Josef Avesar
5.0 out of 5 stars Common Sense, Great Virtue,March 3, 2012
This is a *very* nice book, easy to read, well-ordered, full of common sense and a totally righteous contribution. The sadness is that there is nothing rational about how the Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs, and intervening (or abdicating) great powers are approaching the entire matter. The best book on the insanity of the artificial boundaries creating by Western colonialism / imperialism remains The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State.
I have an inherent sympathy toward the Palestinians, being genocided day by day by an out of control Israeli government that does not, in my own experience, truly represent the majority of the Jewish people. Just as we have a two-party tyranny in the USA that has sold us all out to the banks while excluding Independents and third parties (Constitution, Green, Libertarian, Reform) from the entire process, Israel appears to be under the control of a minority that has lost its mind and become all that they claim to abhor.
The book is noteworthy for presenting, in addition to its own arguments, the full gamut of alternative views and opposing points of view. In other words, this book has integrity.
I do not see this book — or the problem it confronts — being solved in my lifetime for the simple reason that corruption characterizes all but a few governments, and war is a racket — a means of profiteering. What is being done to the Palestinians is profitable for the few who control the agenda. I fully expect some form of neutron bomb or special gas poisoning of Palestine to occur one day, to be rapidly “covered up” as a fatal epidemic — the word Henry Kissinger likes to use is “eugenics.” The formal policy term is “Forced Population Reduction.”
As I look back at the history of the land, see for instance Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts, 3rd Edition, it is clear the Palestinians merit half of Israel including full access to the sea. It is equally clear that Israel will never agree to this while it has the arms and the financial support from the USA.
It pains me to contemplate this, but I fear that the common sense and virtue of this book will be sidelined. There is no hope for any of the parties in the near term.
See Also:
War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier
Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict
Poets For Palestine
