Articles
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Page 60
Books
Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide
By Ben White, Pluto Books Inc., paperback, 172 pp. List: $15.95; AET: $12.
Reviewed by Adam Chamy
Not all beginners’ guides are strictly for the amateur. Occasionally, some convey points in such an accessible and succinct manner as to present an ideal road map for experts and novicesalike. Ben White’s landmark new book, Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide, is one such work: a balanced and highly readable manual for anyone concerned with the origins and present-day manifestations of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
White, a journalist by training, has written a wide range of works for publications including this one (see, most recently, “Five Years After ICJ Ruling, Israel Expands Its Illegal Wall Onto More Palestinian Land,” July 2009 Washington Report, p. 18), The Guardian online, the New Statesman and Electronic Intifada (www.electronicintifada.net). Drawing upon his extensive on-the-ground experiences in Israel and the West Bank, he includes a wide assortment of sources—from first-hand accounts by Palestinians to charts detailing the destruction of Palestinian villages and the expansion of Israeli settlements within the occupied territories.
White cites the words of such Zionist heroes as David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann as further evidence of Israel’s discriminatory policies. Indeed, he introduces his book with a telling quote by the early Zionist leader and theoretician Ze’ev Jabotinsky that “Zionist colonization, even the most restricted, must be...carried out in defiance of the will of the native population.”
Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide also provides an easy-to-read summary of the Palestinian Nakba, or catastrophe, on which the creation of the Jewish state was based. “In this book,” White writes, “the truth of Israel’s past and present is laid bare; the ethnic cleansing, land grabs, discriminatory legislation, and military occupation.” Nor does he hesitate to address the effects of the Nakba on Palestinian refugees and the importance of the right of return.
White goes on to detail the structural intricacies of the apartheid system within the Israeli state, distinguishing it from its application in the occupied territories. Likewise, he details key subjects such as water, checkpoints, settlements, and the status of East Jerusalem. Moreover, he provides key similarities and differences between Israeli apartheid and the former South African apartheid system.
While White does not attempt to provide a solution to the current conflict, he does expose current fault lines in the movement and how activists—within Israel and internationally—are working toward “a different kind of future” of inclusion and peace.
Not to be overlooked is the Frequently Asked Questions and Glossary sections where White refutes common declarations by the Zionist camp. His clear and logical talking points provide any activist with a crisply reasoned way to counter pro-Israel propaganda. The strength is in their brevity: whereas scholars devote lengthy and densely worded chapters exposing Israel’s anti-democratic structure or critiquing Zionist myths, White offers succinct counter arguments in a mere three or four paragraphs.
Perhaps the one aspect missing from this otherwise impressive work is a discussion about Gaza. Where do the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip fit within Israel’s apartheid system? Are they technically included—as a result of Israel’s devastating blockade—or completely external to it? White’s omission of the Gaza question leaves the latter impression. Even a brief summary would have helped clarify the matter.
White proves himself to be an excellent investigator with a journalist’s eye for detail, clarity and brevity. As a result, Israeli Apartheid: A Beginners Guide, is an indispensable resource for anyone trying to expand the message of peace—for Palestinians and Israelis alike.
Adam Chamy is director of the AET Book Club.
