Product Description

In 1997, the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, poisoned the Hamas leader, Khalid Mishal, in broad daylight on the streets of Amman, Jordan. Then little-known, the Palestinian leader slipped into a coma - but not before the Mossad agents' escape was bungled and Jordanian troops were called in to surround the Israeli embassy. As Mishal's condition deteriorated under the influence of a mysterious poison, the episode quickly spiralled into a diplomatic crisis. The Middle East feared the worst, but a series of high-stakes negotiations, brokered by President Bill Clinton, led to the Israelis handing over the antidote, thereby saving Mishal and setting the stage for his phenomenal political ascendancy. Revolving around this dramatic incident, Kill Khalid unfolds into a masterpiece of investigative journalism. Paul McGeough reconstructs the history of Hamas through exclusive interviews with key players across the Middle East and in Washington, including unprecedented access to Mishal himself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127838 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-01
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

Review
`It is a style that for the most part matches the bizarre story Paul McGeough is telling...he has a sharp eye for the way in which both sides in the conflict have played the media.' Duncan Campbell Smith --Times Literary Supplement, May 15, 2009

Review
`McGeough tells the story of the Amman plot in the gritty, unsentimental style of a hard-boiler thriller.' Adam Shatz

Review
'Kill Khalid is a reporter's book drawing plentifully on interviews with the important players, including Mishal.' Geoff Dyer

Customer Reviews

Hot Air
This book rambles and could be half the length. It also serves as an apologia for Hamas terrorism. An earler reviewer writes that 'the Israelis are likely to have to come to terms with Mr Khalid and Hamas.' I agree and hope this happens soon with the utmost finality.

The rise and rise of Hamas
In fact, the plot to kill Khalid Mishal represents a very small part of the book - the author has been wise in not repeating the coverage of this incident in Gordon Thomas`"Gideon`s Spies". A fair amount of the book deals with the aftermath in terms of how that wiley "Old Fox of the Middle East", the late King Hussein, managed to secure from Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, the antidote for the poison sprayed into Khalid`s ear by Mossad agents that ultimately saved Khalid`s life, the release of Hamas` founders, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and other imprisoned Hamas and Fatah prisoners. Hussein`s maneouvering against the Israelis - the surrounding of the Israeli embassy in Amman by Jordanian troops, and bringing the US on board in the resolution of the crisis represented an unusual putdown of the Israeli leadership, reeling from the bungled assasination attempt.
That said, the book plots the subsequent rise of Khalid and of Hamas as well, against a backdrop of Israeli "targeted" assasinations, Arafat`s and the PLO`s attempts to curtail their influence, the increasing belligerence of the US administration and the falling into line of the EU behind Arafat`s successor, Mahmoud Abbas. The author has looked at the US effort to crack down on the funding efforts in their country, particularly the legal case against one of the leading charities, the Holy Land Foundation.
The author has managed to interview Khalid himself in his Damascus bunker from which he still directs the Hamas movement, now ensconced in government in Gaza after a short, bloody rout there of US armed and trained Fatah forces in June 2007. The picture one draws, whether intended or not by the author, is of a Gerry Adams figure - Hamas` strategy of the bullet and the ballotbox - we should note that Hamas won the democratic elections held in Gaza and the West Bank in 2006, and the attempt to distinguish between the political and armed wings, is similar to that adopted by Sinn Fein/IRA, which has ultimately prevailed in Northern Ireland. One can discern in the book Khalid trying to follow in Adams` steps although he still has a long way to go and the path may not be nearly as straightforward.
At some point, if not already now secretly underway through trusted intermediaries, the US and Israelis are likely to have to come to terms with Mr Khalid and Hamas. As the book concludes: "(Whether the next President is Obama or McCain), he will find the file of the Arab - Israeli conflict on his desk, and he`ll find the word `Hamas` written on every page".
One slight drawback is that the book came out just before the Israeli - Hamas conflict of January 2009 and therefore the author did not provide his take on the outcome although it is widely perceived as being a setback for the Israelis. All in all, this is a good read.