Understanding Palestine & Israel - Paperback

by Phyllis Bennis (Author), Omar Baddar (Foreword by)

All the questions you've been wondering about--up to and including Israel's war on Gaza and the election of Donald Trump.

People across the US watched in horror as Israel responded to the terrible acts of October 7, 2023 with a brutal war against the people of Gaza. They poured into the streets demanding Ceasefire Now--and protested the US government financing, arming, and protecting Israel's war. A key question was when to start the clock--because none of those events actually began on October 7; all had their origins in events 17, or 58, or 77 years earlier.

In straightforward, accessible language Phyllis Bennis takes on that question--and many more--providing answers to the queries so many never before had the chance to ask. What is the Balfour Declaration? What are the Occupied Territories? What is Zionism--and do all Jews support it? Does Israel have the right of self-defense? What were conditions like in Gaza before October 7?

Author Biography

Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, and Director of its New Internationalism Program. Her areas include U.S. unilateralism and empire, the Middle East (particularly Israel-Palestine and Iraq), and US-United Nations relations. She is the author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, Ending the Iraq War, Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the UN Defy US Power, Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN, and Before & After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the War on Terrorism. Bennis appears frequently as a commentator/analyst on U.S. and international television and radio programs, including "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS, the CBS "Morning Show," NPR's "Diane Rehm Show," and many others on CNN, BBC, Fox, CBC, and al-Jazeera TV. Her work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Christian Science Monitor, Le Monde Diplomatique (Paris), TomPaine.com, New York Newsday, The Philadelphia Enquirer, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Mother Jones, and many other publications.