Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine: Zionism, Settler Colonialism, and the Case for One Democratic State

Like the style written with facts

Excellent!

Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine is an interesting piece of literature; author Jeff Halper heads an organization that fights the legality of Israeli-sponsored demolitions of Palestinian houses in the Occupied West Bank. His book argues that fundamentally, Zionism engaged in Settler-Colonialism to fulfill its desire to establish a Jewish homeland. According to Halper, the goal of establishing a homeland and cultural center in Palestine/Israel by Jews isn't wrong, but the method by which the Zionist movement did this was colonialist in nature; Halper detail several ways the Zionist movement before statehood and following the establishment of Israel, under Israeli state rule, has engaged in forms of land settlement, confiscation, and marginalization. Ultimately Halper appeals to Decolonization as the method. While the efficaciousness of this particular diagnosis to the conflict or in Halper's conception the "Settler-Colonial Project" has yet to be implemented, the book suffers from an idealistic streak divorced from reality, namely that every project of decolonization has either resulted in the "Settlers" being ethnically cleansed (Algeria & Manchuria) or in the shared post-colonial polity transforming into a failed state (South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya). I won't dock the book for points on its lack of realism as it is well written, and the arguments (though in my opinion rather weak and too idealistic) is well structured, the reality is far too divorced from what Halper seeks to bring about.

This is a great book for today full of wonderful insights.

Jeff Halper is a brave soldier, fighting for the rights of Palestinians and for a more equitable solution in the Middle East. Having given up on the failed two-state plan, he has correctly resorted to the only remaining possibility, a single democratic state providing equal rights. The conceived mechanism would be that followed by South Africa where the power of world opinion forced the Apartheid regime to abandon its policies and to undergo a deep metamorphosis. In Israel, a nonpartisan look at where the pieces stand on the chess board does not give much hope. The only mighty force to bring about change would again be world opinion, which, however, has been hesitant, restrained and utterly polite. The US will never act in an anti-Zionist or anti-Israel way. The same is true for Germany, still buried under the Holocaust shame, and its neighbors aren’t much bolder, while Russia and China have staid out of the game altogether. Meanwhile, the Israelis, despite the smallness of their country, have been remarkably powerful politically and in public relations. At the most, the world will give the Palestinians a little help here and there and some humanitarian relief, but beyond that I see little change. Yet, that doesn’t mean, you shouldn’t take your hat off for Mr. Halper who is struggling for the rights of the other guy and refuses to yield from what he sees as a position of principle.

Jeff's suggestion is a death warrant for Jews living in the one and only Jew state- Israel. He suggests there are no other alternatives to a 2 state solution. Does Jeff realize there are 22 other countries in the Middle East all of them Arab and Muslim. They need to absorb their own and not ask Israel to commit suicide. Gaza and Jordan are already two Palestinian countries who can easily absorb and end the refugee problem if they wanted to. Jeff suggests we should fight for "democracy for all". He is correct Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East where all citizens have equal rights. Perhaps he should write a book about the 22 Arab Muslim counties in the Middle East that are autocracies or dictatorships with limited human rights. Nice read but Jeff clearly doesn't have a grasp on the reality in the Middle East.

The book completely ignores what is actually going on in Israel. Sure, we should all live in a utopian civilization where there are no countries at all and we are all just global citizens....but let's be real.Gaza actually voted in Hamas - a globally recognized terror group that rules according to Sharia law.PSR polling shows that most Palestinian's support targeting civilians.The PA still pays out stipends to suicide bombers families.There are many wonderful Palestinians, I know quite a few personally, but there is no way Israel dismantles itself and the Jews then become a minority under Sharia Law. Hamas & the PA can both talk about secular democracy, but what happens when they get control of the military? Is Israel supposed to just risk it for their citizens even though there is not one other true democracy in the region?The author does not address these huge issues which makes the book an unbalanced waste of time.

it’s a bad book

A convincing argument for the one state solution - more important than ever!