This is the second book I’ve reviewed by Phyllis Bennis, and she uses answers to questions about an issue to present her views. The writing isn’t engaging, and the views are clearly anti-Israel and by extension anti-US, especially in regard to any of George W. Bush’s policies. However, there are many interesting tidbits of history.
 
I did find it somewhat disappointing that there is no discussion of Harry S. Truman’s pivotal role when the UN created the State of Israel. I lost track of the number of times it is mentioned that Israel’s occupation of Palestine violates international law and creates violence. The Palestinians in Israel are citizens, can vote and several Palestinians serve in the Knesset, or parliament. However, the Palestinians are dominantly second class citizens living mostly unemployed and in poverty.

Palestine became part of the British Empire after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Britain was weakened by World War II and pulled back from Israel after the 1947 UN Partition Agreement that designated 55 percent for a Jewish state and 45 percent for a Palestinian Arab state. Jerusalem was to be left as a separate body under International control. The United States moved into the breach when the British pulled back. Israel took over the West Bank, Gaza, and the last of historic Palestine after the 1967 war. Israel had been giving the green light by President Johnson for that war. The areas taken are called the occupied territories. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but controls the lives of residents. There are about a million Palestinians living in the occupied territories with millions more as refugees in neighboring countries. General Sharon was elected prime minister in 2001 and created the “Jordan is Palestine” campaign in 2002.

There are interesting discussions of the Jewish people who make up 80 percent of the population of Israel. About half arrived from Europe, and many of the earlier settlers were Jews who escaped pogroms in czarist Russia. The other half is called the Mizrahi Jews who arrived from diverse origins in Africa, Asia, Spain, and Latin America. Most of this group emigrated from Arab countries.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization or PLO was formed in 1964. Yasir (or Yasser) Arafat untied several factions to become the leader in 1968. The UN recognized the PLO as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian People” in 1974. The PLO was invited to participate as an observer within the General Assembly. The PLO drafted a “two-state solution” in 1976 that was put before the Security Council. The US vetoed and the resolution. The PLO was significantly weakened by their decision to side with Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Oil-rich Arab countries that had bankrolled them withdrew their support and Palestinians were expelled from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Gulf states. There were secret negotiations between the Israelis and PLO in 1993 that led to the famous handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat presided over by President Clinton. The Oslo peace process established the Palestinian Authority (PA), a quasi-governmental body with limited authority.

The intifada or uprising began in 2000 saw resistance in the form of suicide bombers. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. The al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade linked to the Fatah organization led by Yasir Arafat began a suicide bombing campaign. Most were in public places such as cafes when. Israel responded by beginning construction of a 24-foot high wall in the western sector of the West Bank. The International Court of Justice ruled the wall to be illegal. The author names some dignitaries who have described Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians as “Apartheid,” which was the Afrikaans word for “apartness” or “separate.” Arafat died in 2004, and with him died much of the Palestinian national identity.

The book has little if anything good to say about George W. Bush. The “illegality of the Iraq war” and the negative effect on the entire region is mentioned. Bush also accepted Sharon’s plan to annex the West Bank settlement blocs and repudiate the Palestinian right of return, which the author judges banished the possibility of a solution to the Palestinian—Israeli conflict.

There is an interesting history of Hamas, which is a Palestinian Islamist and nationalist organization. It was basically a Muslim Brotherhood organization that was created in Gaza in 1987 and was soon seen as a competitor of the PLO. It gained support by establishing a network of social welfare agencies including schools, clinics, hospitals, and mosques that provided services to Palestinians. Hamas also targeted Israel for suicide bombings, and Israel has targeted many Hamas leaders for assassination. The author writes that the huge turnout for Hamas in the 2006 election was created by frustration with the status quo and “…was not really a statement of an Islamist social agenda…” Sanctions imposed by the U.S. created a dramatic decline in the already dangerous humanitarian crises. Non-political civilians were and are paying the price for the conflict. The conflict spread to include the Hezbollah in Lebanon with Israel destroying infrastructure and hunting enemy soldiers while Hezbollah began indiscriminate rocket attacks into Israel.

The U.S. has long welcomed Israel as a valued ally in the Middle East, and supports that country with financial, military, and diplomatic aid. Israel is said to receive 25 percent of the entire U.S. foreign aid budget. Israel receives about $4 billion in aid from the U.S. government and another $5 billion in tax-exempt contributions from private citizens. The U.S. has used the veto power in the UN to protect Israel on numerous occasions. Israel is referred to as the “fifty-first state.”

A peace conference to resolve the Palestinian issue was convened in Madrid in 1991 under joint U.S. and Soviet invitation. However, the U.S. was in charge as the Soviet Union was about to collapse. President George H. W. Bush proposed a plan close to the Oslo formula. The negotiations that plodded along for months and years made little if any progress. The process went on into the Clinton administration, and Secretary of State Warren Christopher accepted Israel’s positions.

The lack of a solution is discussed in the later parts of the book. The author believes a comprehensive peace plan would include establishing equal states for Israel and Palestine and include recognition of the right of Palestinians to return to their homes. The Zionist political movement was established to call for creation of a Jewish State. The Zionist slogan was, “a land without a people for a people without a land.” Adherence to the idea that Palestine was “a land without a people” continues to be accepted by Israel. They therefore have refused to agree that the Palestinians are entitled to any of the land now occupied.

In answer to the question of whether a Palestinian state would be a threat to Israeli security, it is mentioned that Israel has at least 200 nuclear weapons at Dimona in the Negev desert and that it has refused to be a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). There is no discussion of how nuclear weapons could be used in a conflict within the borders of Israel.