A US Middle East expert sent me this (he/she does not want to be identified):
"I read with interest your review of al-Hut's biography. Its good that some of this is available to readers in English. There are of course numerous bios of Arafat in English, but I think all are flawed in one way or another. To my knowledge Salah Khalaf's "My Home My Land" is the only other bio of a Fatah leader available in English (and used copies of this are getting expensive). I have been looking for some time for a copy of Abu Daoud (Muhammad Daud Awdah)'s English language bio,Memoirs of a Palestinian Terrorist, which was published in English in 2002 by Arcade Books (ISBN 978-1559704298). Alas, I have not been able to find a copy either thru used book sites or interlibrary loan. I find it strange that a ten year old book on a topic of intense interest is impossible to purchase. Perhaps one of your readers can suggest a source for this.
I also enjoyed your "Zionist fabrications" posts. You should look up Living by the Sword by Stephen Green (Amana Books, 1988) which has a wonderful chapter on how Begin fabricated a quote from an Iraqi newspaper in an attempt to justify the Tuwaitha raid. When the quote was found to be made up, the Israeli Foreign Ministry blamed "sloppy staff work." The whole thing is worth reading."
PS I told the source that Abu Daoud's memoirs is one of the best memoirs by any PLO readers. It is full of information and insights and caries none of the bravado that you associate with Arafat and his cronies. As you remember, St. Martin's Press was supposed to come out with the English translation but Zionist hoodlums in the US pressured the publisher to abandon the release.
"I read with interest your review of al-Hut's biography. Its good that some of this is available to readers in English. There are of course numerous bios of Arafat in English, but I think all are flawed in one way or another. To my knowledge Salah Khalaf's "My Home My Land" is the only other bio of a Fatah leader available in English (and used copies of this are getting expensive). I have been looking for some time for a copy of Abu Daoud (Muhammad Daud Awdah)'s English language bio,Memoirs of a Palestinian Terrorist, which was published in English in 2002 by Arcade Books (ISBN 978-1559704298). Alas, I have not been able to find a copy either thru used book sites or interlibrary loan. I find it strange that a ten year old book on a topic of intense interest is impossible to purchase. Perhaps one of your readers can suggest a source for this.
I also enjoyed your "Zionist fabrications" posts. You should look up Living by the Sword by Stephen Green (Amana Books, 1988) which has a wonderful chapter on how Begin fabricated a quote from an Iraqi newspaper in an attempt to justify the Tuwaitha raid. When the quote was found to be made up, the Israeli Foreign Ministry blamed "sloppy staff work." The whole thing is worth reading."
PS I told the source that Abu Daoud's memoirs is one of the best memoirs by any PLO readers. It is full of information and insights and caries none of the bravado that you associate with Arafat and his cronies. As you remember, St. Martin's Press was supposed to come out with the English translation but Zionist hoodlums in the US pressured the publisher to abandon the release.
