Mandate for Terror: The United Nations and the PLO

Of the United Nations' multiple failures during the past two decades, none has been so self-evident and dramatic as the organization's treatment of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel having been deemed a pariah state, the UN's resources were galvanized to hound and delegitimize the Jewish state in favor of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Shoenberg, the UN representative for B'nai B'rith since 1968, provides a full accounting of this unhappy saga. In Mandate for Terror, a large and fact-filled book, he dissects the PLO's long-term strategy. He shows how the PLO gradually infiltrated the UN's political fora, secretariat, specialized agencies, international conferences, peacekeeping operations, and funding agencies. He analyzes the PLO's rise to become the paramount national liberation ith the United States. He also provides information on specific events: the recounting of Yasir 'Arafat's visit to the UN in New York in November 1974 is especially memorable.

In short, Shoenberg has produced the last word on his subject. For all its value, however, Mandate for Terror is a challenge to read. For one, it tends to read too much like an indictment and not enough like an objective analysis; even those readers who share the author's views will find his unabashed anger a bit oppressive. For another, the sheer bulk of detail at times overwhelms the narrative. As a result, only the most dedicated readers are likely to get through more than a few pages at a sitting.