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[OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 12/9/2014, SPi]

Foreword and Acknowledgements

The idea of compiling an Oxford companion to the Arab–Israeli conflict was first presented to me in 2005 by Markus Bouillon, who served for me both in my UN capacity in Jerusalem and at the International Peace Institute (IPI) in New York. Nur Laiq laboriously and faithfully collected most of the relevant documents and contributed to the organization of the book and the drafting of the introduction and comments. Fabrice Aidan, a French diplomat, who served for ten years as my special assistant and political adviser in my different United Nations capacities played an instrumental role for the production of this volume. He made essential substantive inputs to the organization and compilation of the documents and the composition of the comments, throughout the book, as well as to the introduction. David Makovsky and Marwan Muasher deserve thanks for reviewing the book and for providing insightful comments.

I would like also to thank my staff at the International Peace Institute (IPI), Walter Kemp and Adam Lupel, for their editing contribution. Miklos Pinther, former chief UN cartographer, who in 2000 oversaw the delineation of the Blue Line between Israel, Lebanon and Syria, compiled and produced the maps in this volume. Finally, my executive assistant, Jilla Moazami, gave invaluable administrative support. Without these colleagues, the book would have never come to print. I am delighted that the volume came to its conclusion on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords of 1993.

I am grateful to the Government of Norway for generous support to the International Peace Institute’s (IPI) Middle East program over many years.

I dedicate the book to my beloved wife, Ambassador Mona Juul, my companion in war and peace, without whom I would never have become involved in the imbroglio of the Middle East.

Terje Rød-Larsen

Paris
16 September 2013

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