian statehood. Schanzer's critique is one of constructive criticism pointing out the show more lack of solid and transparent financial health, sound government by administrators not linked to corruption or terrorism, trustworthy security, freedom of the press or an independent judiciary system.
Overall, the treatment of these and related subjects is clearly done, not over simplified but not mired in details. The book is easy to read, the plentiful foot notes are not in the way and it flows well. I would have liked a more exhaustive index (for example:Beirut 1983 attack, Madrid 1991 conference, Qaddafi.)
It is a helpful book, a good resource for keeping up with names and places for an ever-changing scenario. It covers events into 2013.
Starting out, I had very little factual knowledge of the makeup of the PLO/PA, but after reading State of Failure, I feel better informed and prepared for understanding the events in the Middle East. show less

This will be a short review as I am currently deployed and internet connections here are not great; I found this book to be quite good. It was a relatively easy read, well-documented, and reasonably well balanced. Schanzer does an excellent job of breaking down barriers to Palestinian statehood (and, indeed, governance). I would recommend this book to others.