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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
What can I say that hasn't already been said by every reviewer here? Before I read this I was painfully ignorant and now I am not; in fact, I'd worried that this conflict would be too difficult for me to unravel - now I realize that that very notion is itself propaganda and that there is no ambiguity here! This book has given me immense perspective as a young westerner and I hope to now use that perspective to help others by at the very least providing awareness and knowlege on the issue.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
Book format is interview style and then essays.
This book came out in 2015, and outlines Israeli treatment of Palestinians up to that point. The tactics the IDF used in the West Bank and Gaza could have pulled from current news stories. It is clear this conflict (occupation) did not start on Oct 7, 2023.
This book came out in 2015, and outlines Israeli treatment of Palestinians up to that point. The tactics the IDF used in the West Bank and Gaza could have pulled from current news stories. It is clear this conflict (occupation) did not start on Oct 7, 2023.
4 stars because the most fascinating aspect of this book isn't that it reveals new, ground breaking information but that it provides a compelling path of breadcrumbs in the form of repeated offenses on israel's part, showcasing how utterly formulaic their colonization processes & policies are.
while reading i had to keep reminding myself that everything in this book was being discussed in 2015 after operation protective edge in 2014 because absolutely everything parallels almost exactly whats been happening since october 7, 2023.
the formula (as heavily discussed in this book) is as follows: israel finds a pretext to launch a military assault (no matter how fleeting) that lasts for an arbitrary amount of time resulting in atrocities that they deny and a major Palestinian death toll. a ceasefire resolution is offered by Hamas and Israel either accepts it but never actually abides by it, or outwardly rejects and continues the assault, and steals more and more land. and so on and so forth, rinse and repeat.
i mean, everything discussed in this book is happening today beat for beat, bar for bar. even down to the land grabs, US vetoes at the UN, younger jewish people disowning israel, the tunnels (!!!), goals of eliminating hamas entirely, claiming criticisms as antisemitic, etc etc.
it's truly astonishing how well documented all of this is for the past 48 years that even without changing their tactics, israel continues to get away with it. like just simply mind boggling, almost. although the whole point of this book is: duh, with US backing, they don't even have to pretend.
this book does sway you to hope that israel does become a pariah state and that US policy may shift eventually.
finally, i wonder what both of these men are thinking now and if they decided to do a third book following this devastating genocide i wonder if it'll read any differently from this one.
while reading i had to keep reminding myself that everything in this book was being discussed in 2015 after operation protective edge in 2014 because absolutely everything parallels almost exactly whats been happening since october 7, 2023.
the formula (as heavily discussed in this book) is as follows: israel finds a pretext to launch a military assault (no matter how fleeting) that lasts for an arbitrary amount of time resulting in atrocities that they deny and a major Palestinian death toll. a ceasefire resolution is offered by Hamas and Israel either accepts it but never actually abides by it, or outwardly rejects and continues the assault, and steals more and more land. and so on and so forth, rinse and repeat.
i mean, everything discussed in this book is happening today beat for beat, bar for bar. even down to the land grabs, US vetoes at the UN, younger jewish people disowning israel, the tunnels (!!!), goals of eliminating hamas entirely, claiming criticisms as antisemitic, etc etc.
it's truly astonishing how well documented all of this is for the past 48 years that even without changing their tactics, israel continues to get away with it. like just simply mind boggling, almost. although the whole point of this book is: duh, with US backing, they don't even have to pretend.
this book does sway you to hope that israel does become a pariah state and that US policy may shift eventually.
finally, i wonder what both of these men are thinking now and if they decided to do a third book following this devastating genocide i wonder if it'll read any differently from this one.
emotional
informative
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Racism, Murder
After reading this book and Gaza in Crisis before it (this book was written by the same authors after Gaza in Crisis, so technically a sequel), I genuinely feel that I now have a more informed foundation for whenever I hear discussion on Israel and the Palestinians. I'll probably read this book again on occasion and use it as reference material as needed.