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Tolerance Is a Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial
How denial sustains the liberal imagination of a progressive and democratic Israel.
The question that this book aims to answer might seem how can a violent project of dispossession and discrimination be imagined, felt, and profoundly believed in as though it were the exact opposite––an embodiment of sustainability, multicultural tolerance, and democratic idealism? Despite well-documented evidence of racism and human rights abuse, Israel has long been embraced by the most liberal sectors of European and American society as a manifestation of the progressive values of tolerance, plurality, inclusivity, and democracy, and hence a project that can be passionately defended for its lofty ideals.
Tolerance Is a Wasteland argues that the key to this miraculous act of political alchemy is a very specific form of denial. Here the Palestinian presence in, and claim to, Palestine is not simply refused or covered up, but negated in such a way that the act of denial is itself denied. The effects of destruction and repression are reframed, inverted into affirmations of liberal virtues that can be passionately championed. In Tolerance Is a Wasteland , Saree Makdisi explores many such acts of affirmation and denial in a range of from the haunted landscape of thickly planted forests covering the ruins of Palestinian villages forcibly depopulated in 1948; to the theater of "pinkwashing" as Israel presents itself to the world as a gay-friendly haven of cultural inclusion; to the so-called Museum of Tolerance being built on top of the ruins of a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, which was methodically desecrated in order to clear the space for this monument to "human dignity." Tolerance Is a Wasteland reveals the system of emotional investments and curated perceptions that makes this massive project of cognitive dissonance possible.
The question that this book aims to answer might seem how can a violent project of dispossession and discrimination be imagined, felt, and profoundly believed in as though it were the exact opposite––an embodiment of sustainability, multicultural tolerance, and democratic idealism? Despite well-documented evidence of racism and human rights abuse, Israel has long been embraced by the most liberal sectors of European and American society as a manifestation of the progressive values of tolerance, plurality, inclusivity, and democracy, and hence a project that can be passionately defended for its lofty ideals.
Tolerance Is a Wasteland argues that the key to this miraculous act of political alchemy is a very specific form of denial. Here the Palestinian presence in, and claim to, Palestine is not simply refused or covered up, but negated in such a way that the act of denial is itself denied. The effects of destruction and repression are reframed, inverted into affirmations of liberal virtues that can be passionately championed. In Tolerance Is a Wasteland , Saree Makdisi explores many such acts of affirmation and denial in a range of from the haunted landscape of thickly planted forests covering the ruins of Palestinian villages forcibly depopulated in 1948; to the theater of "pinkwashing" as Israel presents itself to the world as a gay-friendly haven of cultural inclusion; to the so-called Museum of Tolerance being built on top of the ruins of a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, which was methodically desecrated in order to clear the space for this monument to "human dignity." Tolerance Is a Wasteland reveals the system of emotional investments and curated perceptions that makes this massive project of cognitive dissonance possible.
243 pages, Hardcover
Published April 5, 2022
23 people are currently reading
765 people want to read
About the author
Saree Makdisi
17 books27 followersSaree Makdisi is an American literary critic of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, specializing in eighteenth and nineteenth century British literature. He also writes on contemporary Arab politics and culture. Makdisi currently holds the title of Professor of English and Comparative Literature at UCLA .
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September 23, 2024
A few months ago, I watched Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest and noticed how its portrayal of the "banality of evil" drew parallels to the genocide in Palestine. German children splashing in a pool while a concentration camp loomed just beyond the wall is not so different from the separation wall that Israel built around Jerusalem and the West Bank.
I have been angered by the mistreatment of Palestinians for years, and I can’t help but draw parallels to my own identity. My grandparents lived in a town called Xuân Ninh in northern Vietnam. Their entire Catholic community was forcibly removed, and they reluctantly left their home for Cam Ranh, a coastal city in the south. I had always known about their escape on a small fishing boat from Cam Ranh and their time in a Filipino refugee camp before resettling in Australia. However, I was shocked to learn earlier this year that they had been displaced more than once. So, it was impossible not to be alarmed when I read articles about Palestinians being gunned down for throwing stones in protest. It was impossible not to be alarmed when I opened Twitter and saw that Rafah's refugee camp had been "accidentally" bombed. It was impossible not to be alarmed by videos of grieving Palestinians, mourning their families and friends buried under rubble. How is it possible for me to look away? I cannot look away.
One of the most striking sections in the book was Saree’s exploration of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Built on the site of a Muslim cemetery that had existed since the Crusades, the museum discarded human remains and coffins unearthed during excavation. The erasure of the dead is intolerable, but what about the living? Palestinians are subjected to an ongoing settler-colonial project that seeks to erase and deny their existence. The museum’s name adds to the absurdity. It mocks the very idea of "tolerance" and highlights the sinister and racist nature of this colonial project. In this context, tolerance becomes a wasteland.
I appreciated Saree's concise writing and often found myself underlining lines, boxing key phrases, and scribbling notes in the margins. He argues that Israel's attempt to align itself with Western values and interests—democracy, LGBT rights—is hypocritical and serves as a smokescreen to justify its appalling treatment of Palestinians. In Doppelganger, Naomi Klein discusses Israel's place in the "Mirror World." She sums up Saree’s point about Israel’s "culture of denial" perfectly when she writes, "It was as if the quest for equality were being reframed not as the right to be free from discrimination but as the right to discriminate. Colonialism is framed as reparations for genocide."
Saree’s book is an essential read—I highly recommend it to everyone.
Ceasefire now, and free Palestine.
I have been angered by the mistreatment of Palestinians for years, and I can’t help but draw parallels to my own identity. My grandparents lived in a town called Xuân Ninh in northern Vietnam. Their entire Catholic community was forcibly removed, and they reluctantly left their home for Cam Ranh, a coastal city in the south. I had always known about their escape on a small fishing boat from Cam Ranh and their time in a Filipino refugee camp before resettling in Australia. However, I was shocked to learn earlier this year that they had been displaced more than once. So, it was impossible not to be alarmed when I read articles about Palestinians being gunned down for throwing stones in protest. It was impossible not to be alarmed when I opened Twitter and saw that Rafah's refugee camp had been "accidentally" bombed. It was impossible not to be alarmed by videos of grieving Palestinians, mourning their families and friends buried under rubble. How is it possible for me to look away? I cannot look away.
One of the most striking sections in the book was Saree’s exploration of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. Built on the site of a Muslim cemetery that had existed since the Crusades, the museum discarded human remains and coffins unearthed during excavation. The erasure of the dead is intolerable, but what about the living? Palestinians are subjected to an ongoing settler-colonial project that seeks to erase and deny their existence. The museum’s name adds to the absurdity. It mocks the very idea of "tolerance" and highlights the sinister and racist nature of this colonial project. In this context, tolerance becomes a wasteland.
I appreciated Saree's concise writing and often found myself underlining lines, boxing key phrases, and scribbling notes in the margins. He argues that Israel's attempt to align itself with Western values and interests—democracy, LGBT rights—is hypocritical and serves as a smokescreen to justify its appalling treatment of Palestinians. In Doppelganger, Naomi Klein discusses Israel's place in the "Mirror World." She sums up Saree’s point about Israel’s "culture of denial" perfectly when she writes, "It was as if the quest for equality were being reframed not as the right to be free from discrimination but as the right to discriminate. Colonialism is framed as reparations for genocide."
Saree’s book is an essential read—I highly recommend it to everyone.
Ceasefire now, and free Palestine.
January 12, 2025
It’s comical how Israel’s big plan to “make the desert bloom” (greenwashing) involved cutting down more than 750,000 olive trees and intentionally planting non-indigenous trees – pine trees – to cover up the ruins of Palestinian houses, to hide the clear crime of erasure. This was also to give the stolen land a European flavor, by replacing the Arab surroundings with Alpine forests where they don’t belong as the perfect accoutrement to incoming settler-colonials where they didn’t belong. “Israeli troops or settlers have uprooted an estimated 2.5 million trees just in parts of Palestine occupied since 1967, a third of them olive trees.” Imagine loudly proclaiming your commitment to afforestation to hide your commitment to deforestation. Israel also brought in Eucalyptus trees because they are notoriously invasive plants that quickly crowd out natives (just like Zionism itself). Eucalyptus needles increase acidity in the soil to “prevent the growth of most other forms of vegetation.” Israel on top used herbicides to ensure its enforced monoculture – Sabra wins, nature loses. Pop Quiz: What does intentionally wiping out “tens of thousands of acres of citrus groves”, “forty thousand acres of olive trees” and targeted ecocide have to do with the sacred Jewish values of Tikkun Olam?
In the US, just as US history is about what it meant for whitey and never what it meant for the indigenous, in the US the history of Zionism is about what it meant for incoming Jews and never what it meant for resident Palestinians. Just as our history is never about US foreign policy from the standpoint of the victims, we never are taught about Zionism from the standpoint of ITS victims. The US was built on separation of church and state, and we are taught to point at Saudi Arabia and Iran’s conflation of church and state while completely ignoring Israel’s EVEN stronger conflation of church and state. Intentional selectivity as a hallmark of hypocrisy – look here, but definitely NOT there. Do as you are told.
Hypocrisy: You can google an article in the Independent called “Israel plans to Build ‘Museum of Tolerance’ on Muslim Graves.” Let’s build a monument to Zionism on a clearly ethnically cleansed graveyard. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Never mind that that exact cemetery was “in fact, the largest and most important Muslim cemetery in all of Palestine” from the Crusades to 1948. Pop Quiz: “Why not simply call it the Museum of Jewish History, Or the Museum of Zionism?” Question 2: “How can a museum carrying the name of tolerance be built on a graveyard?” Note that if Zionism is presented as “tolerance”, then resistance to Zionism must be “intolerance”. The mufti of Jerusalem said, that Museum’s mere construction “constitutes an act of aggression.” In the original Nakba, 87% of Palestinian homes and villages were forcibly emptied to make Lebensraum for the “chosen”. This wasn’t a one-shot event, as Patrick Wolfe has said, “Invasion is a structure, not an event.” The Zionist project is forcibly removing Palestinians to replace them with Jews.
Israel as Democracy: “A state can either be for one part of its population or for all who live there; it can’t be both simultaneously.” “A state cannot be simultaneously for a particular group and for everyone.” States can’t be both democratic AND have “a specific religious identity” or be blatantly apartheid. “Israel is in a clinical (not merely rhetorical) sense, an apartheid state.” “How can a state be both particular and general?” A belief in Israel as a democracy “wouldn’t be possible without the sheer fact of constant affirmation.” The only way presently Israel can truly be democratic is if ALL non-Jews were dead or gone (settler-colonialism’s definition – they must move or die). Thus, the author writes, the “mantra ‘Jewish and democratic state’ is actually all but a declaration of murderous intent.” You’d have to be delusional to think it could be, thus you can’t have both a Jewish and a democratic state unless that state is ALSO fantasyland. “Nowhere in Israeli law is the right to equality and freedom from discrimination protected” instead there are dozens of Israeli laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens. When Zionists talk about Arabs or Bedouins, it is usually because they don’t want to use the word Palestinian – intended erasure. Jeremy Corbyn has said, “It cannot be considered racist to treat Israel like any other state or assess its conduct against the standards of international law. Nor should it be regarded as antisemitic to describe Israel, its policies or the circumstances around its foundation as racist because of their discriminatory impact.”
Greenwashing: The Jewish National Fund wants you to see its job as planting trees in an ALL-positive way. The real job of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has been “memoricide”, concealing the “visible remnants of Palestine” with non-native trees and non-native manufactured narratives – part of maintaining the old “desert bloom” fantasy. The JNF will of course not tell you about their role in tree uprooting and destruction, or Israel’s intentional planting of cypress trees which overshadowed and suffocated native olive trees. Those same cypress trees blocked the view of the sea for Palestinians. “Since 1967, Israel has overseen the destruction of 800,000 olive trees in the territories occupied that year.” In addition, Israel eradicated the prickly pear cactus which is a delicious fruit savored by Palestinians. You know how Israelis like to call themselves Sabras (comically as though they would be as tough without getting billions of US dollars annually) – well, that word Sabra derives from the Arab word meaning prickly pear. Zionism is ethno-religious enforced “monoculture on a land that through its history has always been multi-cultural.”
Pink Washing: Presently Israel is pushing pinkwashing where touting Israeli gay culture in ad campaigns laughably is to mean Israel respects human rights across the board. It’s the fantasy that “A state that can market itself as supportive of gay rights then, is a state that can market itself as progressive in general” – all you have to do is conflate Palestinians with intolerance and homophobia, and anti-Zionism with Jew hating. To do that Zionist trolls on social media call the Middle East a place where “women are stoned, gays hanged, and Christians are persecuted.” No evidence needed. Regarding pinkwashing, Israel will NOT tell you that it “did not decriminalize sodomy until the late 1980’s”, or that Israel’s leaders have demanded that US Presidents submissively bend over spreading their ass cheeks Tel Aviv style for Israel since 1967 (the USS Liberty attack, anyone?). Nor will Israel explain why its Hasbara has never shown a single image of Tel Aviv as a lesbian paradise, as if for Zionists chauvinistically only men matter. “Pinkwashing enables colonial violence; and, in turn, colonial violence (now) requiring pinkwashing.” The central element of pinkwashing, Ali says is “occlusion and obfuscation” – “look over here, NOT over there”. Pinkwashing makes Palestinians, and especially queer Palestinians (and Israeli lesbians), disappear. Israel also turned to “pinkwashing” explicitly to provide cover for Israel’s ongoing suppression of Palestinian rights. How, after all, could a country so open and tolerant of gay rights be repressive?” To seal the deal Israeli Hasbara also pedaled the theory that “Palestinian culture is itself repressive and homophobic”.
I Thought We Destroyed You Already: Note that the village of “Araqib has been demolished 184 times so far” by Israel – that’s what continued resistance to Israel looks like. Yeah, baby… Note that the US and Australia no longer feel the need to destroy everything the indigenous try to do in those countries – they both grew up and moved on like the rest of the world, but Israel like a petulant child alone hasn’t. “Israel’s petulant demand that its ‘right to exist’ be recognized has no equivalent in other settler-colonial regimes: the United States does not demand its right to exist be recognized by Native Americans or acknowledge in writing that it is a white state.”
Apartheid: Barbara Boxer, who to her credit sometimes votes against US war, is also a Zionist shill after saying that it is “nonsensical and ridiculous” to call Israel apartheid. The author however says on page 53, in Israel “the affirmation (of democracy) is the denial (of apartheid).” “Every single major South African Apartheid law has a direct equivalent in Israel and the territories occupied in 1967.” Even B’Tselem says Israel is apartheid. There was an Apartheid Convention of 1973, which defines it. The 2011 Russell Tribunal called Israel apartheid as well. But Israel’s apartheid is worse than South Africa’s was because Israel has gone so far as to seal off the offending native population leaving a generation which has never ventured beyond the walls of their “prison/concentration camp”. In addition, unlike South Africa, Israel’s self-appointed job is “not to exploit but to eliminate indigenous Palestinian labor”. The author says Israel is thus “necropolitical”.
“Jews are legally allowed to marry only other Jews in Israel.” “All Jews ultimately become ‘Israeli’ within a span of two generations, and no Palestinian can ever become ‘Israeli’.” “In no other country on earth do racially privileged non-citizens enjoy greater rights than racially disadvantaged residents of the territory controlled by the state.” Precisely because they are the majority in Israel, Israel disenfranchises its 12.5 million Palestinians in favor of the six million Israelis; the only way to maintain the fiction of a Jewish state is to force a submissive Jim Crow system on the Palestinians while bribing the silence of US politicians who annually and unquestioningly foot the bill. Israeli apartheid is premised on a lack of transparency. In addition, the author has found for most Zionist shills, “outrage and denial trumped (trumps) argument and evidence.” [And myself as well with a Facebook friend who STILL intentionally pushes the debunked “Screams Before Silence “documentary” and the never-proven October 7th beheaded babies & rape narrative even though last week Israeli prosecutors admitted that not even one rape complaint was filed after October 7th and an Israeli rights group, Physicians for Human Rights, admitted last year it helped spread false claims].
Unraveling Israel Support: “A 2009 index of media perceptions of all the countries in the world ranked Israel 192 (in approval rating), out of 200, sandwiched between Yemen at 191 and Sudan at 193”. What scares Israel the most is that it is the young people that are turning away, which is why Israel targets US colleges with relentless monitored attacks. Support for Israel just among Jewish US college students “dropped by almost 30% points from 2010 to 2016.” Reason won’t reverse those falling numbers, but maybe relentless Hasbara, and reckless accusations of anti-Semitism can.
This was a great Israel/Palestine book, I’m very glad to have read. I’ve now read 64 Israel/Palestine books since October 7th, 2023, and my plan is to read/publicly review a full 100 Israel/Palestine books (a two-year project) simply because my silence during a brutal slow genocide would be complicity and reprehensible. Bravo to Saree.
In the US, just as US history is about what it meant for whitey and never what it meant for the indigenous, in the US the history of Zionism is about what it meant for incoming Jews and never what it meant for resident Palestinians. Just as our history is never about US foreign policy from the standpoint of the victims, we never are taught about Zionism from the standpoint of ITS victims. The US was built on separation of church and state, and we are taught to point at Saudi Arabia and Iran’s conflation of church and state while completely ignoring Israel’s EVEN stronger conflation of church and state. Intentional selectivity as a hallmark of hypocrisy – look here, but definitely NOT there. Do as you are told.
Hypocrisy: You can google an article in the Independent called “Israel plans to Build ‘Museum of Tolerance’ on Muslim Graves.” Let’s build a monument to Zionism on a clearly ethnically cleansed graveyard. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Never mind that that exact cemetery was “in fact, the largest and most important Muslim cemetery in all of Palestine” from the Crusades to 1948. Pop Quiz: “Why not simply call it the Museum of Jewish History, Or the Museum of Zionism?” Question 2: “How can a museum carrying the name of tolerance be built on a graveyard?” Note that if Zionism is presented as “tolerance”, then resistance to Zionism must be “intolerance”. The mufti of Jerusalem said, that Museum’s mere construction “constitutes an act of aggression.” In the original Nakba, 87% of Palestinian homes and villages were forcibly emptied to make Lebensraum for the “chosen”. This wasn’t a one-shot event, as Patrick Wolfe has said, “Invasion is a structure, not an event.” The Zionist project is forcibly removing Palestinians to replace them with Jews.
Israel as Democracy: “A state can either be for one part of its population or for all who live there; it can’t be both simultaneously.” “A state cannot be simultaneously for a particular group and for everyone.” States can’t be both democratic AND have “a specific religious identity” or be blatantly apartheid. “Israel is in a clinical (not merely rhetorical) sense, an apartheid state.” “How can a state be both particular and general?” A belief in Israel as a democracy “wouldn’t be possible without the sheer fact of constant affirmation.” The only way presently Israel can truly be democratic is if ALL non-Jews were dead or gone (settler-colonialism’s definition – they must move or die). Thus, the author writes, the “mantra ‘Jewish and democratic state’ is actually all but a declaration of murderous intent.” You’d have to be delusional to think it could be, thus you can’t have both a Jewish and a democratic state unless that state is ALSO fantasyland. “Nowhere in Israeli law is the right to equality and freedom from discrimination protected” instead there are dozens of Israeli laws discriminating against Palestinian citizens. When Zionists talk about Arabs or Bedouins, it is usually because they don’t want to use the word Palestinian – intended erasure. Jeremy Corbyn has said, “It cannot be considered racist to treat Israel like any other state or assess its conduct against the standards of international law. Nor should it be regarded as antisemitic to describe Israel, its policies or the circumstances around its foundation as racist because of their discriminatory impact.”
Greenwashing: The Jewish National Fund wants you to see its job as planting trees in an ALL-positive way. The real job of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has been “memoricide”, concealing the “visible remnants of Palestine” with non-native trees and non-native manufactured narratives – part of maintaining the old “desert bloom” fantasy. The JNF will of course not tell you about their role in tree uprooting and destruction, or Israel’s intentional planting of cypress trees which overshadowed and suffocated native olive trees. Those same cypress trees blocked the view of the sea for Palestinians. “Since 1967, Israel has overseen the destruction of 800,000 olive trees in the territories occupied that year.” In addition, Israel eradicated the prickly pear cactus which is a delicious fruit savored by Palestinians. You know how Israelis like to call themselves Sabras (comically as though they would be as tough without getting billions of US dollars annually) – well, that word Sabra derives from the Arab word meaning prickly pear. Zionism is ethno-religious enforced “monoculture on a land that through its history has always been multi-cultural.”
Pink Washing: Presently Israel is pushing pinkwashing where touting Israeli gay culture in ad campaigns laughably is to mean Israel respects human rights across the board. It’s the fantasy that “A state that can market itself as supportive of gay rights then, is a state that can market itself as progressive in general” – all you have to do is conflate Palestinians with intolerance and homophobia, and anti-Zionism with Jew hating. To do that Zionist trolls on social media call the Middle East a place where “women are stoned, gays hanged, and Christians are persecuted.” No evidence needed. Regarding pinkwashing, Israel will NOT tell you that it “did not decriminalize sodomy until the late 1980’s”, or that Israel’s leaders have demanded that US Presidents submissively bend over spreading their ass cheeks Tel Aviv style for Israel since 1967 (the USS Liberty attack, anyone?). Nor will Israel explain why its Hasbara has never shown a single image of Tel Aviv as a lesbian paradise, as if for Zionists chauvinistically only men matter. “Pinkwashing enables colonial violence; and, in turn, colonial violence (now) requiring pinkwashing.” The central element of pinkwashing, Ali says is “occlusion and obfuscation” – “look over here, NOT over there”. Pinkwashing makes Palestinians, and especially queer Palestinians (and Israeli lesbians), disappear. Israel also turned to “pinkwashing” explicitly to provide cover for Israel’s ongoing suppression of Palestinian rights. How, after all, could a country so open and tolerant of gay rights be repressive?” To seal the deal Israeli Hasbara also pedaled the theory that “Palestinian culture is itself repressive and homophobic”.
I Thought We Destroyed You Already: Note that the village of “Araqib has been demolished 184 times so far” by Israel – that’s what continued resistance to Israel looks like. Yeah, baby… Note that the US and Australia no longer feel the need to destroy everything the indigenous try to do in those countries – they both grew up and moved on like the rest of the world, but Israel like a petulant child alone hasn’t. “Israel’s petulant demand that its ‘right to exist’ be recognized has no equivalent in other settler-colonial regimes: the United States does not demand its right to exist be recognized by Native Americans or acknowledge in writing that it is a white state.”
Apartheid: Barbara Boxer, who to her credit sometimes votes against US war, is also a Zionist shill after saying that it is “nonsensical and ridiculous” to call Israel apartheid. The author however says on page 53, in Israel “the affirmation (of democracy) is the denial (of apartheid).” “Every single major South African Apartheid law has a direct equivalent in Israel and the territories occupied in 1967.” Even B’Tselem says Israel is apartheid. There was an Apartheid Convention of 1973, which defines it. The 2011 Russell Tribunal called Israel apartheid as well. But Israel’s apartheid is worse than South Africa’s was because Israel has gone so far as to seal off the offending native population leaving a generation which has never ventured beyond the walls of their “prison/concentration camp”. In addition, unlike South Africa, Israel’s self-appointed job is “not to exploit but to eliminate indigenous Palestinian labor”. The author says Israel is thus “necropolitical”.
“Jews are legally allowed to marry only other Jews in Israel.” “All Jews ultimately become ‘Israeli’ within a span of two generations, and no Palestinian can ever become ‘Israeli’.” “In no other country on earth do racially privileged non-citizens enjoy greater rights than racially disadvantaged residents of the territory controlled by the state.” Precisely because they are the majority in Israel, Israel disenfranchises its 12.5 million Palestinians in favor of the six million Israelis; the only way to maintain the fiction of a Jewish state is to force a submissive Jim Crow system on the Palestinians while bribing the silence of US politicians who annually and unquestioningly foot the bill. Israeli apartheid is premised on a lack of transparency. In addition, the author has found for most Zionist shills, “outrage and denial trumped (trumps) argument and evidence.” [And myself as well with a Facebook friend who STILL intentionally pushes the debunked “Screams Before Silence “documentary” and the never-proven October 7th beheaded babies & rape narrative even though last week Israeli prosecutors admitted that not even one rape complaint was filed after October 7th and an Israeli rights group, Physicians for Human Rights, admitted last year it helped spread false claims].
Unraveling Israel Support: “A 2009 index of media perceptions of all the countries in the world ranked Israel 192 (in approval rating), out of 200, sandwiched between Yemen at 191 and Sudan at 193”. What scares Israel the most is that it is the young people that are turning away, which is why Israel targets US colleges with relentless monitored attacks. Support for Israel just among Jewish US college students “dropped by almost 30% points from 2010 to 2016.” Reason won’t reverse those falling numbers, but maybe relentless Hasbara, and reckless accusations of anti-Semitism can.
This was a great Israel/Palestine book, I’m very glad to have read. I’ve now read 64 Israel/Palestine books since October 7th, 2023, and my plan is to read/publicly review a full 100 Israel/Palestine books (a two-year project) simply because my silence during a brutal slow genocide would be complicity and reprehensible. Bravo to Saree.
March 11, 2024
A passionate and rigorous analysis of the complete recontextualization of Palestine by the founding and expansion of Israel. He picks some deep and unique perspectives in a style that leans on repetition as it progresses, to drive the points home.. The concept of weaponized ecology is a surprising discovery, with reforestation as concealing cover to eviction and displacement. In addition the dichotomies of limited LGBTQ appeals in a sea of conservative Jewish culture are interesting, while the reframing of the concept of tolerance is a huge paradigm shift.
The author has a way of singling out resonant phrases (either his own or others), such as “implicated subject”, “memorcide”, and “the settler-colonist project”.
Is it worthwhile? Absolutely. Does it leave room for hope? Not really
The author has a way of singling out resonant phrases (either his own or others), such as “implicated subject”, “memorcide”, and “the settler-colonist project”.
Is it worthwhile? Absolutely. Does it leave room for hope? Not really
December 26, 2024
A rhetorical and material analysis of how the Israeli state masks apartheid through the championing of progressive values (“make the desert bloom” / environmentalism, state sponsored pinkwashing / LGBTQ+ cultural advocacy, a Museum of Tolerance which is quite literally built upon a Muslim graveyard they excavated and covered up) and more.
The author makes the point that for a long time, the Israeli state legitimized itself by pointing towards its professed liberal values which would create a cultural kinship with American and European supporters. Simultaneously, they undertook a state building project of dispossession and discrimination that has been deemed apartheid many international law and human rights organizations in and outside of Israel. Their use of outward forms of liberal values and language helped masked the brutality of the state building project and made it feasible for some sort of cultural affinity to exist between Israel and westerners who wouldn’t take a deeper look at the on-the-ground situation in the country (and frankly in the case of Americans probably could easily write it off and justify it as a part of some civilizing mission, playing off the tropes needed to justify the War on Terror). And as the 2021 pogroms that accompanied the dispossession of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem represented, the days of trying to appeal to liberal sensibilities are gone, and now the naked use of brute force is the explicit policy, as the genocide in Gaza has demonstrated.
From the intro:
“The question that this book aims to answer seems simple: how can a violent project of colonial dispossession and racial discrimination be repack-aged-via a system of emotional investments, curated perceptions, and carefully staged pedagogical exercises-into something that can be imag-ined, felt, and profoundly believed in as though it were the exact opposite: the embodiment of ecological regeneration, multicultural tolerance, and democratic idealism?”
The author makes the point that for a long time, the Israeli state legitimized itself by pointing towards its professed liberal values which would create a cultural kinship with American and European supporters. Simultaneously, they undertook a state building project of dispossession and discrimination that has been deemed apartheid many international law and human rights organizations in and outside of Israel. Their use of outward forms of liberal values and language helped masked the brutality of the state building project and made it feasible for some sort of cultural affinity to exist between Israel and westerners who wouldn’t take a deeper look at the on-the-ground situation in the country (and frankly in the case of Americans probably could easily write it off and justify it as a part of some civilizing mission, playing off the tropes needed to justify the War on Terror). And as the 2021 pogroms that accompanied the dispossession of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem represented, the days of trying to appeal to liberal sensibilities are gone, and now the naked use of brute force is the explicit policy, as the genocide in Gaza has demonstrated.
From the intro:
“The question that this book aims to answer seems simple: how can a violent project of colonial dispossession and racial discrimination be repack-aged-via a system of emotional investments, curated perceptions, and carefully staged pedagogical exercises-into something that can be imag-ined, felt, and profoundly believed in as though it were the exact opposite: the embodiment of ecological regeneration, multicultural tolerance, and democratic idealism?”
December 22, 2023
finally read all of it and it was worth it
Read
June 21, 2024Rating:★★★★☆
Format: Everand
Extremely informative! I'm going to list my takeaways from each section:
Sustainability:
The settler colony of Israel builds forests (artificially grown, mind you, by importing eucalyptus from Australia, for example) around ruined Palestinian homes as a means to shroud it from public view and, by proxy, public questioning. It strategically plants trees that obstruct the growth of native plants.
Democracy:
Next time you see somebody overstate a value that Israel supposedly possesses, know that it's the opposite. Ever wonder why zionists clam down on the fact that Israel is a 'democratic' state? I mean, how can a democratic state at the same time be a Jewish state? In order to claim its territory as Jewish, yet at the same time, veil its apartheid, it has to appeal to the West by claiming it itself is democratic. It further shows the insecurity of the apartheid state. Does the US ever have to demand Mexicans to claim its 'right to exist'? No, and that's because the US is secure in its borders. Yet, it's the Palestinians' resilience and determination to not back down which drives the apartheid state to state ad nauseum its liberal values of equality, democracy etc.
It's very reminiscent of Israelis' claim that the IOF is the 'most moral army in the world'. Since it was blatantly untrue, I always found it gimmick-ish...but that's the point! Yet, like Makdisi says in Chapter 3, it ultimately brings light to whatever they're trying to hide.
Diversity:
The fact that the Settler Colony of Israel uses gay rights as a strategy to bolster its supposed liberal values and highlight how much of a 'civilised' and 'free country' it is, in contrast to the 'backward and uncivilised' Palestine, is enough of a lesson on how colonisation of the mind. Next time anybody equates gay rights and civilisation, look at their company!
Tolerance:
This chapter was similar to the second but was built on Israeli's claim to tolerance and good values. The backbone of this chapter was on the construction of the 'Museum of Tolerance, Jerusalem'. "Following the groundbreaking ceremony, everything seemed to be going well for the development of the Jerusalem branch of the Museum of Tolerance, including fund raising toward the $200 million cost from mostly Jewish philanthropists in the United States—until a legal challenge was presented to Israel’s High Court in February 2006 that led to the suspension of construction. Workers excavating the site had come across human remains and were quietly removing them when news leaked to the local media, which broke the story, precipitating a major crisis.
The site for the Museum of Tolerance, it turns out, includes a cemetery—in fact, the largest and most important Muslim cemetery in all of Palestine—that had been in continual use for hundreds of years from the time of the Crusades until the uprooting of Palestine in 1948;"
A favourite quote from this chapter: "The relentless affirmation of the value of tolerance completely occludes the monstrous racial violence involved in the project; the violence and racism will be inscrutable to the liberal Hollywood (and other) backers of the project and eventually the visitors to the site if and when it ever opens. For this is a project aimed at people who can bathe in the glow of wonderful values they attribute to themselves without for a moment having to come to grips with grisly material circumstances that they make possible precisely by being entirely oblivious to them."
FYI, I did skip the Postscript.
Format: Everand
Extremely informative! I'm going to list my takeaways from each section:
Sustainability:
The settler colony of Israel builds forests (artificially grown, mind you, by importing eucalyptus from Australia, for example) around ruined Palestinian homes as a means to shroud it from public view and, by proxy, public questioning. It strategically plants trees that obstruct the growth of native plants.
Democracy:
Next time you see somebody overstate a value that Israel supposedly possesses, know that it's the opposite. Ever wonder why zionists clam down on the fact that Israel is a 'democratic' state? I mean, how can a democratic state at the same time be a Jewish state? In order to claim its territory as Jewish, yet at the same time, veil its apartheid, it has to appeal to the West by claiming it itself is democratic. It further shows the insecurity of the apartheid state. Does the US ever have to demand Mexicans to claim its 'right to exist'? No, and that's because the US is secure in its borders. Yet, it's the Palestinians' resilience and determination to not back down which drives the apartheid state to state ad nauseum its liberal values of equality, democracy etc.
It's very reminiscent of Israelis' claim that the IOF is the 'most moral army in the world'. Since it was blatantly untrue, I always found it gimmick-ish...but that's the point! Yet, like Makdisi says in Chapter 3, it ultimately brings light to whatever they're trying to hide.
Diversity:
The fact that the Settler Colony of Israel uses gay rights as a strategy to bolster its supposed liberal values and highlight how much of a 'civilised' and 'free country' it is, in contrast to the 'backward and uncivilised' Palestine, is enough of a lesson on how colonisation of the mind. Next time anybody equates gay rights and civilisation, look at their company!
Tolerance:
This chapter was similar to the second but was built on Israeli's claim to tolerance and good values. The backbone of this chapter was on the construction of the 'Museum of Tolerance, Jerusalem'. "Following the groundbreaking ceremony, everything seemed to be going well for the development of the Jerusalem branch of the Museum of Tolerance, including fund raising toward the $200 million cost from mostly Jewish philanthropists in the United States—until a legal challenge was presented to Israel’s High Court in February 2006 that led to the suspension of construction. Workers excavating the site had come across human remains and were quietly removing them when news leaked to the local media, which broke the story, precipitating a major crisis.
The site for the Museum of Tolerance, it turns out, includes a cemetery—in fact, the largest and most important Muslim cemetery in all of Palestine—that had been in continual use for hundreds of years from the time of the Crusades until the uprooting of Palestine in 1948;"
A favourite quote from this chapter: "The relentless affirmation of the value of tolerance completely occludes the monstrous racial violence involved in the project; the violence and racism will be inscrutable to the liberal Hollywood (and other) backers of the project and eventually the visitors to the site if and when it ever opens. For this is a project aimed at people who can bathe in the glow of wonderful values they attribute to themselves without for a moment having to come to grips with grisly material circumstances that they make possible precisely by being entirely oblivious to them."
FYI, I did skip the Postscript.
July 6, 2024
I found this book to be an great introduction to the use of "progressive" and "tolerant" values to hide descrimination, attrocity, and apartheid. The author focuses on how liberal politics (in Israel and amongst the elite left in foreign nations, in contrast to popular movements) are used as propaganda to render Palestinian oppression, and persecution in the apartheid state of Israel invisible – or rather visible only as concepts viewed positively by “progressives” symbolized most poignantly with the building of the Museum of Tolerance on the Muslim Cemetery at Jerusalem, that had been continuously in use since before the crusades up until the 21st.
He identifies many ways in which the architecture and construction of Israel has worked to erase Palestinian presence adopting concepts like LGBTQ acceptance and concern for the environment as reasons to continue their expansion (for example burning and cutting down native olive and citrus trees and planting non-native but fast growing trees over the ruins of Palestinian towns, homes, and cemetaries) The author goes so far as to argue, convincingly, that the Israel project has been intent on rebranding Zionism as a moral position, as a synonym for tolerance and acceptance, a bastion of Western values in the “backwards” Middle East. While also flattening all Jewish experience into the Zionist narrative of the Jewish people and all "Arab" experience into the the stereotypical "terrorist" seen in Western imagination especially after 9/11.
He describes, although admittedly not in much detail (but with cited sources for further examination – making the work more readable and less dense) the ways in which Israel exists as an apartheid nation, not in its explicit laws and structure as seen in the word of law and on signs in South Africa, for example, but in manifestations of Israel’s law in practice. Making comparisons between South Africa and Israel. One method he focuses on is the precise use of language to render Palestinian existence invisible. Palestinians within Israel are labeled Arab on identificiation, rather than Palestinian or Israeli, identifying them as part of a second class of citizen while also denying their connection to the land, cemetaries and towns being built over are called parks or parking lots, etc.
He covers the ways in which American left elite and academic insititutions have continued to support Israel despite this reality and, very briefly, what that means in the wider context of American ongoing support for Israel. Saree made a compelling argument for affirmation as denial - how affirming certain ideas serves to hide other realities without having to address or acknowledge them at all.
I will have to continue reading on the subject as this books gets to the pinkwashing and greenwashing of Israel but doesn't get into clearly identifying the fascistic elements that underly the progress-washing efforts as such, its hinted at.
Quick downside: Who edited this book? For the University of California Press how are there so many technical errors that got through to publishing?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2024
This book is just so so so good. I am so glad I read it.
I have often wondered how Western "progressives" are seemingly blind to Israel's egregious human rights violations and its decades-long colonial oppression of the Palestinians. In this book, Prof. Makdisi confronts this question by taking apart the prevalent "culture of denial"- the denial of patently horrible actions, both historic and current, by strongly and loudly affirming "progressive", "modern" and "humane" attributes. Makdisi explores the potency of this "denial of denial by affirmation" using evidence and arguments rooted in literature, architecture, sociology, political science and law, and by drawing links to Said's Orientalism.
Probably one of my favorite books of the year. Reading this felt cathartic, I finally understood so much. The question I remain with, however, is- what next? what do we do about this?
Free Palestine!
I have often wondered how Western "progressives" are seemingly blind to Israel's egregious human rights violations and its decades-long colonial oppression of the Palestinians. In this book, Prof. Makdisi confronts this question by taking apart the prevalent "culture of denial"- the denial of patently horrible actions, both historic and current, by strongly and loudly affirming "progressive", "modern" and "humane" attributes. Makdisi explores the potency of this "denial of denial by affirmation" using evidence and arguments rooted in literature, architecture, sociology, political science and law, and by drawing links to Said's Orientalism.
Probably one of my favorite books of the year. Reading this felt cathartic, I finally understood so much. The question I remain with, however, is- what next? what do we do about this?
Free Palestine!
April 28, 2025
Really important and original critical theory about Israel's obfuscation of genocide and apartheidal regime in Palestine. Goes through how Israel uses facades of democracy, diversity and tolerance to convince people it is a democratic state rather than an occupying one. Ends with a history of the Museum of Tolerance construction project in Jerusalem, and the irony of it being built on a historical Muslim burial ground. I found it a little redundant at times, but I think each chapter was published as a standalone essay first and then they weren't made as cohesive as they could be in one book. Overall I really learned a lot though, and will be following this author!
July 23, 2024
an academic read, but very interesting account of Israeli architecture and the role it plays in erasing Palestinian history. could read the whole thing or just chapters…I would recommend introduction and sustainability chapter
March 2, 2024
BRILLIANT. Absolutely loved it. Easily a new fave
July 3, 2024
i recommend this book to EVERYONE. incredibly written, highly informative polemic.
July 24, 2024
Essential reading to counter the flood of hasbara. History did not start on October 7.
Free Palestine and end the genocide.
Free Palestine and end the genocide.
November 13, 2024
fantastic and should be far better known. i strongly recommend for pro-israel folks with open minds.
November 15, 2024
Very informative. A must read.
December 24, 2024
Harrowing
May 24, 2025
Apparently, Israel has a ton of trees since they build thêm ơn former Palestinian living spaces. I didn’t know that
July 25, 2025
Amazing and still so true
December 3, 2023
Perhaps the greatest book on Palestine written in the last 15 years. The author describes how the scripted space, now known as the settler colony of isr**l came to exist through a rampant culture of denial, afforestation, pinkwashing and branding.
I especially loved how the author goes beyond his extensive research and integrates psychoanalytic thinking into his writing. He explains the “benevolent” settler actions, dissects the violence behind them, then uses psychoanalysis to explain how these actions are garnered to create affirmation for the rest of the world.
Truly 5 stars. 5 stars for content, 5 stars for writing, and that never occurs with me.
I especially loved how the author goes beyond his extensive research and integrates psychoanalytic thinking into his writing. He explains the “benevolent” settler actions, dissects the violence behind them, then uses psychoanalysis to explain how these actions are garnered to create affirmation for the rest of the world.
Truly 5 stars. 5 stars for content, 5 stars for writing, and that never occurs with me.
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