From Camp David to Cast Lead

The issue of Palestine has been on the priority list of the United Nations as an unresolved and perpetual dispute since the unjust creation of Israel on 14 May 1948, the day which is still commemorated as Nakbah by the Palestinians. Since then many wars have been imposed by Israel on the Palestinians and neighbor- ing countries, which have claimed thousands of lives, maimed hundreds and destroyed properties worth billions. Israel’s justification is that she is fighting for its survival among hostile Arab nations. The unconditional and unrelenting support to Israel by the Super Powers during and after the Cold War has encouraged it to commit more aggression with impunity. Despite the hue and cry of Human Rights activists, UN resolutions and international condemnation, Israel continues to behave as it has always done since its creation.

The book under review is a compilation of essays on the Israel-Palestine conflict, why peace is still a casualty, and why reconciliation efforts are bringing no respite especially in the last decade. The book is edited by a young scholar Daanish Faruqi who, in his introduction to the collection, states that ‘the idea of a bi-national State shared by Israelis and Palestinians, previously considered sacrilegious in public discourse, is now garnering renewed interest’. In describing the purpose of the book, he writes, ‘its [the book’s] purpose is to address the limitations of conventional discourse towards this conflict which the rapidly shifting political dynamics of the past decade have made unabashedly apparent’. This purpose runs through all the essays of the book.