Gaza Catastrophe: The Genocide in World-Historical Perspective

by Gilbert Achcar

From a foremost expert on the Middle East—a searing indictment of the forces that led to genocidal war on Gaza and its reverberations across the globe.
 
The destruction rained on Gaza has been seen and accepted by many as a vengeful overreaction to the reckless Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. This book, however, argues that the new catastrophe befalling the Palestinian people is the culmination of a decades-long pattern that runs parallel with Israel’s inexorable shift to the Right. It also contends that Gaza was the final nail in the coffin of the Atlanticist “international liberal order” before Donald Trump came back to the White House.
 
Gaza Catastrophe reckons with the lethal consequences far greater than the Nakba of 1948 and the significance of a war waged by an advanced military-industrial state—with full US participation and open support from the West. Renowned political scientist Gilbert Achcar explores the dynamics of a complex historical process that culminated in the war on Gaza and wider conflict in the Middle East. Achcar offers critical insights on the genocide’s regional and international consequences, as well as radical critiques of Zionism, Hamas, and other state and non-state actors. This volume is essential to understanding the root causes of the violence destabilizing the entire region and the wider world, as well as the conditions required to bring it to an end.

Genres: History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published August 5, 2025

About the author

Gilbert Achcar is a Lebanese academic, writer, and socialist. He is a Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. His research interests cover the Near East and North Africa, the foreign policy of the United States, Globalisation, Islam, and Islamic fundamentalism. He is also a Fellow at the International Institute for Research and Education.

Reviews

[Colleen Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, through a series of articles and op-eds, exposes the recent history of Israel and Palestine, vis-à-vis the U.S., breaks down and sifts through proposed policies and enforced policies, and examines what has happened to the Palestinian people. With references to Nakba (the Arab word for catastrophe), which occurred when Israel declared itself a state in 1948, the reader learns about the theft by Israel of most of Palestine through all means deemed necessary by Israel, with the complicity and money from the U.S. Until the administration of LBJ, Israel was required to reel in their ambitions, both about land seizures and the development of nucleaar weaponry.

In a series of invasions and military seizures, Israel has invaded, seized, and on some occasions, been forced to pull back, but with the acquiescence of the Obama, Biden, and Trump presidencies, it has had full rein over their nefarious intentions, leading to the impoverishment of the Palestinian people. Many have been living in refugee camps for their entire lives, their lands seized and never restored.
With the rise of the Likud party, particularly under the leadership of Netanyahoo, the Israeli army has
become even more brutal and genocidal than ever before. Targeting children has become a hallmark of their modus operandi, along with journalists, hospitals, and schools.

It is another intensely researched and highly readable book on this subject. With legislation currently before Congress to link American defense with that of Israel, it is urgent for the U.S. to pull back funding for Israel and reject any pairing with its military.

[Teoman TURKOGLU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gilbert Achcar’ın Gazze Felaketi kitabı kısa ama oldukça yoğun bir politik analiz sunuyor. Yazar, Gazze’de yaşananları yalnızca güncel bir çatışma olarak değil, daha geniş bir tarihsel ve jeopolitik çerçeve içinde ele alıyor. Özellikle İsrail’in askeri ve siyasi stratejisinin ABD’nin Ortadoğu’daki hegemonya planlarıyla nasıl iç içe geçtiğini anlatmaya çalışıyor.

Kitabın güçlü yanı, meseleyi tarihsel süreklilik içinde açıklaması ve İsrail–Filistin çatışmasını tek bir olaydan ibaret görmemesi. Zayıf yanı ise analizinin büyük ölçüde politik bir perspektife dayanması; yani farklı görüşleri geniş biçimde tartışmıyor.

Buna rağmen kısa hacmine rağmen düşünmeye zorlayan ve tartışma açan bir metin. Gazze meselesini tarihsel bağlamıyla anlamak isteyenler için hızlı ama yoğun bir okuma.

[Jeff Schauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to like this more for its much needed perspective and framing. However, the fact that it's cobbled together from a range of essays written over a period of decades, however penetrating their interpretations, means that it lacks the coherence and contemporary framing to actually be a world-historical perspective.