Enderlin, Charles 1945–

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Enderlin, Charles 1945–

PERSONAL:

Born 1945, in Paris, France.

ADDRESSES:

Office—c/o JCS, P.O. Box 13172, Jerusalem 91131, Israel. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Journalist and author. Worked for Israeli radio, beginning 1971; France-2 (television network), Jerusalem, Israel, bureau chief, beginning 1991.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Peabody Award, and Prix de la Press Diplomatique (Ireland), both 2003, both for documentary Shattered Dreams of Peace.

WRITINGS:

Shamir, O. Orban (Paris, France), 1991.

Paix ou guerres: les secrets des négoiations Israélo-Arabes (1917-1997), Stock (Paris, France), 1997.

Le rêve briseé: histoire de l'échec du processus de paix au Proche-Orient, 1995-2002, Fayard (Paris, France), 2002, translated by Susan Fairfield as Shattered Dreams: The Failure of the Peace Process in the Middle East, 1995-2002, Other Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Les années perdues: intifada et guerres au Proche-Orient, 2001-2006, Fayard (Paris, France), 2006, translated as The Lost Years: Radical Islam, Intifada, and Wars in the Middle East, 2001-2006, Other Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Par le feu et par le sang: le combat clandestin pour l'indépendance d'Israël, 1936-1948, Albin Michel (Paris, France), 2008.

ADAPTATIONS:

Shattered Dreams: The Failure of the Peace Process in the Middle East, 1995-2002 was adapted as a television film produced by France-2 television and airing on Frontline, PBS, 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Charles Enderlin has been the Jerusalem bureau chief of France-2 television since 1990. His position as bureau chief provided Enderlin with access to meetings between Israeli and Palestinian leaders organized by U.S. president Bill Clinton in 2000. Enderlin's account of these meetings was published as the French bestseller Le rêve brisé: histoire de l'échec du processus de paix au Proche-Orient, 1995-2002. Translated into English and released in the United States in 2003 as Shattered Dreams: The Failure of the Peace Process in the Middle East, 1995-2002, the book also served as the basis for a television documentary series shown throughout the world. Shattered Dreams of Peace, the award-winning English-language version of this series, was produced by Frontline and aired on the Public Broadcast System.

Shattered Dreams focuses on the Clinton administration's attempts to resolve the long, violent conflict in the Middle East. In his book, Enderlin traces the steps that almost led to an agreement between Israel and Palestine before negotiations collapsed as a result of a surge of suicide bombings and other violent outbreaks. The book gives details about secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in Sweden and provides insight into the failure of Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

Critics have praised Enderlin for his objectivity in discussing the negotiations initiated by Clinton and held at Camp David. In Library Journal, Marcia L. Sprules described Enderlin's portrayal as "more evenhanded than many press accounts, not blaming either side for the failure and showing that both made efforts and yet were reluctant to take the necessary steps." Ethan Bronner, in a New York Times Online book review, disliked the author's use of the first person and maintained that "the story gushes forward with little context or analysis." However, Bronner admitted in the same review that such quick movement adds to the book's authenticity. "As Enderdin moves from event to notes to taped interviews, you have the refreshing sense that you are not being spun. He is simply seeking to represent reality in its complexity," the critic explained.

Enderlin contends that only international intervention will bring peace to the Middle East. "Any agreement would have to be based on the Clinton proposals of December 2000, which foresaw Israeli withdrawal from most of the Occupied Territories, East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, and a solution for the holy sites of Judaism and Islam," concluded Lara Marlowe in the Irish Times.

In his second English-language translation, The Lost Years: Radical Islam, Intifada, and Wars in the Middle East, 2001-2006, Enderlin seems to pick up where he left off in his first book, addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and peace talks, albeit now with the United States under a new administration. Enderlin examines the peace talks between Israeli leader Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat to show how the talks were built and consequently undermined. He also discusses Sharon's political ascendancy, beginning in February 2001, and covers the span of events and conflicts up to the July 2006 war in Lebanon. Over these five years, both Israeli and Palestinian casualties were extremely high. Enderlin also notes that though Arafat died in 2004 (he was replaced by Mahmoud Abbas), little changed between the two near-warring governments.

Given the volatile topic of the book, critical response to Enderlin's work was occasionally heated. Indeed, Enderlin is no stranger to controversy. Earlier in his career, he was accused of doctoring news footage of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. This may be why New York Post critic Alex Safian was so scathing in his assessment of The Lost Years. Safian stated that the interviews Enderlin cites in the book have also been altered (by Enderlin himself). The critic remarked that "journalism has sometimes been called the first draft of history, but in the hands of a Charles Enderlin, journalism becomes the first draft of malicious propaganda. The Lost Years is worthwhile only as a study of such pathology." Despite Safian's comments, most reviewers found much of value in the book. For instance, Louisa Tavlas, in a more evenhanded review in the Campus Report Online, commented that "while it is not accurate to say that Enderlin does not point at any figures throughout this chronicle, it is important to note that he is uniformly accusatory to all those involved." Tavlas added that "the Palestinian, Israeli, and U.S. governments are all guilty. The only victims are the innocent civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, who either lost their lives or who continue to live in constant fear and, (for Palestinians), poverty."

Because The Lost Years was so widely reviewed, a range of opinions on the book was given. Several critics did applaud the book. One such critic, writing in Publishers Weekly, stated that the volume is written with "exhaustive detail." The critic also felt that "Enderlin brings clarity to the chaos and his sober conclusion is heartrending." Yet another glowing assessment appeared in a Kirkus Reviews article, where the author found that "Enderlin urges Israel to negotiate with the new government of Mahmoud Abbas based on the principle of ‘territory for peace’—without which, he reasonably concludes, peace will be impossible."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Internet Bookwatch, January 1, 2008, review of The Lost Years: Radical Islam, Intifada, and Wars in the Middle East, 2001-2006.

Irish Times, January 22, 2003, Lara Marlowe, Documenting Failure of a Peace Process, p. 12.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2007, review of The Lost Years.

Library Journal, February 15, 2003, Marcia L. Sprules, review of Shattered Dreams: The Failure of the Peace Process in the Middle East, 1995-2002, p. 155.

New York Post, December 2, 2007, Alex Safian, review of The Lost Years.

Publishers Weekly, January 21, 2008, review of The Lost Years.

Reference & Research Book News, February 1, 2008, review of The Lost Years.

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, April 1, 2008, "Charles Enderlin on Peace in the Middle East," p. 67.