About the Book
The destruction rained on Gaza has been seen and accepted by many as a vengeful overreaction to the reckless Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023. This book, however, argues that the new catastrophe befalling the Palestinian people is the culmination of a decades-long pattern that runs parallel with Israel’s inexorable shift to the Right.
The Gaza Catastrophe reckons with the lethal consequences far greater than the Nakba of 1948 and the significance of a war waged by an advanced military-industrial state – with full US participation and open support from the West. Renowned political scientist Gilbert Achcar explores the dynamics of a complex historical process that culminated in the war on Gaza and wider conflict in the Middle East. Achcar offers critical insights on the genocide’s regional and international consequences, as well as radical critiques of Zionism, Hamas and other state and non-state actors.
This vital volume places the Gaza catastrophe in its wider geopolitical and historical context. It is essential to understanding the root causes of the violence destabilising the entire region and the wider world, as well as the conditions required to bring it to an end.
About the Author
Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has written extensively on politics and development economics, as well as social change and social theory. His publications include The Clash of Barbarisms: September 11 and the Making of the New World Disorder, published in fifteen languages; Perilous Power: The Middle East and US Foreign Policy, with Noam Chomsky; The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising; and Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprisings; and The New Cold War: The United States, Russia and China, from Kosovo to Ukraine.
Reviews
‘A fresh and timely analysis of the Gaza genocide from multiple perspectives, this book offers a meticulous exploration of the meaning, connotation, background and colonial linkages that have converged in this narrow strip of land. The Gaza Catastrophe is the deepest and most thorough account that examines this genocide.’ Khaled Hroub, author of Hamas: A Beginner's Guide
‘Broad yet focused, Achcar’s collection of insightful essays points at the historical and political tracks that have enabled Israel's ongoing genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. Showing the linkage between the West’s support of Israel’s atrocious onslaught and the banalisation of the global Far Right, Achcar does not only analyse the tragedy and interpret it, he also offers possible paths for a positive change that somewhat mitigates the bleak future that he foresees.’ Amira Hass, Haaretz correspondent for the 1967 Occupied Territory and author of Drinking the Sea at Gaza
