Starred review from May 15, 2024
A Palestinian lawyer and writer contextualizes Israel's occupation of Palestine. Decades after Israeli forces displaced his family from their ancestral home in Jaffa, Shehadeh, author of Occupation Diaries, Where the Line Is Drawn, and other acclaimed books, asks fundamental questions: Why haven't Israelis and Palestinians ended their conflict peacefully? Why has the global community allowed Israeli occupation to continue? How will the "terrible human toll" in the current conflict affect the world's opinion of Israel? The author seeks answers in the tales Israelis tell about their country's origins. In 1948, for example, the invasion the Palestinians call the Nakba ("catastrophe") is known in Israel as the "war of independence." Shehadeh claims that this terminology allows Israel to justify the idea that its establishment allowed Jews to return to a biblical homeland and to erase the reality of the Israeli government as a colonizing force. "The conceit goes that prior to the 'return' of the exiled Jews, there was a land devoid of people," he writes. This elimination of the Palestinian people continues through the international decision to deny Palestinians refugee status, while the false decolonization narrative allows the world to ignore problematic Israeli history--e.g., former Ariel Sharon's open admiration for South African apartheid and Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to build a fence along the Gazan border, saying, "In the area that we live in, we must defend ourselves against the wild beasts." The author leaves his final question about the future of Palestine unanswered, and he ends with a quote from poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in late 2023. Shehadeh's clarity of thought, conversational voice, and sharp analysis render this book a quick, fascinating read, and his passion for his people and their plight infuse the book with exactly the right pace and tone. A concise, essential history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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June 28, 2024
Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist Shehadeh (We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I) argues that Palestinians have not successfully told their stories about events for over a century, starting with the Balfour Declaration in 1917. He poses two questions: why hasn't the Israeli government worked to usher in a lasting peace, and why do many encourage a two-state solution but do nothing to help it come to fruition? He asserts that Israel refuses to recognize Palestine and its people as a nation and successfully wages public battles that undermine both perception and memory. He also alleges that Western media doesn't adequately acknowledge or accurately depict the Palestinian narrative about current events. The book points fingers at the U.S. for sending arms and other materials to support Israel's military despite the International Court of Justice charging Israel with repeatedly violating international law. VERDICT This short, personal volume gives historical and political context to Israeli and Palestinian relations, but only from the perspective of a Palestinian writer. A hard-hitting and necessary conversation.--Sandra Collins
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