Abstract: Anwar Sadat: Visionary Who Dared, by Joseph Finklestone. London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1996. xxxvi + 288 pages. Index to p. 297. $39.50 cloth; $25 paper. This biography by a distinguished, independent Israeli journalist provides a telling, though unintended, demonstration of just how difficult it has been even for enlightened public opinion in Israel to understand the wellsprings and the implications of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's grand gesture for peace. The flaws of the book derive from the author's limited historical knowledge of Egypt and distant and distorted sensse of the social world through which protagonist moved, resulting in a biographical method anchored in psychological speculation. These very shortcomings define the huge chasm that continues to separate even well-intentioned Israelis from Arabs who wish to transform the Arab-Israeli relationship. In this ironic sense, though not for this reason alone, Joseph Finklestone has written a useful account of the visionary who dared. Sadat as messenger for peace, Finklestone's study makes clear, was little understood. None of the major historical currents that have shaped modern Egyptian history emerge in recognizable form here-not the terrible physical and psychological violence of the British colonial encounter, not the great paradox of President Jamal `Abd al-Nasir's anti-Western crusade that, in its most lasting effects, actually furthered the Westernization of Egypt and culminated in the Infitah (open door) policy, and not the powerful claims of the contemporary Islamic revival that challenges that outcome today. All of these currents left their mark on the life of Sadat, yet not a trace of them is to be found in Finklestone's story. Had the author written about these currents, Israelis, responsive to Sadat's personal story, might have learned more about the felt consequences of colonizing power, the hopes engendered by even a flawed nationalist revolution, and even about the powerful pull of the call to Islamic authenticity in an age of corruption and collapse. Instead, Finklestone's Sadat strides grandly above these historical tides; he is presented here as driven instead by personal qualities, things like his strong sense of justice, fairness, and pride, which he learned from grandmother (p. 9). The dazzle of Sadat's smile, and the disorienting impact of theatrical gestures, similarly obscure any understanding of the influences of the formative structures of Egyptian society. The grounding in social analysis that might have made Sadat's life and its culminating gesture towards Israel tell a larger story about, for example, the massive social mobilization that is so much more important than simply population growth in defining Egyptian social life, dissolve into the usual tired myths about Arab society. The myths are all here, more or less explicitly: the psychological barrier between Arabs and Jews as the fundamental engine of the Arab-Israeli conflict (p. …
Publication Year: 1997
Publication Date: 1997-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
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