Cracks in the Wall: Beyond Apartheid in Palestine/Israel

by Ben White

After decades of occupation and creeping annexation, Israel has created an apartheid system in historic Palestine. Peace efforts have failed because of one hard truth: the best Israeli offers do not meet the minimum that a truly free Palestine would require—nor that international law would recognize. There are, however, widening cracks in Israel’s traditional pillars of support for this policy, and in this book Ben White lays them out. Opposition to Israeli policies, he shows, are growing within Jewish communities and among Western progressives, while the rise of populist movements around the world has confused traditional party lines on the question and the Palestinian-led boycott campaign continues to gain momentum. Now, White argues, is the time to plot a course to avoid the mistakes of the past—to create a real way forward, and beyond apartheid, in Palestine.
 

Genres: Middle East, Politics, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published May 20, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Ben White is a freelance journalist and writer specializing in Palestine/Israel. He also writes on the broader Middle East, Islam and Christianity, and the 'war on terror.' Ben has been to Palestine/Israel many times since 2003 and has a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be far easier for Ben White to write a book about the daily injustices, pain and death inflicted by the state of Israel upon Palestinians living in the occupied territories and experiencing a 'de facto' apartheid life. Instead, White tries something far more difficult - to offer some hope for positive change in a desperate situation.
Taking a broadly dialectical approach to the hstorical factors shaping Israel/Palestine today, White offers both evidence and carefully constructed arguments to suggest that there is already, in place, the necessary elements to provide justice for Palestinians. He argues that the desperate Israeli attack on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the lurch to the right by Trump that forces splits on a previously bipartisan issue, the growing disquiet among liberal Jews, and the resistance, movements and changes within Palestinian groups are some of the reasons why the current status quo that allows Israel to subject its Palestinian/Arab population to discriminatory practices and oppress the Palestinian poplations in the occupied territories must be brought to a stop.
Naturally, the reader is forced to ask, what that stop could look like, but here White offers his most incisive analysis. With a two-state solution all but dead in the water, with only the EU 'actively' pursuing this option, White proposes a radical solution: a democratic state based in international law accommodating Jewish, Muslim, Christian and all other beliefs (and none). If South Africa could achieve it, so that there were no more calls for BDS (although there are still plenty of calls for greater social mobility), the reader has to ask why Israel believes it is so exceptional that it can continue as a state of denial.

[Rishika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t normally write reviews but I enjoyed reading Ben White’s take on the current Israeli Palestinian situation and how the international community (by that I mean individuals worldwide rather than nation states or governmental or international organizations) is becoming more aware. This has implications for the impunity with which Israel defies international law by encouraging illegal settlement. The tide is changing and it is encouraging to read of it. Cook also addresses the fact that any solution to resolve the conflict must involve the end of segregation and discrimination against Palestinians. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in human rights.

[Kamil Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive look into the many criticisms of Israeli apartheid

[Ziggi Chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kinda embarrassing how relevant this has become. This should be required contextual reading for everyone before allowed to voice opinion on the “conflict” in oPt. Once again, this account by Ben White is an extremely accessible and easy to digest resource on anyone trying to start looking beneath the surface of propaganda and lies/misrepresentations about the issues at hand. White refers to so many resources from all sides, that this and his prior book on the “beginners guide to israelí apartheid” both stand strong as an approach to understanding the situation that does the most work to keep bias, discrimination, and racist rhetoric out of it, while providing an abundance of information to inform yourself on the century-long state of oppression and division in the oPt. Highly recommended!!!

[Adam Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reads like the plant based Facebook ramblings of the classic middle-class, undergraduate white girl with a rucksack covered in ban the bomb badges, while she makes sure anyone who will listen knows she is super woke and like so totally into human rights!
It's pretty well researched but pathetically one sided and generally whinging rather than helpful.

[Arif Khwaja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling and meticulously researched

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of hope, and gives background information on a topic that's central to the middle east's history. Interesting.