ALAN Dershowitz has a lovely vision of Middle East peace, imagining democratic Israel and a democratic Palestine prospering together. Harvard Law's celebrity professor advocates a two-state solution, creating Palestine out of the territories Israel won in the 1967 war. Dershowitz believes two viable states with secure borders and stable political cultures can emerge from one of the world's most troubled pieces of real estate. Invoking history, justice, reason and the rule of law, he analyzes the problems, seeking mutually agreeable solutions. Yet, sadly, rather than showing, as the hopeful subtitle suggests, "How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved," this book makes a more convincing case that the conflict will continue. Dershowitz once again proves in clear and readable prose that Israel is flexible, peace-seeking and ready to compromise, while offering little evidence that many Palestinian leaders are equally reasonable, courageous or committed to peace or democracy. This short, punchy primer details just how virulent Palestinian rejectionism is--and has been for decades. Jewish and international compromises reach back to the Peel Commission in the 1930s, yet, again and again, Palestinians--and their cynical Arab allies--have preferred maximalist dreams to imperfect compromises. Combining an appellate lawyer's precision with a courtroom showman's passion, Dershowitz examines how Yasser Arafat, among other destructive leaders, repeatedly turned Palestinians away from state-building, compromise and democracy, fostering an autocratic, demagogic, corrupt, delusional political culture addicted to terror. Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir famously lamented that Arabs must love their own children more than they hate Israel's children for peace to flourish; now, Palestinians must become more committed to building a "democratic Palestinian state living in peace with a democratic Israel" than to destroying Israel. Convinced that a pragmatic Palestinian majority can emerge, Dershowitz lambastes the academics, church leaders, diplomats, reporters and so-called "peace activists" who feed Palestinians' delusions and sanction violence by demonizing Israel, no matter what it does. Dershowitz and others advocating for a rational peace should challenge the West's armchair jihadists for rationalizing Palestinian terrorism, robbing Palestinians and Jews of hope. And it is noble for intellectuals defending Israel's legitimacy to dream of a possible compromise. Dershowitz mischievously confounds critics by insisting that, while ardently pro-Israel, he remains liberal and "pro-Palestinian." But while occasionally mentioning a "peace process" and praising the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Dershowitz fails to identify that Palestinian peace camp essential to creating a new, stable Middle East. This book assumes that Israel disengaged from Gaza successfully. But Israel withdrew unilaterally because there was no credible negotiating partner, had to build a fence because Palestinian terrorists continue to target Israeli civilians and even uprooted Jewish gravesites because of justified fears that Hamas activists would desecrate the corpses. Dershowitz's vision of peace will only work if Palestinians pass a simple test. Unless and until, Jews--and Jewish graves--can remain undisturbed on land ceded to the Palestinians, no peace is possible. --Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University, is the author of "Why I'm a Zionist." (The New York Post, August 28, 2005)

Alan Dershowitz, the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, is one of the country's foremost appellate lawyers and a distinguished defender of civil liberties. His many books include the New York Times bestsellers The Case for Israel and Chutzpah as well as The Vanishing American Jew, Why Terrorism Works, and America on Trial. He has been profiled and interviewed widely in the media and has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and many other newspapers and periodicals. www.wiley.com/go/dershowitz

Acknowledgments.Introduction: The Case for Peace.PART I: Overcoming the Geopolitical Barriers to Peace.1. The End Result: Two States with Secure and Recognized Borders.2. Is the One-State Solution a Barrier to Peace?3. Is a Noncontiguous Palestinian State a Barrier to Peace?4. Can Peace Be Achieved without Compromising Rights?5. Is the Division of Jerusalem a Barrier to Peace?6. Are the Informal Geneva Accords a Basis for or a Barrier to Peace?7. Can Israel Make Peace and Prevent Terrorism at the Same Time?8. Are Israeli Counterterrorism Measures the Cause of Suicide Bombings and a Barrier to Peace?9. What If a Palestinian State Became a Launching Pad for Terrorism?10. Will Civil Wars Be Necessary to Bring About Peace?11. Is the Security Fence a Barrier to Peace?12. Is a Militarized Palestine a Barrier to Peace?13. Is the Iranian Nuclear Threat a Barrier to Peace?PART II: Overcoming the Hatred Barriers to Peace.14. More Palestinian Than the Palestinians.15. More Israeli Than the Israelis.16. A Case Study in Hate and Intimidation.17. Will Anti-Semitism Decrease as Israel Moves toward Peace with the Palestinians?Conclusion: The Contributions Peace Can Make.Notes.Index.