Ali Abunimah

If one is interested in understanding the current BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) campaign being waged in the United States and Europe contra Israeli polices vis-à-vis the Palestinian people, this book is a must read. Ali Abunimah is one of the leaders of the BDS movement and the founder of the Electronic Intifada. In this book he devotes chapters to the relationship of various repressive practices in the United States and their relationship to Israeli policy, the implications of a "Jewish" state for those who are not Jewish, the implications of a one state solution for Israeli citizens in the light of what has happened in South Africa and in Northern Ireland, the economics being implemented in the West Bank by Israel and its Palestinian collaborators, how Israel and its supporters are reacting to and attempting to repress the BDS movement, how the battle for and against the BDS movement is being waged on America's campuses and how the principle of "self-determination relates to this whole issue.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace describes this book as paying "scrupulous attention to documentation and detail. Critiques of the BDS movement charge that it is an attempt to "delegitimize" the state of Israel. Abunimah joins others in asserting that Israel can be a genuinely democratic state or it can be a Jewish state. But as it slowly but surely absorbs all of Palestine, it is becoming increasingly clear that it cannot be both.… (más)

A must-read book for anyone interested in understanding the structures of injustice in Palestine today and how people are organizing to overcome them. Includes a comprehensive analysis of the neoliberalization of the Palestinian economy under occupation and much discussion of Israel and its apologists' attempts to undermine the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement which is creating a cost for the occupation and holding the state and its abettors to account. This book is as much about structures of injustice in the US as it is about Palestine and it's necessary analysis for those working in support of Palestinian rights in the US; we cannot build a broader movement unless we understand and push back against oppression here, too.… (más)

This book came to my attention when I read a review as I had myself as an armchair analyst came to the same conclusion proposed in the book, namely that the only possible peaceful solution is a united nation where Jews and Arabs live together.

One of the reasons I thought this was having spent part of my childhood living in Brussels and learning how a bilingual bicultural country learns to make peace with each other. I was surprised to read the author had done exactly the same thing.

It is still a brave perspective to put forward that Palestinians and Israelis need to learn to live together and yet it is the only sane solution. This book sets out the reasoning for this, referring to the long and complex history whilst leaving much of the complications out of discussion.

It's a straightforward and very accessible read that deserves wider publicity.… (más)