The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid [Paperback]

Roane Carey (Author), Noam Chomsky (Author), Gila Svirsky (Author), Alison Weir (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

Introduced by Noam Chomsky, an outstanding set of essays about the horrific, dystopian tragedy that the Israel-Palestine conflict remains.

Frustrated by the failure of the peace process to end the Israeli occupation, and outraged by Ariel Sharon's invasion, with one thousand armed guards, of the Al-Aqsa holy site in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian population of Israel and the Occupied Territories rose up in September 2000. A new intifada has raged ever since.

In these pages, a group of writers and analysts, many of them directly involved in the conflict, trace the origins of the uprising, its consequences for the Palestinian people and the Israeli state, and its likely impact on the future of peace in the Middle East. They discuss the role of the United States in the conflict, pick apart the fraudulence of the Oslo accords, examine the brutal response of the Barak and Sharon governments, and critically appraise the strategy of the Palestinian leadership. In addition, several contributors provide eloquent first-hand reports from the front-line of the intifada—from the streets of Jerusalem and Gaza, to refugee camps in Lebanon and schools on the West Bank. Photographs provide searing testimony to the heroism and costs of the resistance. Maps illustrate the stranglehold Israel continues to exert over the Palestinian territories. The case for an international grassroots movement in support of Palestinian rights is made with urgency and persuasive clarity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Even as the latest unrest in the Middle East passes its one-year anniversary, the war of words continues as well. As the South African comparison in the subtitle makes clear, the essays in this book (edited by the Nation's copy chief Carey), written mainly by journalists and activists, mostly but not all Palestinian, take an unabashedly pro-Palestinian (and largely anti-Israeli and anti-U.S.) perspective. Articles address the outbreak of the violence last fall, the history of the now-moribund Oslo peace accords and the "U.S. media bias" against the Palestinians, among other topics. Palestinian terrorism is explained as the only resort of a powerless population, while in one instance former U.S. officials are referred to as "Israel lobbyists." While the articles are expressly written to increase sympathy for the Palestinians, the careful reader can discover some nuances: in some essays, the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Yassir Arafat, are defended as having done all they could for peace; while in other pieces, the P.A. is charged with corruption and authoritarianism. Taken together, the essays boil down to one argument: the U.S. and Israel have been the main obstacles to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. As well-known intellectual and activist Chomsky writes in his introduction: "the United States and Israel have labored for thirty years to construct a system of permanent neo-colonial dependency." If this one-sided collection is any indication, there appears to be little hope of jump-starting the Middle East peace process any time soon. Photos and maps. (Oct.)Forecast: The tragedy at the World Trade Center will make most readers shudder at any attempt to justify terrorism which may cut into the book's already limited audience of confirmed leftists and perhaps the curious looking for an alternative view of the Middle East.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This is a timely story of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the Palestinian uprising that began after the current Israeli prime minister's controversial visit to the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount in September 2000. Edited by Nation copy chief Carey, the book tells a compelling story of repression and resistance and of the triumphs and tragedies of ordinary Palestinians with extraordinary resolve to bring dignity to their daily lives. Contributors to this volume include distinguished activist academics, such as Edward Said and Noam Chomsky, as well as a number of other writers with a long history of either academic, journalistic, or activist involvement in Middle Eastern affairs, such as Robert Fisk, Sara Roy, and Azim Bishara. Although supportive of the plight of the Palestinians, the essays in this volume provide critical analyses of the Palestinian leadership and its tactics and strategies in the conflict. Vivid photographs and a very useful resource guide are also included. A balanced and up-to-date picture for today's world; highly recommended for academic and public libraries. Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, AL Psychology Cohn, Sanford J. & Barbara A. Kerr.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Verso (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859843778
• ISBN-13: 978-1859843772
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,834,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

164 of 202 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars an extremely valuable work November 23, 2001

By sober

Format:Paperback

(...) This book is specifically designed to address very topical issues, such as: the causes of the latest uprising against Israeli occupation, what the situation in Palestinian land has been since the uprising began, whether or not the American media has been objective in its reporting of events, what actually happened during the negotiations between Barak and Arafat at Camp David, etc. Detailed maps of what exactly was offered at Camp David are provided - something that you never see in the general, mainstream media.

Why do I give this book five stars? Because it reveals many things that it is simply not possible to learn from reading the NY Times, Washington Post, etc., and because it is very well presented - both well argued and complete. The descriptions of what life is like in the occupied territories is quite stunning, not at all what I was expecting. It is also quite shocking to see what it is that was offered by Barak at Camp David - and what the media so gratiously refer to as a "generous offer." It may very well have been the best offer ever, but it was still a far cry from adequate - a literal swiss cheese, full of holes. And on that point, there are some very objective and scientific studies that explain why it is that so many people refer to the American media as biased.

The arguments made are very strong and very convincing. The book brings together writers of varied backgrounds - Jews, Arabs, and westerners. It may not as some people have correctly pointed out be a complete account of what the entire history of this very old conflict, but that wasn't the point of this book. Its purpose is to address the New Intifada, and it does it extremely well.

102 of 127 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable December 31, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

As this book succesfully demonstrates: Israel's treatment of the Palestinians has always presented a moral problem to the West, as that treatment has violated every law and moral standard on the books. Some 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes in 1948-1949, and since then scores of thousands more have been pushed out by force, their houses demolished or taken over by Israeli Jews (not Israeli Arabs). Under the supposed "peace process" following the signing of the Oslo Agreement in September 1993, a UN Special Report of November 13, 2000, says that "In the past seven years...Israel's confiscation of Palestinian land and construction of settlements and bypass roads for Jewish settlers has accelerated dramatically in breach of Security Council Resolution 242 and of provisions of the Oslo agreements requiring both parties to respect 'the territorial integrity and unity of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.' Since 1993 the settler population in the West Bank and Gaza has doubled to 200,000 and increased to 170,000 in East Jerusalem." The report also describes and condemns the demolitions of Palestinian houses, the diversion of water to Israeli cities and settlements, the policy of closures that has damaged Palestinian social and economic life, and the "widespread violation of their [Palestinian] economic, social and cultural rights" both within Israel and in the occupied territories. It also assails Israel's use of excessive force against Palestinians and hundreds of Intifada killings, "most of them unarmed demonstrators."

The settlements have been made in territory outside of Israel, technically "occupied" by Israel and subject to international law that clearly prohibits dispossession and settlement by the "belligerent occupying power" (the Palestinians are "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949; violations of that Convention, including dispossession and settlements, are "war crimes"). This systematic violation of international law has been going on for several decades, just as the creation of new "facts on the ground" in brazen violation of Article 31(7) of Oslo has proceeded since 1993, but as the United States does not object, and in fact has supported these law and agreement violations by massive economic and military aid, and by vetoing any hostile UN actions (it has used the veto an estimated 60 times to give Israeli ethnic cleansing and law violations free play), international law is inoperative.

90 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Important source of Information not found in mainstream medi May 9, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

As an American citizen who has been living in Israel since before the 2nd Intifada began, I found this book to be both accurate and insightful. Probably the most important information to be found in this book is the actual maps used in the various Oslo Peace agreements, from Camp David to Taba. These are the maps never shown to either the US or Israeli public. The maps of the "generous" land offers given to the Palestinians. The maps by themselves explain why Arafat had to reject the offer and why the Israeli occupation of Palestine is referred to as apartheid. In addition, other details that were never fully disclosed in the general public include continued full Israeli control over water resources, electric and phone service, and economic expansion. Settlements were to remain along with the system of newly constructed highways (off-limits to Palestinians) which connect the settlements and completely surround all Palestinian controlled areas.

My only disappointment with the book is that I thought there could have been more about the Arab citizens living in Israel. There is one interview with Azmi Bishara, the Arab Knesset MK who is facing trial for exercising his freedom of speech, yet a lot has happened inside Israel since the 2nd Intifada began. The 2nd Intifada has significantly affected relations between Arabs and Jews living inside Israel. It has directly affected unemployment among Arabs and detrimentally affected the economic conditions in Arab Israeli towns and villages. I would have liked to see more about how nothing has happened to the police who killed 13 Arab citizens and wounded hundreds during demonstrations. How hundreds of Arabs were put in jail, including many kids as young as 14, and held without charges while very few Jews were put in jail for firebombing mosques, throwing rocks, and beating Arabs. It would be enlightening, at least for American readers, to see how "democracy" in Israel really works depending on whether you are Jewish or Arab.