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Politicide: Ariel Sharon's War Against the Palestinians (Hardcover)

by Baruch Kimmerling (Author) "On February 6, 2001, Ariel Sharon won a direct election to become Prime Minister of Israel with an unprecedented 52 percent of the vote..." (more)
Key Phrases: guerilla organizations, peace camp, unity government, Ariel Sharon, Gaza Strip, Minister of Defense (more...)

3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
One of Israel's well-known leftist academics, Kimmerling trains his polemical sights here on Ariel Sharon. Israel's prime minister, he argues, is pursuing "politicide," which he defines as activities designed to "destroy the political national existence of a whole community of people and thus deny it the possibility of self-determination." This policy, Kimmerling says, has long been Sharon's goal, whether as a daring commander in retaliatory raids during the 1950s, in the 1982 Lebanon war or in his policies as prime minister. Sharon, he argues, is using the latest peace plan-the Bush administration-backed "road map"-as a pretext: he is counting on the Palestinians to give him an excuse to further his aims. The 1967 Six-Day War is the critical moment in Kimmerling's analysis. Israel's victory in that war gave it control over the West Bank and emboldened nationalists and messianists to blind themselves to the Palestinians and their fundamental rights. As a result, both sides have become locked into mindsets that preclude a satisfactory peace treaty. These sections are his most compelling: Kimmerling writes persuasively and well, although some may wonder why he looks at Sharon with a much more jaundiced eye than at Yasser Arafat. But his analysis of Sharon's designs, while plausible, are less convincing, and his description of Sharon's regime as "semi-fascist" will antagonize many readers. Given the latest events surrounding the "road map," only time will tell whether Kimmerling's doomsday scenario-the destruction of both the Palestinians and the Israelis-will come true.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
A forceful and persuasive book. -- Peretz Kidron, Journal of Palestine Studies, Spring 2004

A wake-up call for the perpetually bogged-down state of affairs in the Middle East. -- Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2003

Recommended. -- D. Peretz, Choice, 27 February 2004

[A] brilliant and subtle thinker, who has made enormous contributions to the...understanding of Israeli politics and society. -- Roane Carey, editor of The New Intifada and The Other Israel

[Kimmerling] provides a clear and passionate description of Israel's dangers. -- Jerusalem Post, 13 February 2004

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Product Details

Hardcover: 234 pages
Publisher: Verso (July 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1859845177
ISBN-13: 978-1859845172
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,148,744 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
"On February 6, 2001, Ariel Sharon won a direct election to become Prime Minister of Israel with an unprecedented 52 percent of the vote." Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
guerilla organizations, peace camp, unity government

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ariel Sharon, Gaza Strip, Minister of Defense, Chief of Staff, Camp David, Menachem Begin, United States, Ben Eliezer, Gush Emunim, Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan, Oslo Accords, Land of Israel, East Jerusalem, Israeli Jews, Middle East, National Unity Government, Suez Canal, West Beirut, Bashir Gemayel, Ehud Barak, Golan Heights, Golda Meir, Holy Land, Kahan Commission

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 15 books:

The Palestinian People: A History by Baruch Kimmerling in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition by Yael Zerubavel in Back Matter
For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel by Ian S. Lustick in Back Matter
Under Siege (Powerlink Chronicles) by Josh McDowell in Back Matter
The Postzionism Debates: Knowledge and Power in Israeli Culture by Laurence J. Silberstein in Back Matter

See all 15 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

A History of the Modern Middle East by William L. Cleveland

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From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman

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The Gun and the Olive Branch by David Hirst

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The Truth About Camp David by Clayton E. Swisher

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

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3.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Succinct and well argued., July 2, 2006

By	William D. Aitken "'Salsa' Bill" (Streatham, London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Professor Baruch Kimmerling's essay on the failure of the Middle East peace process coins the term `politicide' to describe Israel's denial of the Palestinians' right to function as a social, political and economic entity. An unintended legacy of Ariel Sharon's Peronist-style authoritarian government, he maintains, is the victory of Hamas in the January 2006 elections to the Palestinian Authority Legislative Council. To all appearances the situation thus remains as deadlocked as ever. As an inevitable consequence of Israel's hard-line policy the PA Legislative Council is now dominated by a faction which in its turn endorses politicide, that of the Jewish state.

The very nature of the Zionist undertaking, according to Kimmerling, must logically entail the politicide of the Palestinian people. The democracy which Israel has evolved is, in fact, a `Herrenvolk' democracy; that is, existing for the benefit of a privileged caste lording it over a subject population. The chauvinism of Israel's leaders is all the more suspect for being religion-based. Kimmerling does not recognise the 2,000 year-old `exile' from the Holy Land as favouring the Zionist cause. Indeed, most of the Jewish people who fled the East European pogroms of 1880-81 entertained no concept of a Biblical homeland to which they should return, choosing instead to move westward. The rigid adherence to scriptural fiat is thus seen as a crime against reason. Those guilty of it include the Gush Emunim settler movement and an obnoxious Christian fundamentalist clique in America which brooks no criticism of Sharon and his ilk and holds that the post-`67 capture of Jewish holy places by Israel was divinely ordained.

The narrative is organised around three landmark events, according to the author's interpretation, in the history of Israel's politicide against the indigenous Arab population. The first of these is the 1948 ethnic cleansing initiated by General Yigael Yadin's Plan B which advocated the destruction of Arab villages and the expulsion of their populations. Although formerly denied this is now recognised as historical fact. Kimmerling mentions Jewish revisionist historian Benny Morris who has demonstrated in his writings how the idea of population transfer figures largely in mainstream Zionist thinking, but he is criticised for failing to connect these ideas with the 1948 war. In fact Kimmerling's book predates an appalling interview (`Ha'aretz' January 2004) in which Morris admits the truth of the 1948 ethnic cleansing allegations made against Israel but insists that, in the interests of state-building, even the carnage of Deir Yassin was justified. `You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs', is his oft-quoted remark. Only a little less candid is Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon's description of the Palestinians as a `cancerous manifestation' for whom `chemotherapy' would be the appropriate remedy. He is possibly advocating their expulsion rather than actual physical annihilation, and Kimmerling notes that when public figures in Israel call for the enforced transfer of Arab communities as a plausible solution to the conflict few eyebrows are raised.

The second major episode dealt with is Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 when Sharon was Defence Minister. For an extended treatment of the tragic events Noam Chomsky's masterly, harrowing `Fateful Triangle' is highly recommended, but here Kimmerling is concise and to the point. Despite the Israeli cabinet agreeing a plan to allow the evacuation of the PLO, Sharon, hoping to destroy Arafat's organisation rather than allow it to leave, instigated a 7-hour assault on Beirut which resulted in 300 mostly civilian casualties. When the PLO finally did leave Sharon refused to grant Arafat's request that multinational forces be brought in to protect the Palestinian refugees from the revenge of the Lebanese Phalangist militias whose murderous reputation was well known. After the militias' entirely predictable genocidal rampage in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila the Kahan inquiry commission found Sharon `indirectly responsible' for the massacre. We are reminded of an earlier chapter in which Kimmerling discusses the behaviour of Sharon's 101 unit during its 1953 assault on the Palestinian village of Qibiya where houses were detonated with the inhabitants still inside. Members of the unit subsequently denied their commander's claim that he ordered them to evacuate all dwellings before commencing the attack. As for the Kahan commission's recommendations, these were not heeded to the letter. Although resigning as Defence Minister Sharon continued to hold public office and, of course, would later become Prime Minister. We may note, in passing, how this highlights the issue of public as opposed to private morality in different societies founded on the Western democratic model. Whereas here in the UK sexually indiscreet behaviour can rebound catastrophically on holders of public office, in `democratic' Israel collusion in mass murder has no such damaging effect on the political careers of those held responsible.

Thirdly, Operation Defensive Shield was undertaken after a sucide bomber claimed the lives of 29 people in the town of Netanya in March 2002, although the operation had in fact been pre-planned and only required a pretext for it to be carried out. The relevant chapter focuses on Israel's destruction of Palestinian radio and TV stations, databases, documents, water-treatment facilities, power-generating plants, clinics, schools and universities. According to the terms of Kimmerling's analysis all this constituted a `politicidal' act on the part of Israel under Sharon's Premiership because, in destroying infrastructure and civilian institutions, it went well beyond the stated aim of `wiping out the Palestinian terror network'. The various phases of Defensive Shield including the battle in Nablus, the Jenin events and Arafat's virtual `last stand' in the Ramallah compound are gone over briefly. Kimmerling also considers Israel's policy of so-called targeted killings, not so finely targeted that they avoid civilian casualties and, significantly, even some members of the Israeli public now openly condemn such actions as war crimes. As a reminder of the first major incident of `politicide' discussed earlier there is a quote from a `Ha'aretz' magazine interview in which Sharon states that the 1948 war was `just one chapter' in the `War of Independence' which has yet to be concluded. Ever the discreet tactician Sharon does not elaborate but, given the events of that fateful year which have since come to light the implications are, to put it mildly, sinister.

This is not so much a biography of Ariel Sharon as a condensed history of the Middle East conflict, but Kimmerling's compelling and lucid account considers the salient points of Sharon's career and his role in several key events. Running to a concise 230 pages it will serve as an easily digestible, though challenging, antidote to the public image of its subject fostered by George W Bush's anodyne `man of peace' rhetoric. Finally, it should be emphasised that the author is clearly a man of compassion and, as such, quite undeserving of the cliched `self-hating Jew' brickbat which will inevitably be thrown at him by his least perceptive critics. Rather than end on a gloomy note he discerns the beginnings of an understanding on both sides that painful compromises will have to be made, something which, in the light of current events (June/July 2006), unfortunately does not seem imminent.

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19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to expel Palestinians: programs for an ethnic cleansing, May 3, 2004

By	Paola Canarutto (Torino Italy) - See all my reviews

This is a good book. It's not a perfect one - because, focussed as it is on the blaming of Sharon, it often forgets what the Israeli Labour party was able to do against Palestinians when it was its turn to hold power.
But this book is a timely one. Already in 2003, Baruch Kimmerling was able to point out to the risk that, should Sharon go on unhampered, he can reach his next objective: the expulsion of Palestinians from the land they live on. This can be obtained not only "by the sword", but by making their life impossible. And this is exactly what's happening: at the beginning of April, UNRWA had to stop the feeding of Gaza strip, because Israel had been successful in blocking its activities. Secondly, this book is prophetic for another reason: because it signalled that what Sharon wished to build up was a Palestinian "state" made up of non-communicating encalves. This is the project Bush signed, not many days ago. And the risk is that Palestinians, since this is a plan that none of them can approve, carry out other suicide bombers - alienating more and more the Israeli opposition, and intellectual public opinion overseas, away from them. The day public opinion only sees the suffering of Israeli civilians, and forgets about Palestinian deaths and hunger - the moment public opinion turns a blind eye on them - Sharon can do what he wishes
This is what we can read quite at the end of the book (p. 211): "All of these conditions are, according to Sharon, designed to lower Palestinian expectations crush their resistance, isolate them, make them submit to any arrangement suggested by the Israelis, and eventually cause their "voluntary" mass emigration from the land". So, Sharon's plans, and the way he wants to implement them, must be fully known; and this book must be read and widely distributed

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for American public and politicians, July 8, 2006

By	E. Rodin MD (Sandy, UT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Politicide: The Real Legacy of Ariel Sharon (Paperback)

Professor Kimmerling's book is an important contribution to the understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian war and should be read by everyone who is concerned about the future of our country. America's Middle East policy is at this time not evenhanded but clearly favors Israel's wishes over those of other countries in the region. Since Kimmerling documents the oppressive policies of Israel toward its conquered Palestinian population Americans need to read this book which presents the proverbial other side of the coin.
This is especially topical now when guns are blazing again in Gaza and Israel uses the pretext of freeing a kidnapped soldier to punish the Palestinian people for democratically electing a Hamas led government. The current situation clearly proves Kimmerling's point, that a viable Palestinian state will not be tolerated by Israel's government.
The book discusses the "pre-emptive" 1967 war which led to the Yom Kippur war and the ill advised invasion of Lebanon for which Sharon was mainly responsible. He was also the main architect of the settlement program in the occupied territories which has now become a millstone around the neck not only of Israelis and Palestinians but also Americans because neither of the parties can see a just solution to this increasingly vexing problem. Kimmerling's excerpts from "Machsomwatch," which detail the conditions Palestinians are forced to live under are especially poignant.
When one reads this book it becomes clear why the rest of the world does not trust America at this time and only when America will begin to support, instead of vetoing, resolutions in the UN which demand an end to Israel's current practices will there be a semblance of hope for peace.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Not too 'left', and left too much.
That an Archameadean point which makes an objective reality possible does not exist means simply that all we know is based on our perceptions, that nothing exists 'out there'... Read more

Published on October 11, 2006 by Abdul

3.0 out of 5 stars Tragically out of date
This book is very out of date. It was written as a polemic against Ariel Sharon in 2003 when he was busy smashing the Intifada in Operation Defensive Shield. Read more

Published on May 9, 2006 by Seth J. Frantzman

1.0 out of 5 stars Propaganda and anti- Semitic mythmaking - not history
This is a work of propaganda and anti- Semitic mythmaking, and not what it pretends to be a history of Ariel Sharon's relation to the Palestinian Arabs. Read more

Published on October 9, 2005 by Shalom Freedman

1.0 out of 5 stars Nonsense
Ariel Sharon has been responsible for evicting all the Jews from Yamit. Now he's declared that he'll evict all the Jews from the Gaza strip. Read more

Published on September 26, 2004 by Jill Malter

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb study of Sharon's fascistic policies
In this extremely useful book, the Israeli historian Baruch Kimmerling shows how the Sharon government is committing politicide by destroying the Palestinian public sphere,... Read more

Published on August 26, 2004 by William Podmore

5.0 out of 5 stars A portrait of a man and the Israeli Right
Politicide by Kimmerling, is in many ways remarkable as both Israeli historiography and as an Israeli political event: this detailed history by an internationally known member... Read more

Published on January 3, 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Politicide: The Cure for Insomnia
_Politicide: Ariel Sharon's War Against the Palestinians_ by the Israeli scholar Baruch Kimmerling is about the questionable career of Israel's current prime minister. Read more

Published on November 4, 2003 by zonaras

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough, tough topic but mr kimmerling takes it on
I just hope the typical name calling bunch -- anti-semite, anti-semite -- won't rear they're ugly heads for this brave book. Read more

Published on July 16, 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Ariel Sharon and the Palestinians.
_Politicide_ by Baruch Kimmerling is a highly controversial work dealing with the politically charged conflict in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians. Read more

Published on July 15, 2003 by New Age of Barbarism

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent and Important Work
This is a very well written analysis of the career of Ariel Sharon & modern Israeli-Palestinian history. Read more

Published on June 24, 2003

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