Palestine, mon amour

by Alfredo M. Bonanno

No one can understand what is happening in the land of Palestine, not even those who have followed the bloody course of events involving the people who have lived there for so long. They face each other with hatred and suspicion, not just men and women, children and old people, but the very dust of the roads and the mud that covers them on rainy days, the asphyxiating heat and the stench of the sultriness.

There is no prospect of peace in sight. The ideal solution, at least as far as all those who have the freedom of peoples at heart can see, would be generalised insurrection. In other words, an intifada starting from the Israeli peopl, that is capable of destroying the institutions that govern them and of proposing peace based on collaboration and mutual respect with the Palestinian people directly, without intermediaries. But for the time being this perspective is only a dream.

We must prepare for the worst.

------------------------------------------

A large collection of short writings on the ever topical, and thorny topic of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. Originally published from 1988-1995, they are more meditations on the likes of Jewish identity, the role of the Kibbutz, and the need for an overall Israeli-Palestinian insurrection, than commentary on current events.

Genres: Nonfiction

78 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

Alfredo Maria Bonanno is a main theorist of contemporary insurrectionary anarchism who wrote essays such as Armed Joy (for which he was imprisoned for 18 months by the Italian government), The Anarchist Tension and others. He is an editor of Anarchismo Editions and many other publications, only some of which have been translated into English. He has been involved in the anarchist movement for over thirty years.

Reviews

[Susi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Martin Hare Michno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this at The Anarchist Library, and the author himself is an anarchist too. The book is pretty concise and made up of very short essays, but passionate. It's a good booklet to recommend to people interested in learning about Palestine and Israel. It was interesting to read an anarchist's perspective on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, as well as an anarchist critique of the Palestinian state (the PLO). I learnt some stuff I didn't know and it's important to remind ourselves of the things we already know.

If anyone's interested in reading this, you can get it for free at the link above or just Google search. The guy's an anarchist so it's copyleft. It's a good book to spread around campus too.
All in all, free Palestine.

[Dhwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a little while since I read something from a point of view different from my own. This collection of essays and pieces showed me why doing so is almost always eye-opening and thought provoking. The author passionately articulates his position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, making you think about why you accept and trust the structures that exist and continue to exist. Will definitely be coming back to these essays, especially "A strange idea", "No to the Palestinian State", "The horror of growing accustomed to horror", and "What is a Jew?".

"Good causes are not recognised. If you look them carefully in the face, they are no longer good. They suffocate with justification that had not been requested, they bed to stay on the surface, not to push the knife in, or cry."