A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine - a lucid, at times hectoring, short read
Author
:
Chris Hedges
ISBN-13
:
978-1911710226
Publisher
:
Seven Stories Press
Guideline Price
:
£14.99
Journalist and one-time New York Times correspondent Chris Hedges tackles
the war in Gaza
, taking a wide-angle look, similar to several other recent publications on the matter. Like many journalists who have covered the Israel-Palestine conflict, Hedges wound up with his sympathies firmly with the Palestinians. His reporting these days, which he combines with his role as a Presbyterian minister, is decidedly more partisan than in the days when he worked for the Times, though not, to be fair, lacking in objectivity.
The book's subtitle gives the promise of reporting from
Palestine
, though there are only a few chapters of that, beginning with the first, where Hedges recounts time spent in the West Bank last year. Even then, he relies heavily on long extracts from his friend Atef Abu Seif's Don't Look Left, a diary, published last year, of Abu Seif's experience of living in
Gaza
during the first 80 days of Israeli attacks. You presume Abu Seif was happy to have large tracts of his text lifted; those who have already read his book might, however, feel a bit short-changed.
The rest of the book is analysis of the decades that have got us to this pass. Hedges looks at the deleterious effects of the occupation of the West Bank and the history of Zionism, which, he says, never had any intention other than dispossession of the Palestinians.
He also outlines the murky way in which the
Israel
lobby in the
United States
targets and smears pro-Palestinian activists through initiatives such as the Canary Mission and the Maccabee Task Force, using targeted Facebook ads. While the ads are often effective in a localised sense, the Israel lobby also acknowledges it is fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of Americans on the subject of Israel-Palestine.
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Hedges makes an impassioned argument for the Palestinians and also excoriates the cowardice and indolence of authorities in the United States (he has little to say about Europe) in their blind support for Israel and their countenancing of the harassment and vilification of pro-Palestinian sympathisers.
[
Israeli-American plan seems intended to kill off any hope of a two-state solution by deporting population of Gaza
Opens in new window
]
A Genocide Foretold
is a lucid, if at times hectoring, short book, even if, it must be said, it does not have a great deal to separate it from the many on the same subject that have been recently published.
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Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
Trump, Starmer to meet in Scotland, with trade and Gaza on agenda
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Irish Times
9 hours ago
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Letters to the Editor, July 28th: On Gaza and religion, the cost of sexual abuse redress, and Galway traffic
Sir, – As a Christian, I was brought up to have a deep respect for the religions of others, including the Jewish religion – which forms a significant part of my cultural inheritance. Seeing the photograph of a hunger-ravaged 1½-year-old boy in Gaza city on the front page of The Irish Times (July 23rd) and the photograph of a crowd of emaciated, starving, terrified, crying children holding up pots and basins and begging for food in Khan Yunis (World News, July 24th) forced me to immediately look up what the Jewish religion has to say about the moral requirement to provide food to those who are hungry; what I found confirmed what I already knew: 'If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat. If your enemy is thirsty, give him water to drink' (Proverbs 25:1). 'Give sustenance to the poor of the non-Jews along with the poor of Israel' (Gittin 61a). READ MORE 'While eating and drinking, one must feed the foreigner, the orphan, the widow, and other poor unfortunates' (Mishneh Torah, 6:18). Criticisms of the actions of Israel in Gaza are commonly branded as anti-Semitic by the Israeli authorities and those who support Israel, but is not the enforced starvation of the population of Gaza – including children, babies and pregnant women – not only a heinous crime against our common humanity, but also an action that is utterly forbidden by the Jewish religion. Jewish people and their religious leaders who are sickened by this need to raise their voices in protest. – Yours, etc, CHRIS FITZPATRICK, Terenure, Dublin 6. Sir, – While we are aware that there is a level of censorship within Israel which seems to have justified, perhaps hidden, and manipulated the reality of Gaza, the truth remains that Jewish people, in particular the diaspora in other countries around the world, are not unaware of the starvation, the degradation, and annihilation of the people of Gaza. In consideration of their own horrific past, where are the voices of the decent Jewish people around the world, particularly in America, who must stand up and be counted, to say enough is enough, and not in our name? Your strong voices must be heard. Shout your disgust. You know and witness with your own eyes. To use a famous quote: 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' – Yours, etc, ANGELA CURRIE, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Sir, – While the perpetration of genocide by the Israeli government on Palestinians in Gaza is monstrous, other countries are complicit by their actions, and others by their inactions. It is horrifying that the US supports Israel with arms to bomb and shoot civilians, backs the 'Gaza Humanitarian Foundation', which fails, intentionally or unintentionally, to distribute enough water and food for life, and also seems to have given up on international law, humanitarian norms and the UN. However, it is Germany's actions that shock me the most. Just as post-Famine Ireland understands starvation, post-Holocaust Germany understands genocide, and its policy is supposed to be 'Never Again'. Yet, unbelievably, Germany is a significant arms supplier to Israel, and consistently refuses to back EU sanctions against that rogue state. Wann wird man je verstehen? – Yours, etc, CLAIRE WHEELER, Oaklands Park, Dublin 4. Womb with no view Sir, – The Irish Times has listed the 21 top earners among Irish chief executive officers. All men. (' Irish CEO pay soars as flight by our top plcs to Wall Street delivers the dollars ,' July 25th). Obviously no womb at the top. – Yours, etc, GEMMA McCROHAN, Ballinteer, Dublin 16. Deferring alcohol health warnings Sir, – The Government delaying until 2029 the placing of health warnings on alcoholic drinks is a shameful disgrace proving beyond any shadow of doubt the bias of this Government. In this case it shows a leaning more towards the profiteers than towards the general good of the Irish people. During the delay there will certainly be more new alcohol-related illnesses, tragedies, addictions and deaths. Some of these will be due directly to the labelling delay by the Government. When this happens, the Government must be accountable, and take a degree of responsibility and blame. – Yours, etc, ALBERT KERR, Bray, Co Wicklow. 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This is the organisation which consistently exceeds its budget and looks for further expenditure while at the same time presides over a litany of massive and irresponsible waste. This can only be described as incompetence of the highest order. It remains an unfillable money pit. When is the Government and in particular the Minister for Health going to demand and obtain radical change? Those departments which are underfunded should be asking the same questions. – Yours, etc, JOHN BURNETT, Carrigaline, Cork. Addressing cost of redress scheme Sir, – Stephen Collins writes that 'senior civil servants who have raised concerns about the potentially enormous cost to the State of a redress scheme for victims of sexual abuse in schools have performed an important service' (' A redress scheme for school abuse survivors could become a barrister-fattening exercise ,' July 25th). That concern might carry weight – if the Government hadn't spent the past week discussing how it will spend a large budget surplus. Collins overlooks another crucial point: that many institutions have not honoured their indemnity agreements with the Government – efforts to enforce these agreements could generate significant revenue to support redress. During a recent debate with me in Seanad Éireann, Minister for Education Helen McEntee left me in no doubt that enforcing indemnity agreements was an option she favoured. As a long-time advocate for redress for victims of abuse, it's important to point out that redress comes in many forms; it's not all about money. I've seen too many people broken and traumatised by their experiences while in institutions, schools and 'care' settings. Time has passed for many seeking to tell their story and obtain redress – many are now dead. Figures stating a redress scheme 'costing tens of billions of euro' are suspect. 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Before landing they should get an aerial view of the still-unfinished National Children's Hospital. A project years behind schedule, many times over budget and built in a congested location. Perhaps after this aerial tour, they will reflect on the contrast: once, Ireland built transformative national infrastructure with limited resources. Today with abundant resources we seem unable to deliver major projects on time or within budget. Any government can spend money. It only deserves credit however when it ensures projects are delivered on time, on budget, and are built to provide facilities that will be beneficial to all for years to come. – Yours, etc, NOEL SHANAGHY, Co Waterford. Sir, – Apparently, €45 million has been allocated by the National Transport Authority for 6km of cycle lane from Dundrum to Dún Laoghaire, without a cost/benefit analysis. Is this the most expensive cycle lane ever built in Ireland? – Yours, etc, OLGA BARRY, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Not in for the long haul Sir, – In your article on Aer Lingus customer service (July 21st), one traveller noted that, as bad as the airline's customer service is, the warmth and professionalism of check-in desk staff has always encouraged him to choose the airline when travelling with young children. At the time of reading, I entirely agreed and would add that the care shown by cabin crew staff on transatlantic flights, in particular, is why I've been making the same choice for my family for the past seven years and for myself for much longer. But a flight from Dublin to Cleveland last week demonstrated that the airline's strategy to expand services to more US cities is damaging this reputation of a warm Irish welcome. Our recent experience of flying with Aer Lingus included a flight that was overbooked, an hour-long wait at check-in, and a frazzled clerk who initially failed to check in our five-year-old son and then assigned him to a seat on his own. The aircraft flying to certain US destinations – Cleveland, Indianapolis, perhaps others – are just not fit for long-haul travel. For seven hours, we shared cramped rows, a single, narrow aisle, and toilets only at the back of the aircraft with about 170 economy passengers. With this set-up, it took an age for the four cabin crew to navigate the aisle, fire meals, drinks, etc, at passengers, and I don't know where or if they took breaks. Their welcome was noticeably, and understandably, more tepid than usual. Dublin Airport might also want to have a word with its flagship airline. After the chaos of check-in, the rest of our journey through security and US preclearance was mercifully efficient, fast and pleasant. But this was lost on the American tourists seated near us who I overheard saying: 'Aer Lingus is trash. That is one of the most disorganised airports I've ever been in.' Maybe it's time for Aer Lingus to reassess and rein in some of its transatlantic ambitions. – Yours, etc, GRÁINNE McEVOY, South Bend, Indiana. Ireland's housing crisis Sir, – I totally agree with Michael Gilmartin's letter (July 26th) in saying that it is an impossibility to fix the housing crisis with a growing population and migration. Even to build the required housing units means we have to bring more workers here to build them. As he says, the constant obsession with jobs and economic growth cannot continue with finite resources; sooner or later a government is going to have to accept this. Unfortunately, it's hard to foresee a party brave enough to make this stand in an election, especially seeing the drubbing that the usual whipping boys, the Green Party, receive. – Yours, etc, ENDA SCANLON, Ennis, Co Clare.
Irish Times
17 hours ago
- Irish Times
Coalition warned against diluting contentious Occupied Territories Bill
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