When Enemies Dare to Talk: An Israeli-Palestinian Debate

In September 1978 while the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and US President Jimmy Carter discussed the future of the Middle East at Camp David a less publicised but equally significant conference was held in Israel. This conference, the first of its kind, brought together prominent representatives in both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not to make resolutions, but to strip away the elements of propaganda surrounding the problem and aim for greater understanding of each other’s position, problems and aspirations. It allowed the views of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank on their future to be heard and despite the differences that emerged, it revealed an intense commitment to peaceful co-existence without occupation amongst participants from both sides.

This book, originally published in 1979 published the full text of the proceedings, preserving the form of the spoken word and as such it remains a key document in the political history of this fractured region.

Simha Flapan (1911-1987) was an Israeli historian and politician and had a long and distinguished career as a writer, publisher, peace activist and educator. From 1954 to 1981 he was National Secretary of Israel’s Mapam party and Director of its Arab Affairs department. He was founder and editor-in-chief of the Middle East monthly New Outlook, and founder and director of the Jewish-Arab Institute and the Israeli Peace Research Institute. He was aFellow at he Harvard University Center for International Affiars, a visiting scholar at the Harvard Center for Middle East Sutdies, and a Foreign Associate of the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London.