A CIA courtier's take on King Hussein; the American Academy in Jerusalem; the future of arts in Jerusalem

Follow Tablet Magazine: July 11, 2011   Summer, Endless? Camp's increasingly challenged future Daybreak: Quartet To Back '67-and-swaps Plus long-range Iranian missiles, and more in the news Sammy the Jew And more in the new 'Text/Context' More from THE SCROLL A Spin Jordan's late King Hussein and his unsuccessful efforts to make peace get a courtier’s treatment in the new memoir from Jack O'Connell, a former CIA station chief in Amman BY Allison Hoffman The heroic Jewish narrative of the outbreak of Arab-Israeli hostilities on June 5, 1967, is well known: Israel, surrounded by massing Arab forces marshaled by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, launched the most spectacular surprise attack since Pearl Harbor, taking out its enemies' planes on the ground in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq and enabling Israeli ground troops to seize in six miraculous days all of the Sinai, the Golan Heights, Gaza, and the West Bank, including the key prize of Jerusalem. But it's not entirely true: It has been established by historians that the Arabs, and specifically Nasser, knew something was up before the Israeli attack. Indeed, Michael Oren, a historian and now Israel's ambassador to Washington, wrote in his bestselling Six Days of War that it was Nasser who had sent a warning to Jordan's King Hussein the day before the attacks. More Jerusalem Post The American Academy in Jerusalem will welcome its inaugural class of fellows this fall. The four artists—plus founder Elise Bernhardt, of the Foundation for Jewish Culture—talk about the program. More BY Vox Tablet Culture City Jerusalem—an ancient capital burdened by violence, economic hardship, and shifting demographics—may very well depend on a modern cultural renaissance for its survival More BY TOBY PERL FREILICH This email was sent to you by Tablet Magazine. To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add digest@tabletmag.com to your address book. To unsubscribe to this email, reply to this email with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. Tablet Magazine | 37 West 28th Street, 8th Floor | New York, NY 10001 Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend