Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict

Finkelstein argues that when the Zionist project was conceived, its only “strategic options” were apartheid and expulsion. “Zionists from early on were in fact bent on expelling [Arabs],” he writes. Arabs, naturally, resisted forceful expulsion. Transfer was regarded as an acceptable policy in the post-WWI years, legitimated by the history of colonization and the progress of civilization.

Some of the best material is in the 82 pages of footnotes, some of which are mini-essays. Finkelstein is an intense, demanding writer, but his tenaciousness and devotion to truth, on account of which he has paid a great price, inspire respect.

Norman Finkelstein has certainly exposed a rather impressive gathering of intellectual and scholarly frauds. This text provides informed interpretations of historical data, and political and ideological mechanisms of control and domination in the form of Zionism. Finkelstein particularly excels here in his dismantlement of Joan Peter's book, From Time Immemorial, a fraud of the highest order. Finkelstein continues to offer counter-arguments to historian Benny Morris' interpretations of data in the nature of the Palestinian expulsion. The book also offers a fairly comprehensive explanation of the current "peace" processes such as the Camp David meetings and the Oslo accords, although his constant drawing of comparisons to South African show more Apartheid can be wearying. I noticed a reviewer of this book argued that Finkelstein's scholarship was incorrect by claiming that Peter's conclusions were accurate based on the findings of other sources (the reviewer refused to name the source). He then went on to accuse Finkelstein of being a racist, as it is very convenient to do so. I request that that individual please be serious when talking about these issues, debate the scholarship but don't tell Finkelstein to shut up, he has a legitimate argument and it is grounded in politics and history, not anti-semitism. As long as people are incapable of, or perhaps unwilling to comprehend the notion that a group of people and their history and beliefs are not the same thing as the policies of the people's state, then the Middle East conflict will continue to be unresolved. show less

If you're interested in the politics of the Middle East, this book is worth reading. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Dr. Finkelstein, the case he makes is well researched, reasoned and worth the intellectual energy for either refutation or concurrence.

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