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Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair
This book claims that Palestine is fast disappearing and fulfilling the objectives of Israel's founding fathers. Over many decades, Israel has developed and refined policies to disperse, imprison and impoverish the Palestinian people, in a relentless effort to destroy them as a nation. It has industrialized Palestinian despair through ever more sophisticated systems of curfews, checkpoints, walls, permits and land grabs. Cook analyzes how Israel has transformed the West Bank and Gaza into laboratories for testing the infrastructure of confinement, creating a lucrative "defense" industry by pioneering the technologies needed for urban warfare, crowd control and collective punishment.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2008
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368 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Cook
53 books25 followersThere is more than one author with this name on Goodreads. See Jonathan Cook, Jonathan Cook, Jonathan Cook, Jonathan M. Cook, Jonathan A. Cook, Jonathan Chase Cook, Jonathan C. Cook.
Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, since 2001.
He is the author of three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish State (2006)
Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (2008)
Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (2008)
He has also contributed chapters and essays to several edited volumes on Israel-Palestine.
In 2011 Jonathan was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. The judges’ citation reads: “Jonathan Cook’s work on Palestine and Israel, especially his de-coding of official propaganda and his outstanding analysis of events often obfuscated in the mainstream, has made him one of the reliable truth-tellers in the Middle East.”
The same year, Project Censored voted a report by Jonathan, “Israel brings Gaza entry restrictions to West Bank“, one of the most important stories censored in 2009-10.
Jonathan’s reports and commentaries have appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, the Times and the New Statesman (London); The International Herald Tribune and Le Monde diplomatique (Paris); Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo); The National (Abu Dhabi); The Daily Star (Beirut); The Middle East Report and Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (Washington); and The Irish Times (Dublin). He has contributed to many online sites, such as CounterPunch, Israeli Occupation Archive, Al-Jazeera.com and Electronic Intifada.
He has been a senior consultant and lead writer on two major reports by the International Crisis Group, a leading think-tank based in Washington and Brussels dealing with conflict resolution.
Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, since 2001.
He is the author of three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish State (2006)
Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (2008)
Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (2008)
He has also contributed chapters and essays to several edited volumes on Israel-Palestine.
In 2011 Jonathan was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. The judges’ citation reads: “Jonathan Cook’s work on Palestine and Israel, especially his de-coding of official propaganda and his outstanding analysis of events often obfuscated in the mainstream, has made him one of the reliable truth-tellers in the Middle East.”
The same year, Project Censored voted a report by Jonathan, “Israel brings Gaza entry restrictions to West Bank“, one of the most important stories censored in 2009-10.
Jonathan’s reports and commentaries have appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, the Times and the New Statesman (London); The International Herald Tribune and Le Monde diplomatique (Paris); Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo); The National (Abu Dhabi); The Daily Star (Beirut); The Middle East Report and Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (Washington); and The Irish Times (Dublin). He has contributed to many online sites, such as CounterPunch, Israeli Occupation Archive, Al-Jazeera.com and Electronic Intifada.
He has been a senior consultant and lead writer on two major reports by the International Crisis Group, a leading think-tank based in Washington and Brussels dealing with conflict resolution.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 7, 2014
SAID'S SUCCESSOR ON PALESTINE?
Jonathan Cooks latest book is written about the plight of the Palestinian Peoples at the hands of the Israeli State.
The book is divided into two parts, the first contains a history of and reflections on Zionism - in practice as well as its myths. This includes some fascinating reflections on the provenance of the Jewish People themselves, including new research by an Israeli Historians/Archaeologists that seem to point towards a proselytising phase in Jewish History, and thinks it likely that the modern Jewish people originated from Turks (southern Russia), Berbers (north Africa) and Arabians (Yemen). This will no doubt be rabidly attacked (and apparently has been) for undermining the myth of return. It maybe that they were - in large part - never there in the first place?
Be that as it may, the contested history of millennia ago ought to be as nothing compared with the ongoing dispossession and destruction of Palestinian society and identity in what was Mandatory Palestine. The second part of the book details this, and brings the reader up to date with developments well into 2008 but stopping short of the attack on Gaza over Christmas 2008/9. There are stories of how the wall has divided Palestinians from each other and their land, of the continual Israeli theft of Palestinian land. Particularly moving, and relatively hopeful sections, document those brave Israelis who bear witness at Israeli Defence Force checkpoints in an attempt to curtail the violence and harassment of the Palestinians; and those Israelis who braved the violence of Jewish Settlers in the West Bank to help Palestinians gather in at least some of their olive harvest.
Cook also writes well of the plight of Palestinians within Israel proper (i.e. with in the pre-67 borders). It seems quite clear that they are second class citizens. A thread that runs through the book is what the Israelis call the "demographic problem" which bluntly put is that if the Israelis annexed the occupied territories then the Jewish part of the population would be more or less on par with the Palestinian. This more than anything explains the so-called disengagement from Gaza.
It is always a privilege to read clear, morally committed writing such as this, penned with a commitment to justice, truth and comprehending the reality of the long drawn conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Thoroughly recommended.
Jonathan Cooks latest book is written about the plight of the Palestinian Peoples at the hands of the Israeli State.
The book is divided into two parts, the first contains a history of and reflections on Zionism - in practice as well as its myths. This includes some fascinating reflections on the provenance of the Jewish People themselves, including new research by an Israeli Historians/Archaeologists that seem to point towards a proselytising phase in Jewish History, and thinks it likely that the modern Jewish people originated from Turks (southern Russia), Berbers (north Africa) and Arabians (Yemen). This will no doubt be rabidly attacked (and apparently has been) for undermining the myth of return. It maybe that they were - in large part - never there in the first place?
Be that as it may, the contested history of millennia ago ought to be as nothing compared with the ongoing dispossession and destruction of Palestinian society and identity in what was Mandatory Palestine. The second part of the book details this, and brings the reader up to date with developments well into 2008 but stopping short of the attack on Gaza over Christmas 2008/9. There are stories of how the wall has divided Palestinians from each other and their land, of the continual Israeli theft of Palestinian land. Particularly moving, and relatively hopeful sections, document those brave Israelis who bear witness at Israeli Defence Force checkpoints in an attempt to curtail the violence and harassment of the Palestinians; and those Israelis who braved the violence of Jewish Settlers in the West Bank to help Palestinians gather in at least some of their olive harvest.
Cook also writes well of the plight of Palestinians within Israel proper (i.e. with in the pre-67 borders). It seems quite clear that they are second class citizens. A thread that runs through the book is what the Israelis call the "demographic problem" which bluntly put is that if the Israelis annexed the occupied territories then the Jewish part of the population would be more or less on par with the Palestinian. This more than anything explains the so-called disengagement from Gaza.
It is always a privilege to read clear, morally committed writing such as this, penned with a commitment to justice, truth and comprehending the reality of the long drawn conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Thoroughly recommended.
March 20, 2019
Where to start with this book? It's the sort that keeps you thinking throughout the day, and stays with you after you have finished reading it. It was published over 10 years ago, but it is apparent that it's not being as widely read as I think it should be: the political consensus throughout most of the Western world seems still to be overwhelmingly pro-Israel, and Palestinians continue to be represented by much of the mainstream media as little other than Islamist terrorists; the mere mention of Hamas is enough to shut down most discussion of Israel's blockade of Gaza. Criticism of the actions of Israel is readily and frequently conflated with anti-semitism, which is of course very convenient for an Israeli government hell-bent on controlling the narrative. The ongoing controversy surrounding allegedly anti-semitic tweets by US Senator Ilhan Omar, who opposed a law restricting the BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions) movement, and has called out the lobbying power of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), is a case in point; ditto the recent controversy within the British Labour Party.
Some readers may think they detect in this a whiff of the enthusiasm of the newly converted. They would be wrong. Just as people living under totalitarianism know, though they know very little else, that the regime is lying to them, I've had a suspicion going back many years that all was not well with the dominant narrative about Israel, and in a desultory way I've done some reading. This is the first book I've read that really puts it all together. Cook is profoundly well-informed, and doesn't equivocate his convictions; he evaluates terms such as apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide and "politicide", to discover the extent to which they are applicable to the Israeli treatment of Palestinians, in Israel, in Gaza, and in the West Bank, and his conclusions are, while to some extent nuanced, overwhelmingly damning.
It has been a common and frequently justifiable criticism of polemicists throughout human history that they offer nothing to replace what they set out to destroy. Cook doesn't offer a ready-made solution either, but in an afterword entitled "Two-state dreamers" he flags a vision of what the future might look like. He argues that Israel cannot be, as it is claimed, a "Jewish and democratic state" because for as long as there remain Arabs within Israel they will be 2nd class citizens, and effectively disenfranchised; the "two-state solution" is no solution at all because Israel (and the US) will never tolerate a sovereign and independent Palestine, particularly one with its own army; the obstacle to peace is Zionism itself - take that out of the equation, abandon the notion of an ethnic state, and a single, liberal and democratic state may become possible. Cook's assertion is that the way out of the present impasse is by "discrediting Israel as a Jewish state, and the ideology of Zionism that upholds it." A critical examination of Zionism could not begin in a better place than with this very powerful book.
Some readers may think they detect in this a whiff of the enthusiasm of the newly converted. They would be wrong. Just as people living under totalitarianism know, though they know very little else, that the regime is lying to them, I've had a suspicion going back many years that all was not well with the dominant narrative about Israel, and in a desultory way I've done some reading. This is the first book I've read that really puts it all together. Cook is profoundly well-informed, and doesn't equivocate his convictions; he evaluates terms such as apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide and "politicide", to discover the extent to which they are applicable to the Israeli treatment of Palestinians, in Israel, in Gaza, and in the West Bank, and his conclusions are, while to some extent nuanced, overwhelmingly damning.
It has been a common and frequently justifiable criticism of polemicists throughout human history that they offer nothing to replace what they set out to destroy. Cook doesn't offer a ready-made solution either, but in an afterword entitled "Two-state dreamers" he flags a vision of what the future might look like. He argues that Israel cannot be, as it is claimed, a "Jewish and democratic state" because for as long as there remain Arabs within Israel they will be 2nd class citizens, and effectively disenfranchised; the "two-state solution" is no solution at all because Israel (and the US) will never tolerate a sovereign and independent Palestine, particularly one with its own army; the obstacle to peace is Zionism itself - take that out of the equation, abandon the notion of an ethnic state, and a single, liberal and democratic state may become possible. Cook's assertion is that the way out of the present impasse is by "discrediting Israel as a Jewish state, and the ideology of Zionism that upholds it." A critical examination of Zionism could not begin in a better place than with this very powerful book.
June 2, 2021
This is an excellent history of the destruction of Palestine by Zionism. What the Zionists did to the Palestinian people is unforgivable. Read it if you want to know the facts.
October 16, 2023
8.5/10.
Essential for understanding the background information for the events of today. The “terrorists attack for no reason — kill the dogs!” narrative of Ben Shapiro and his ilk is not accurate whatsoever. Israel captures a Palestinian — “keeping order, a peaceful arrest”. Palestine captures an Israeli: “hostage situation, terrorist kidnapping — immediate retaliation required”. This double standard occurs for all events happening in the region.
Read this book and discover what you are not being told about this conflict.
Essential for understanding the background information for the events of today. The “terrorists attack for no reason — kill the dogs!” narrative of Ben Shapiro and his ilk is not accurate whatsoever. Israel captures a Palestinian — “keeping order, a peaceful arrest”. Palestine captures an Israeli: “hostage situation, terrorist kidnapping — immediate retaliation required”. This double standard occurs for all events happening in the region.
Read this book and discover what you are not being told about this conflict.
February 26, 2017
Sobering read about the Israeli / Palestinian conflict. Gives plenty of food for thought on the Western worlds inaction on such a terrible situation.
January 6, 2013
Golly! Apartheid! Genocide! It's all in here. Can this be true? Are the Israeli's visiting a shoah on the Palestinians?
I'm only two-thirds through but it is pretty grim reading.
Very much in the news at the moment with Hamas firing rockets at israel and Israel shelling and bombing the Gaza Strip.
The writer is/ was a Guardian correspondent so there may be some bias.
My daughter found this book on a bus somewhere- how strange.
I'm only two-thirds through but it is pretty grim reading.
Very much in the news at the moment with Hamas firing rockets at israel and Israel shelling and bombing the Gaza Strip.
The writer is/ was a Guardian correspondent so there may be some bias.
My daughter found this book on a bus somewhere- how strange.
April 23, 2013
brilliant expose of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews