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Deluge: Gaza and Israel from Crisis to Cataclysm
Why did Hamas attack? What is Israel trying to achieve? Did this catastrophe have to happen? And is there a way forward? The book’s expert contributors address these and other questions, which have never been more urgent.
In September 2023, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan boasted that the Middle East “is quieter today than it has been in two decades.” One week later, unprecedented violence in Gaza and Israel shattered the status quo and shocked the world.
Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Deluge punctured delusions of stability as hundreds of militants burst forth from the Gaza prison camp. In the ensuing carnage and firefights, 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds more taken hostage.
Israel’s retaliation turned the besieged enclave into a howling wasteland. Nearly 30,000 people were killed in four months, including more than 12,000 children, and over 60 percent of homes were damaged or destroyed. Israel targeted the wounded and infirm, newborns and near-dead, as Gaza’s healthcare system—hospitals, clinics, ambulances, medical personnel—came under a systematic attack unprecedented in the annals of modern warfare.
The Hamas massacre and the genocidal Israeli campaign which followed together mark a historic turning point in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The reverberations have also shaken politics far beyond, not least in Europe and the United States, where gigantic, round-the-clock protests for Palestinian rights pitted politicians against the public and exposed a growing statist authoritarianism.
In this groundbreaking book—the first published about the 2023 Gaza war—leading Palestinian, Israeli, and international authorities put these momentous developments in context and provide an initial taking-stock.
In September 2023, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan boasted that the Middle East “is quieter today than it has been in two decades.” One week later, unprecedented violence in Gaza and Israel shattered the status quo and shocked the world.
Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Deluge punctured delusions of stability as hundreds of militants burst forth from the Gaza prison camp. In the ensuing carnage and firefights, 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds more taken hostage.
Israel’s retaliation turned the besieged enclave into a howling wasteland. Nearly 30,000 people were killed in four months, including more than 12,000 children, and over 60 percent of homes were damaged or destroyed. Israel targeted the wounded and infirm, newborns and near-dead, as Gaza’s healthcare system—hospitals, clinics, ambulances, medical personnel—came under a systematic attack unprecedented in the annals of modern warfare.
The Hamas massacre and the genocidal Israeli campaign which followed together mark a historic turning point in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The reverberations have also shaken politics far beyond, not least in Europe and the United States, where gigantic, round-the-clock protests for Palestinian rights pitted politicians against the public and exposed a growing statist authoritarianism.
In this groundbreaking book—the first published about the 2023 Gaza war—leading Palestinian, Israeli, and international authorities put these momentous developments in context and provide an initial taking-stock.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 24, 2024
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May 3, 2024
75% of Gazans today “are refugees driven from their homes to make way for the state of Israel in 1948, and their descendants.” “By 2004, the head of Israel’s National Security Council could describe Gaza as ‘a huge concentration camp’.” A senior Israeli official said, “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not enough to make them die of hunger.” The newspaper the Economist called Gaza a “human rubbish heap”, the Haaretz editorial board called it a “ghetto” and not to be outdone, the International Committee of the Red Cross called it a “sinking ship.” An Israeli official said his mission in Gaza was “no development, no prosperity, only humanitarian dependency.” According to Hasbara, if you publicly object to any of this, you are an anti-Semite. Note also that half of Gazans are children who clearly weren’t of age to even vote for Hamas.
From Human Rights Watch in 2023: “In what might have been a first in the annals of modern warfare, Israeli forces systematically targeted hospitals as they ‘completely obliterated’ Gaza’s ‘healthcare infrastructure’. At the same time, Israel targeted water and sewage treatment facilities and employed ‘starvation of civilians as a method of warfare’ as it prevented deliveries of food, fuel, water, and medicines, and electricity to the battered enclave.” The global “99 percent saw in Gazans’ plight an extreme version of their own.”
2005 explained: “When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, it turned the tiny enclave into an open-air prison.” Reason 1 for withdrawing was Israel had decided “the price of occupying Gaza outstripped the benefits” thanks to Hamas attacks on settler’s and soldiers. “A second aim of the move (by Israel out of Gaza) was to sabotage the Oslo peace process.” Reason 3 for the move was that once the settlers have been moved, Israel immediately removed 1.4 million Gazans from its demographics so that its sham democracy looked better (for Jews) on paper. What happened to the settler’s houses? “The houses that were abandoned in Gaza were demolished by bulldozers in what amounted to a scorched earth policy.” Zionist trolls will never tell you that “in the year after withdrawing its 8,000 settlers from Gaza, the Likud government introduced 12,000 new settlers into the West Bank.” Oops… Zionist Divide & Conquer: “Denying access between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was a means of obstructing a unified Palestinian struggle for peace.” Reason 4 for Israel’s move was that “withdrawing from Gaza enabled the Israeli Air Force to bomb the territory at will, something they could not do when Israeli settlers lived there.”
When Israelis claim a right to self-defense, never mentioned is that it’s actually against a militarily occupied people Israel daily oppresses. Nor will Israelis ever mention that “under international law, self-defense does not apply if you are an illegal military occupier.” Or that Israel’s blockade is also “explicitly proscribed by international law.” Or that Israel’s illegal blockade is 17 years old. Or that Israel controls both Gazan imports AND exports so Palestinians can’t import basic stuff like wedding dresses, crayons, stationary, cilantro, fabrics, dried fruit, jam or toys. Sara Roy says, “The dire state of Gaza is not the result of objective conditions but of a deliberate Israeli policy of keeping it under-developed and dependent.” Sara calls it de-development.
Zionist Hasbara demands that the reasonable Palestinian demand of right of return in accordance with international law, be treated only as a code phrase for destroying the idea of Israel (a racist all-white Jim Crow state that demands South African apartheid mixed with a delicate mélange of settler-colonialism, ethnic cleansing, cluster munitions and a touch of the garlic fragrance of white phosphorus still burning through a Gazan child’s skin).
Hamas Uncomfortable Truths: “Hamas (actually) has a more impressive record of upholding ceasefires than Israel.” Human rights organizations can’t find evidence of Hamas using human shields (p.212), yet they found evidence “that Israeli forces used Palestinians as human shields” - and there are documented photographs of that. Zionist trolls love to focus you on the extreme wording of the original Hamas Charter of 1988, but never admit that that Hamas Charter was clearly replaced in 2006 by a very non-extremist one (that accepts Israel’s existence and asks for an independent Palestinian state along 1967 lines) or never admit that the Likud Charter STILL calls for “river to the sea” – apparently, it’s ONLY okay to call for “river to the sea” if you also claim to be personally chosen by God. Those Zionist trolls don’t want you to know that Hamas leaders have made it clear, “in countless statements that they would accept a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.”
Netanyahu: “The government formed by Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of 2022 was the most radical, right-wing, xenophobic, expansionist, overtly racist, and most incompetent government in Israel’s history.” If you are an Israeli presently fixated on Hamas, explain why your hero Netanyahu told his Likud colleagues in March 2019, “Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and TRANSFERRING money to Hamas.” The events of October 7th was not only an massive intelligence failure, but also a policy failure because Netanyahu had just told Israelis that Palestinians are finished and defeated. Arab countries don’t rush to officially support Palestinians because they like and need US support and trade – why would they want to draw the attention of a known bully? Netanyahu “knows that once the war with Hamas comes to an end, his days in office will be numbered” (because he faces three serious corruption charges and might end up in prison). Thus, “Politically speaking, Netanyahu looks like a dead man walking.” It is clear to the authors that Netanyahu’s plan to eradicate Hamas ain’t going to happen no matter how much Israeli Hasbara wishes it so because “Israel’s indiscriminate use of force, however, does not weaken Hamas; it strengthens it.” And it is common knowledge that while ISIS is jihadist, Hamas is not.
Pearls of Zionist Blatant Projection: “Today, many Israeli ministers depict the Palestinians as Nazis.” The Nazi plan was to soon get blatantly settler-colonial on the Slavs had WWII continued, and settler-colonialism has always been what Zionism is about, yet in Freudian projection here brutal settler-colonials calling those forced to live in their concentration camp Nazis. Imagine Colonel Klink calling Hogan a Nazi.
Unfairness: Since 1948, the US has used its veto thirty-four times to clearly favor Israel over the Palestinians. Israeli Department of Overkill: Israel erected an “underground barrier” that took years to complete between it and the Gaza Strip –2,000,000 cubic yards of energy intensive concrete “poured dozens of meters deep into the earth” – racists keeping non-whites away – the Defense Ministry said it was enough to build a road from Israel to Bulgaria.
Sara Roy Thesis: Gaza has been going through econocide: the wholesale destruction of the economy and its constituent parts. Destruction is the logical extension of de-development. “Without doubt, Gaza’s economy has been destroyed.” To this end, Israel’s Supreme Court approved fuel cuts and electricity cuts to Gaza. On October 7th, the unemployment rate in Gaza was 50% and 62% for young people. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister calls Palestinians “human animals” – but when you corner an “animal”, does it not fight back?
A former Israeli ambassador said many Israelis believe the “conflict can be managed forever” because the day-to-day oppression of the Palestinians is intentionally kept physically distant from Israelis - their economy is growing and Tel Aviv is booming - for them peace is simply no longer needed because they can’t hear the cries of the oppressed.
Mainstream media will never tell you that Hamas’s actual chairman Khalid Meshal declared in 2006 – “If Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, there could be peace and security in the region. If Israel recognizes our rights, and pledges to withdraw from all occupied lands, Hamas and the Palestinian people will decide to halt armed resistance.” Sounds reasonable – name one Zionist who would WANT to live under oppressive military occupation w/o rights, clean water, proper electricity, or employment. A 2009 US government study said Hamas had sent the US “repeated signals that it is ready to begin a process of co-existing with Israel.” A former head of Mossad said that Hamas and Mossad both know Hamas could never destroy Israel and that now he was seeing Hamas as wanting to dialogue with Israel. One author adds, “At no point in the past fifteen years have Israel and the United States ever so much as seriously considered testing Hamas’s offers to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict.”
Post 1967 War: “Preferring territorial expansion over peace, Israel pursued an ‘insatiable quest for Lebensraum’ in the occupied territories.” Israel begins building settlements even in 1967 and from Jordan “unlawfully annexed East Jerusalem in 1980.”
The number one rule of non-violent resistance is that it can’t work if it is misrepresented as violent – look at how the right tarred the BLM movement. Note that Israelis whine endlessly before the TV cameras about their need for self-defense yet no microphone gets pointed at besieged Gazans sharing the same need.
Since Israel aims for territory instead of peace, it is happy to silence the voice of moderate Palestinians because it knows the US is far more hesitant to deal with more extremist Palestinians. So what if the articulate moderates and their families are murdered, if you have increased the perception that the (remaining) Palestinians are unhinged terrorists who want to destroy you (by trying to make you accountable).
Amnesty international reported Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed civilians at non-threatening distances from security fences: “Israeli soldiers shot unarmed protesters, bystanders, journalists, and medical staff approximately 150-400 meters from the fence, where they did not pose a threat.” Al-Haq reported that the IDF targeted “unarmed civilians standing hundreds of meters away from the fence with high velocity weaponry.” B’Tselem found most Palestinians reported being hit when “not in the immediate vicinity of the fence”.
October 7th: Hamas didn’t attack w/o context - the people of Gaza had a long history of trying non-violent strategies that were only ignored by the US and Israel, like in 2018 when their non-violent movement for human rights was violently crushed. “The US and Israel had intentionally “strangled a nonviolent campaign for internationally recognized human rights as well as the US media.” On October 6th, it was clear to Palestinians that “no political concession would be rewarded, resistance in any form would be crushed, and the Palestinian cause was dead, as the world moved on.” When you are constricted, confined, and controlled, with no end in sight, you will push back, and may even, at times, lash out.” “And so, on October 7th, Hamas rolled the dice.” After October 7th, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “now we must be cruel, and not be overly concerned about the hostages.” After October 7th, Nissum Vaturi, a deputy speaker in the Knesset, said, “Erase Gaza, nothing else with satisfy us!” Really? Not even world domination? Or for you and your fellow Likuds to lose your entrenched male-patterned baldness?
The question West Bank Palestinians in 2024 should be asking now is “once Israel has annihilated the people in Gaza, who will it go after next?” “Israel will not (did not) seek to dominate Gaza to the same degree as the West Bank, because without settlements in Gaza, that level of control is not necessary.”
The famous Sharpsville Massacre in South Africa in 1960 killed 69 and injured 180; but Sharpsville created the anti-Apartheid movement. In contrast, on May 14th, 2023 (only months before October 7th) in a similar attack 60 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and a whopping 1,359 were injured. That Israel May 14th, 2023 Bloodbath didn’t lead to a global anti-Israeli apartheid movement - but it did lead to the October 7th Hamas attack. As did the fact that, “according to UN data, 237 Palestinians had been killed in the seven months leading up to October 7.” Yet Zionist Hasbara DEMANDS that you think October 7th happened in a total vacuum. Israeli response to the October 7th attack is called “Operation Swords of Iron”. That’s actually pretty funny because those of us versed in science know iron has a low carbon content which makes iron too soft for use as a sword. In fact, blades made of pure iron were pathetic as weapons, as iron is a ductile metal which means it bends easily and does not easily hold an edge. Major General Giora Eiland said the end goal of comically named Operation Swords of Iron is “to render Gaza an uninhabitable place, temporarily or permanently” and “Israel in this case cannot spare these civilians in Gaza.” Mmmm… Israeli Major Generals admitting to war crimes WHILE they are being committed – and if you worry these are all war crimes, then you must be a Jew hater. Isn’t name-calling fun?
Uncomfortable Truths: In 1936, Britain “brutally suppressed a Palestinian independence revolt.” Israel Defense Forces Major General (Ret.) Yitzhak Brick said, “All of our missiles…it’s all from the US. The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting.” The PLO ended up becoming “a de facto collaborator with the Israeli military occupation and an enabler of its apartheid regime.” “In 2022, Israelis elected their most right-wing government ever.” The primary goal of BDS is equality for all Israelis and Palestinians, including Palestinian refugees. Rather than acknowledge that Palestinians are fighting for their liberation (as all oppressed groups do), Israeli Hasbara distracts us by branding their movement as anti-Semitic and focused on harming Jews. Hasbara also insists (with zero evidence) that Hamas attacked people on October 7th only because they were Jewish. No - they only sought Israelis, because the majority of the world’s Jews in the diaspora choose the sacred Jewish values of Tikkun Olam, over settler-colonial & racist Zionism. Funny how con artists (even those personally chosen by God) love using that classic bait & switch (anti-Zionism suddenly means anti-Semitism, or hating Israel’s policies suddenly means you hate ALL Jews).
Columbia University recently suspended Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) on campus because of “safety” concerns – concern about the “safety” of Zionist contributions over teaching critical thinking in a free speech environment. And who knew the comfort level of those who approve of illegal oppression, is more important than the comfort level of those disapprove? When the US invaded Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, did the world hate ALL Americans or simply hate US foreign policy and our arrogance? When Hitler went on his invasion rampage and killing spree, did we blame the Nazis and their policies, or did the world just stubbornly hate ALL Germans? Yet Zionist Hasbara insists that if you want equal rights for Palestinians, or Israel’s present genocide to end, or for Israel to even follow international law and the sacred Jewish values of Tikkun Olam, then you must hate ALL Jews? And therefore, you MUST be anti-Semitic? If Zionists are doing their Hamas rant and you mention concern for Palestinians as well, they sometimes tell you this is “not a time for whataboutism.” I saw a well-respected leftish author pull that one publicly on Facebook back in October - and boy did she shut down the well-meaning conversation fast with that one! I picture a Nazi guard complaining about feeling really hungry and an Auschwitz inmate saying through the fence, “I haven’t eaten in days”, and the Nazi guard snarling back, “Enough with your whataboutism!”
If only Israel would say instead that it has a right to defend itself and then add “IN LINE WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW.” Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself against ANOTHER sovereign state that is attacking. But Gaza is NOT a sovereign state but is a territory occupied by Israel. Therefore, Israel cannot legally invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter. Thus, “Israel’s right of self-defense simply does not apply to the events of October 7.”
This book is truly Five Stars and the best (and still only) book about the events of October 7th and its aftermath. If you want to know what is going on right NOW in Israel – THIS is easily the best book to buy and read. This is the 33rd Israel/Palestine book I’ve read and reviewed since October 7th (of 76 chosen to read for my job) and I believe this book and “Palestine Unlocked” by Thomas Suarez are the two best I’ve reviewed so far. If you want to learn how before October 7th (and before Israel was created) how Zionists did more terrorist crimes than Hamas has done – then read “Palestine Unlocked” by Thomas Suarez. Anyway, the highest kudos to “Deluge”! This is an amazing 2024 book that everyone should read to put October 7th attack and its aftermath in context.
From Human Rights Watch in 2023: “In what might have been a first in the annals of modern warfare, Israeli forces systematically targeted hospitals as they ‘completely obliterated’ Gaza’s ‘healthcare infrastructure’. At the same time, Israel targeted water and sewage treatment facilities and employed ‘starvation of civilians as a method of warfare’ as it prevented deliveries of food, fuel, water, and medicines, and electricity to the battered enclave.” The global “99 percent saw in Gazans’ plight an extreme version of their own.”
2005 explained: “When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, it turned the tiny enclave into an open-air prison.” Reason 1 for withdrawing was Israel had decided “the price of occupying Gaza outstripped the benefits” thanks to Hamas attacks on settler’s and soldiers. “A second aim of the move (by Israel out of Gaza) was to sabotage the Oslo peace process.” Reason 3 for the move was that once the settlers have been moved, Israel immediately removed 1.4 million Gazans from its demographics so that its sham democracy looked better (for Jews) on paper. What happened to the settler’s houses? “The houses that were abandoned in Gaza were demolished by bulldozers in what amounted to a scorched earth policy.” Zionist trolls will never tell you that “in the year after withdrawing its 8,000 settlers from Gaza, the Likud government introduced 12,000 new settlers into the West Bank.” Oops… Zionist Divide & Conquer: “Denying access between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was a means of obstructing a unified Palestinian struggle for peace.” Reason 4 for Israel’s move was that “withdrawing from Gaza enabled the Israeli Air Force to bomb the territory at will, something they could not do when Israeli settlers lived there.”
When Israelis claim a right to self-defense, never mentioned is that it’s actually against a militarily occupied people Israel daily oppresses. Nor will Israelis ever mention that “under international law, self-defense does not apply if you are an illegal military occupier.” Or that Israel’s blockade is also “explicitly proscribed by international law.” Or that Israel’s illegal blockade is 17 years old. Or that Israel controls both Gazan imports AND exports so Palestinians can’t import basic stuff like wedding dresses, crayons, stationary, cilantro, fabrics, dried fruit, jam or toys. Sara Roy says, “The dire state of Gaza is not the result of objective conditions but of a deliberate Israeli policy of keeping it under-developed and dependent.” Sara calls it de-development.
Zionist Hasbara demands that the reasonable Palestinian demand of right of return in accordance with international law, be treated only as a code phrase for destroying the idea of Israel (a racist all-white Jim Crow state that demands South African apartheid mixed with a delicate mélange of settler-colonialism, ethnic cleansing, cluster munitions and a touch of the garlic fragrance of white phosphorus still burning through a Gazan child’s skin).
Hamas Uncomfortable Truths: “Hamas (actually) has a more impressive record of upholding ceasefires than Israel.” Human rights organizations can’t find evidence of Hamas using human shields (p.212), yet they found evidence “that Israeli forces used Palestinians as human shields” - and there are documented photographs of that. Zionist trolls love to focus you on the extreme wording of the original Hamas Charter of 1988, but never admit that that Hamas Charter was clearly replaced in 2006 by a very non-extremist one (that accepts Israel’s existence and asks for an independent Palestinian state along 1967 lines) or never admit that the Likud Charter STILL calls for “river to the sea” – apparently, it’s ONLY okay to call for “river to the sea” if you also claim to be personally chosen by God. Those Zionist trolls don’t want you to know that Hamas leaders have made it clear, “in countless statements that they would accept a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.”
Netanyahu: “The government formed by Benjamin Netanyahu at the end of 2022 was the most radical, right-wing, xenophobic, expansionist, overtly racist, and most incompetent government in Israel’s history.” If you are an Israeli presently fixated on Hamas, explain why your hero Netanyahu told his Likud colleagues in March 2019, “Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and TRANSFERRING money to Hamas.” The events of October 7th was not only an massive intelligence failure, but also a policy failure because Netanyahu had just told Israelis that Palestinians are finished and defeated. Arab countries don’t rush to officially support Palestinians because they like and need US support and trade – why would they want to draw the attention of a known bully? Netanyahu “knows that once the war with Hamas comes to an end, his days in office will be numbered” (because he faces three serious corruption charges and might end up in prison). Thus, “Politically speaking, Netanyahu looks like a dead man walking.” It is clear to the authors that Netanyahu’s plan to eradicate Hamas ain’t going to happen no matter how much Israeli Hasbara wishes it so because “Israel’s indiscriminate use of force, however, does not weaken Hamas; it strengthens it.” And it is common knowledge that while ISIS is jihadist, Hamas is not.
Pearls of Zionist Blatant Projection: “Today, many Israeli ministers depict the Palestinians as Nazis.” The Nazi plan was to soon get blatantly settler-colonial on the Slavs had WWII continued, and settler-colonialism has always been what Zionism is about, yet in Freudian projection here brutal settler-colonials calling those forced to live in their concentration camp Nazis. Imagine Colonel Klink calling Hogan a Nazi.
Unfairness: Since 1948, the US has used its veto thirty-four times to clearly favor Israel over the Palestinians. Israeli Department of Overkill: Israel erected an “underground barrier” that took years to complete between it and the Gaza Strip –2,000,000 cubic yards of energy intensive concrete “poured dozens of meters deep into the earth” – racists keeping non-whites away – the Defense Ministry said it was enough to build a road from Israel to Bulgaria.
Sara Roy Thesis: Gaza has been going through econocide: the wholesale destruction of the economy and its constituent parts. Destruction is the logical extension of de-development. “Without doubt, Gaza’s economy has been destroyed.” To this end, Israel’s Supreme Court approved fuel cuts and electricity cuts to Gaza. On October 7th, the unemployment rate in Gaza was 50% and 62% for young people. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister calls Palestinians “human animals” – but when you corner an “animal”, does it not fight back?
A former Israeli ambassador said many Israelis believe the “conflict can be managed forever” because the day-to-day oppression of the Palestinians is intentionally kept physically distant from Israelis - their economy is growing and Tel Aviv is booming - for them peace is simply no longer needed because they can’t hear the cries of the oppressed.
Mainstream media will never tell you that Hamas’s actual chairman Khalid Meshal declared in 2006 – “If Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, there could be peace and security in the region. If Israel recognizes our rights, and pledges to withdraw from all occupied lands, Hamas and the Palestinian people will decide to halt armed resistance.” Sounds reasonable – name one Zionist who would WANT to live under oppressive military occupation w/o rights, clean water, proper electricity, or employment. A 2009 US government study said Hamas had sent the US “repeated signals that it is ready to begin a process of co-existing with Israel.” A former head of Mossad said that Hamas and Mossad both know Hamas could never destroy Israel and that now he was seeing Hamas as wanting to dialogue with Israel. One author adds, “At no point in the past fifteen years have Israel and the United States ever so much as seriously considered testing Hamas’s offers to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict.”
Post 1967 War: “Preferring territorial expansion over peace, Israel pursued an ‘insatiable quest for Lebensraum’ in the occupied territories.” Israel begins building settlements even in 1967 and from Jordan “unlawfully annexed East Jerusalem in 1980.”
The number one rule of non-violent resistance is that it can’t work if it is misrepresented as violent – look at how the right tarred the BLM movement. Note that Israelis whine endlessly before the TV cameras about their need for self-defense yet no microphone gets pointed at besieged Gazans sharing the same need.
Since Israel aims for territory instead of peace, it is happy to silence the voice of moderate Palestinians because it knows the US is far more hesitant to deal with more extremist Palestinians. So what if the articulate moderates and their families are murdered, if you have increased the perception that the (remaining) Palestinians are unhinged terrorists who want to destroy you (by trying to make you accountable).
Amnesty international reported Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed civilians at non-threatening distances from security fences: “Israeli soldiers shot unarmed protesters, bystanders, journalists, and medical staff approximately 150-400 meters from the fence, where they did not pose a threat.” Al-Haq reported that the IDF targeted “unarmed civilians standing hundreds of meters away from the fence with high velocity weaponry.” B’Tselem found most Palestinians reported being hit when “not in the immediate vicinity of the fence”.
October 7th: Hamas didn’t attack w/o context - the people of Gaza had a long history of trying non-violent strategies that were only ignored by the US and Israel, like in 2018 when their non-violent movement for human rights was violently crushed. “The US and Israel had intentionally “strangled a nonviolent campaign for internationally recognized human rights as well as the US media.” On October 6th, it was clear to Palestinians that “no political concession would be rewarded, resistance in any form would be crushed, and the Palestinian cause was dead, as the world moved on.” When you are constricted, confined, and controlled, with no end in sight, you will push back, and may even, at times, lash out.” “And so, on October 7th, Hamas rolled the dice.” After October 7th, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, “now we must be cruel, and not be overly concerned about the hostages.” After October 7th, Nissum Vaturi, a deputy speaker in the Knesset, said, “Erase Gaza, nothing else with satisfy us!” Really? Not even world domination? Or for you and your fellow Likuds to lose your entrenched male-patterned baldness?
The question West Bank Palestinians in 2024 should be asking now is “once Israel has annihilated the people in Gaza, who will it go after next?” “Israel will not (did not) seek to dominate Gaza to the same degree as the West Bank, because without settlements in Gaza, that level of control is not necessary.”
The famous Sharpsville Massacre in South Africa in 1960 killed 69 and injured 180; but Sharpsville created the anti-Apartheid movement. In contrast, on May 14th, 2023 (only months before October 7th) in a similar attack 60 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and a whopping 1,359 were injured. That Israel May 14th, 2023 Bloodbath didn’t lead to a global anti-Israeli apartheid movement - but it did lead to the October 7th Hamas attack. As did the fact that, “according to UN data, 237 Palestinians had been killed in the seven months leading up to October 7.” Yet Zionist Hasbara DEMANDS that you think October 7th happened in a total vacuum. Israeli response to the October 7th attack is called “Operation Swords of Iron”. That’s actually pretty funny because those of us versed in science know iron has a low carbon content which makes iron too soft for use as a sword. In fact, blades made of pure iron were pathetic as weapons, as iron is a ductile metal which means it bends easily and does not easily hold an edge. Major General Giora Eiland said the end goal of comically named Operation Swords of Iron is “to render Gaza an uninhabitable place, temporarily or permanently” and “Israel in this case cannot spare these civilians in Gaza.” Mmmm… Israeli Major Generals admitting to war crimes WHILE they are being committed – and if you worry these are all war crimes, then you must be a Jew hater. Isn’t name-calling fun?
Uncomfortable Truths: In 1936, Britain “brutally suppressed a Palestinian independence revolt.” Israel Defense Forces Major General (Ret.) Yitzhak Brick said, “All of our missiles…it’s all from the US. The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting.” The PLO ended up becoming “a de facto collaborator with the Israeli military occupation and an enabler of its apartheid regime.” “In 2022, Israelis elected their most right-wing government ever.” The primary goal of BDS is equality for all Israelis and Palestinians, including Palestinian refugees. Rather than acknowledge that Palestinians are fighting for their liberation (as all oppressed groups do), Israeli Hasbara distracts us by branding their movement as anti-Semitic and focused on harming Jews. Hasbara also insists (with zero evidence) that Hamas attacked people on October 7th only because they were Jewish. No - they only sought Israelis, because the majority of the world’s Jews in the diaspora choose the sacred Jewish values of Tikkun Olam, over settler-colonial & racist Zionism. Funny how con artists (even those personally chosen by God) love using that classic bait & switch (anti-Zionism suddenly means anti-Semitism, or hating Israel’s policies suddenly means you hate ALL Jews).
Columbia University recently suspended Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) on campus because of “safety” concerns – concern about the “safety” of Zionist contributions over teaching critical thinking in a free speech environment. And who knew the comfort level of those who approve of illegal oppression, is more important than the comfort level of those disapprove? When the US invaded Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, did the world hate ALL Americans or simply hate US foreign policy and our arrogance? When Hitler went on his invasion rampage and killing spree, did we blame the Nazis and their policies, or did the world just stubbornly hate ALL Germans? Yet Zionist Hasbara insists that if you want equal rights for Palestinians, or Israel’s present genocide to end, or for Israel to even follow international law and the sacred Jewish values of Tikkun Olam, then you must hate ALL Jews? And therefore, you MUST be anti-Semitic? If Zionists are doing their Hamas rant and you mention concern for Palestinians as well, they sometimes tell you this is “not a time for whataboutism.” I saw a well-respected leftish author pull that one publicly on Facebook back in October - and boy did she shut down the well-meaning conversation fast with that one! I picture a Nazi guard complaining about feeling really hungry and an Auschwitz inmate saying through the fence, “I haven’t eaten in days”, and the Nazi guard snarling back, “Enough with your whataboutism!”
If only Israel would say instead that it has a right to defend itself and then add “IN LINE WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW.” Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself against ANOTHER sovereign state that is attacking. But Gaza is NOT a sovereign state but is a territory occupied by Israel. Therefore, Israel cannot legally invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter. Thus, “Israel’s right of self-defense simply does not apply to the events of October 7.”
This book is truly Five Stars and the best (and still only) book about the events of October 7th and its aftermath. If you want to know what is going on right NOW in Israel – THIS is easily the best book to buy and read. This is the 33rd Israel/Palestine book I’ve read and reviewed since October 7th (of 76 chosen to read for my job) and I believe this book and “Palestine Unlocked” by Thomas Suarez are the two best I’ve reviewed so far. If you want to learn how before October 7th (and before Israel was created) how Zionists did more terrorist crimes than Hamas has done – then read “Palestine Unlocked” by Thomas Suarez. Anyway, the highest kudos to “Deluge”! This is an amazing 2024 book that everyone should read to put October 7th attack and its aftermath in context.
April 20, 2024
Will be interesting to get the contributors' thoughts as new information about what exactly happened on October 7th comes to light - especially on Israel's "Hannibal Protocol", Hamas' official explanations of why they instigated their attack in the first place, the fact Netanyahu's regime may have known an attack was coming a year in advance... etc.
May 2, 2024
This is a collection of essays on the ongoing Gaza war. The focus is primarily on the historical context and geopolitics. A compelling case is presented that Hamas attempted a diplomatic resolution to the conflict at every step yet was rebuffed by Israel and the US. The Palestinians, abandoned internationally and in desperation, were forced to "[roll] the dice" (Khaled Hroub) and launch Operation Al-Aqsa flood on 7 October.
Much of the information presented may already be familiar to those intimately following the conflict from a pro-Palestinian perspective. The handful of more novel analyses discuss, for instance, the soft corruption in the EU being responsible for their pro-Israel stance, and explanations for the relative pacification of the West Bank.
The scope of this work is quite limited (as mentioned, it focuses chiefly on history and geopolitics). Furthermore, the contributions to the book were finalized in December 2023. I did sort of get the impression that they wanted to be the "first" to get a book out. Still, it's a great read.
Much of the information presented may already be familiar to those intimately following the conflict from a pro-Palestinian perspective. The handful of more novel analyses discuss, for instance, the soft corruption in the EU being responsible for their pro-Israel stance, and explanations for the relative pacification of the West Bank.
The scope of this work is quite limited (as mentioned, it focuses chiefly on history and geopolitics). Furthermore, the contributions to the book were finalized in December 2023. I did sort of get the impression that they wanted to be the "first" to get a book out. Still, it's a great read.
May 14, 2024
Extremely impressive collection of post-Oct. 7 essays.
The essays heavily lean pro-Palestine, but I think it’s a great one for pro-Israel folks to read because the authors present extensive support to back up their arguments.
My favorite essay focused on how the media parrots Israeli propaganda by blatantly mischaracterizing Hamas as not being interested in peace. To the contrary, the author provided thorough and uncontested proof that since 2005, Hamas has REPEATEDLY explicitly offered and accepted a two-state solution, including even after Oct. 7th. The author makes an incredibly convincing argument that Israel has engaged in bad faith by obfuscating and intentionally ignoring Hamas’s offers — which Israeli intelligence widely believes are legitimate serious offers — by engaging in what amounts to a technical trick: Israel says it won’t negotiate with Hamas unless Hamas unilaterally concedes certain terms as *PREconditions* for negotiation, even though Hamas is clearly willing to offer (and indeed has repeatedly offered) those *EXACT SAME TERMS* so long as the terms are conceded as part of a comprehensive settlement establishing a 2-state solution (as opposed to being unilaterally conceded as preconditions). This becomes even more damning as it becomes clear that Hamas’s refusal to unilaterally give up its only trump card in negotiations as a PREcondition is largely because the PLO has already doomed itself by making that very error. As part of the Oslo Accords, the PLO unilaterally recognized Israel (i.e., unilaterally gave up the trump card) as a precondition to enter the negotiations. It had trusted, or rather had no choice other than to trust, that Israel would then proceed to negotiate with it in good faith even though it had already given its trump card for free. Hamas rightfully points to this example and says: how well did that turn out for the PLO? So Hamas won’t unilaterally recognize Israel, and Israel dementedly and robotically points to this refusal as “evidence” of Hamas’s stubbornness even though Hamas has made astonishingly clear that it is willing and ready to recognize Israel so long as Israel offers a 2-state solution.
The author also makes undeniably clear how Israel has strategically employed military actions in order to erode popular Palestinian support for Hamas's more moderate positions. Since the second Intifada, the Israeli government has made many of its most aggressive and strategically unnecessary military actions specifically at times when peace was around the corner. Those actions were explicitly (!) designed to provoke the radical Palestinian backlash that then allowed Israel to call off the deal and claim it has no “partner for peace.”
None of this means, and none of these authors argue, that Hamas’s actions on Oct. 7 were justified. But it does mean that — unlike Hamas — the Likud Israeli gov't has never been a "partner for peace".
I’d love to see a pro-Israel rebuttal to these specific points. After having read many pro-Israel books, I don’t think there is one.
The essays heavily lean pro-Palestine, but I think it’s a great one for pro-Israel folks to read because the authors present extensive support to back up their arguments.
My favorite essay focused on how the media parrots Israeli propaganda by blatantly mischaracterizing Hamas as not being interested in peace. To the contrary, the author provided thorough and uncontested proof that since 2005, Hamas has REPEATEDLY explicitly offered and accepted a two-state solution, including even after Oct. 7th. The author makes an incredibly convincing argument that Israel has engaged in bad faith by obfuscating and intentionally ignoring Hamas’s offers — which Israeli intelligence widely believes are legitimate serious offers — by engaging in what amounts to a technical trick: Israel says it won’t negotiate with Hamas unless Hamas unilaterally concedes certain terms as *PREconditions* for negotiation, even though Hamas is clearly willing to offer (and indeed has repeatedly offered) those *EXACT SAME TERMS* so long as the terms are conceded as part of a comprehensive settlement establishing a 2-state solution (as opposed to being unilaterally conceded as preconditions). This becomes even more damning as it becomes clear that Hamas’s refusal to unilaterally give up its only trump card in negotiations as a PREcondition is largely because the PLO has already doomed itself by making that very error. As part of the Oslo Accords, the PLO unilaterally recognized Israel (i.e., unilaterally gave up the trump card) as a precondition to enter the negotiations. It had trusted, or rather had no choice other than to trust, that Israel would then proceed to negotiate with it in good faith even though it had already given its trump card for free. Hamas rightfully points to this example and says: how well did that turn out for the PLO? So Hamas won’t unilaterally recognize Israel, and Israel dementedly and robotically points to this refusal as “evidence” of Hamas’s stubbornness even though Hamas has made astonishingly clear that it is willing and ready to recognize Israel so long as Israel offers a 2-state solution.
The author also makes undeniably clear how Israel has strategically employed military actions in order to erode popular Palestinian support for Hamas's more moderate positions. Since the second Intifada, the Israeli government has made many of its most aggressive and strategically unnecessary military actions specifically at times when peace was around the corner. Those actions were explicitly (!) designed to provoke the radical Palestinian backlash that then allowed Israel to call off the deal and claim it has no “partner for peace.”
None of this means, and none of these authors argue, that Hamas’s actions on Oct. 7 were justified. But it does mean that — unlike Hamas — the Likud Israeli gov't has never been a "partner for peace".
I’d love to see a pro-Israel rebuttal to these specific points. After having read many pro-Israel books, I don’t think there is one.
July 2, 2024
This book was full of insights and information that I found very eye-opening and thought-provoking. Reading these horrors and diplomatic failings saddened me and made me feel hopeless for any true resolution any time soon. There have been chances, but no real effort to make things right since the beginning. I enjoyed the perspectives in this book and how it made me think about and truly acknowledge the horrors being allowed to take place.
June 12, 2024
A must read in today’s climate. Close your social media feed and read this 🇵🇸
August 20, 2024
This is shocking. I've read a lot of books on Israel - Palestine, but this should be very near the top of the list, if not on top. Some of the revelations--backed up by a LOT of primary source evidence--are these:
*Since the 1970s, Palestinians have accepted a two-state solution with a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and East Jerusalem. Israel has consistently rejected them and chosen annexing the West Bank over peace. When Yasser Arafat accepted a two-state solution, Israeli leaders panicked. They needed Palestinians to be terrorists bent on their destruction, otherwise they would have to give them a state. After a cease-fire between Israel and Arafat's forces in Lebanon, Israel desperately tried to poison what an Israeli strategist called Arafat’s “peace offensive.” Israel repeatedly bombed southern Lebanon, and detonated a car-bomb in Beirut. Finally, Arafat was unable to stop people from retaliating by firing rockets into Israel--and Israel had a pretext to invade southern Lebanon.
*Since the 2000s, Hamas has also accepted a two-state solution—and whenever they have tried to gain traction, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip trying to get Hamas to retaliate. The common claim that “Israel wants peace but it has no negotiation partner” is completely backward, and has been since the 1970s. Palestinians have accepted a two-state solution, and Israel has refused and tried to provoke violence to discredit Palestinians.
*Palestinians in Gaza tried a non-violent march in 2018, approaching the border fence but not trying to breach it. Israel responded by having snipers wound as many people as possible. One sniper later spoke of how many knees he’d shot.
It’s a grim read at times, but absolutely essential for being informed
*Since the 1970s, Palestinians have accepted a two-state solution with a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and East Jerusalem. Israel has consistently rejected them and chosen annexing the West Bank over peace. When Yasser Arafat accepted a two-state solution, Israeli leaders panicked. They needed Palestinians to be terrorists bent on their destruction, otherwise they would have to give them a state. After a cease-fire between Israel and Arafat's forces in Lebanon, Israel desperately tried to poison what an Israeli strategist called Arafat’s “peace offensive.” Israel repeatedly bombed southern Lebanon, and detonated a car-bomb in Beirut. Finally, Arafat was unable to stop people from retaliating by firing rockets into Israel--and Israel had a pretext to invade southern Lebanon.
*Since the 2000s, Hamas has also accepted a two-state solution—and whenever they have tried to gain traction, Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip trying to get Hamas to retaliate. The common claim that “Israel wants peace but it has no negotiation partner” is completely backward, and has been since the 1970s. Palestinians have accepted a two-state solution, and Israel has refused and tried to provoke violence to discredit Palestinians.
*Palestinians in Gaza tried a non-violent march in 2018, approaching the border fence but not trying to breach it. Israel responded by having snipers wound as many people as possible. One sniper later spoke of how many knees he’d shot.
It’s a grim read at times, but absolutely essential for being informed
July 5, 2024
At least seven of the 13 essays in this quick-to-publish volume (the editorial deadline was in December) are must-reads, and the remaining six are also instructive. Several essays rightly push back at the mainstream Western media narrative that the Hamas attack on Oct 7 was "unprovoked" or "started the war," providing essential context of recent history.
July 15, 2024
A necessary read for understanding of what’s really happening with the IDF on the innocent population of Gaza. The fact that the numbers of civilian deaths and injuries have tripled at my time of reading from when this was published is truly tragic and it is sickening that the Israeli/US/EU propaganda war is still aiding this war on humanity.
October 19, 2024
Astonishing, eye opening, heartbreaking collection of essays on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, bringing us right up to the end of 2023.
I think we in the west need to understand far better the history and geo-politics of this area. What we’ve been told isn’t always accurate or entirely unbiased, and this book helps adjust the balance.
I think we in the west need to understand far better the history and geo-politics of this area. What we’ve been told isn’t always accurate or entirely unbiased, and this book helps adjust the balance.
October 28, 2024
Really good book on the current (2024 onward war) on Palestine and a good summary of the history as well. Highly recommend. Was written early on in the war, but very relevant with regards to what Israel was doing.
January 1, 2025
Prescient views from varied authorities on the unfolding human catastrophe that is the War on Gaza. I believe humanity will regret (superfluously only) their inaction. As always, Human Rights are secondary to National Interests, whatever that may be.
April 19, 2024
Essential read that tears through the propaganda spouted by Israeli and United States politicians as well as our mainstream media.
July 11, 2024
An essential collection of essays
August 3, 2024
Essential reading
January 18, 2025
Already a little out of date but a useful read. Some excellent essays and some not so good.
February 9, 2025
Jamie Stern-Weiner offers a very insightful collection of essays that add depth and historical context to the October 7th attacks
February 23, 2025
Great collection of essays on the historical context, present moments, and future effects of the Israeli war on Gaza. I would use these essays to teach others.
July 12, 2025
4.25⭐
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