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Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom
Norman G. Finkelstein
4.66
1,343 ratings206 reviews
The Gaza Strip is among the most densely populated places in the world. More than two-thirds of its inhabitants are refugees, and more than half are under eighteen years of age. Since 2004, Israel has launched eight devastating “operations” against Gaza’s largely defenseless population. Thousands have perished, and tens of thousands have been left homeless. In the meantime, Israel has subjected Gaza to a merciless illegal blockade.
What has befallen Gaza is a man-made humanitarian disaster.
Based on scores of human rights reports, Norman G. Finkelstein's new book presents a meticulously researched inquest into Gaza’s martyrdom. He shows that although Israel has justified its assaults in the name of self-defense, in fact these actions constituted flagrant violations of international law.
But Finkelstein also documents that the guardians of international law—from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to the UN Human Rights Council—ultimately failed Gaza. One of his most disturbing conclusions is that, after Judge Richard Goldstone's humiliating retraction of his UN report, human rights organizations succumbed to the Israeli juggernaut.
Finkelstein’s magnum opus is both a monument to Gaza’s martyrs and an act of resistance against the forgetfulness of history.
GenresHistoryNonfictionPoliticsMiddle EastWarSocial JusticeIsrael
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429 pages, Hardcover
First published January 9, 2018
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Norman G. Finkelstein
26 books1,725 followers
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Norman Gary Finkelstein, is an American political scientist and activist. His primary fields of research are the politics of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Son of a holocaust survivor, Finkelstein is a fierce critic of Israeli policy, especially toward Palestinians. He has had a tense rivalry with his pro-Israel counterpart, Alan Dershowitz. In 2007 DePaul University denied his tenure, a decision for which Dershowitz lobbied. For his views and suspected connections to anti-Zionist groups, Israel has denied Finkelstein entry and banned him from the country for a decade.
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Shaimaa شيماء
579 reviews365 followers
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October 9, 2025
업데이트 3: 10월 9일, 전쟁 종식 협정 체결.
이것이 마지막 업데이트가 되기를, 그리고 신께서 우리의 고통을 덜어주시기를 기도합니다.
업데이트 2: 2025년 10월 7일이 다가오고 있습니다... 우리는 최악의 순간들을 목격하고 있습니다... 2년간의 살육, 파괴, 그리고 학살...
업데이트 1: 2024년 1월
2023년 10월 7일로부터 470일 후... 말로 다 표현할 수 없는 참혹하고 고통스러운 시간이었습니다.
이제 끔찍한 전쟁이 끝났습니다. 그 전쟁에 대해 쓰려면 아마도 여러 권의 책이 필요할 것입니다.
제가 전쟁이 시작된 직후 읽었던 이 책은 2005년부터 2014년까지 가자 지구에서 일어난 일들을 기록하고 있습니다. 저자가 흉악하고 잔혹하다고 묘사한 그 사건들은 2023년 10월 7일 이후에 일어난 일들과는 비교할 수 없을 정도입니다.
가자 지구와 그 주민들에게 평화가 깃들기를. 신께서 당신에게 보상하시고, 순교자들에게 자비를 베푸시며, 당신에게 상을 주시고, 최고의 보상을 내려주시기를 바랍니다.
...정말 읽기 힘든 책이지만, 현실은 그보다 훨씬 더 힘들고 고통스럽습니다.
그리고 다시 한번, 우리가 평범하게 살고, 먹고 마시고 있는 동안 이런 일들이 일어났다는 사실을 전혀 몰랐다는 게 부끄럽습니다. 우리는 어디에 있었던 걸까요? 정말 모르겠습니다. 🥺🥺🥺
이 책은 2018년에 출판되었습니다.
물론, 이전에 일어났던 만행들은 지금 전 세계의 이목이 집중된 가운데 자행되고 있는, 현대사에서 가장 잔혹한 작전에 비하면 아무것도 아닙니다. 하지만 그들의 수사법은 똑같습니다. 거짓말, 허위 정보, 그리고 전 세계의 공모. 파괴의 규모와 기간만 다를 뿐, 모든 것이 똑같습니다.
아마도 알 아크사 사태 이전에 이 책을 읽었더라면, 이렇게까지 공감하지 못했을지도 모르겠습니다. 하지만 이제, 이 모든 기록들, 이 모든 장소들, 그리고 이 모든 사건들이 우리를 그들과 아주 가깝게 만들어 주었고, 우리는 마치 가자 지구에서 가자 사람들과 함께 살고 있는 듯한 느낌을 받습니다.
이 책은 22일간 지속된 2008년 전쟁, 일명 '캐스트 리드 작전'과 그 만행을 기록한 골드스톤 보고서, 그리고 이후 그 보고서가 공격받아 철회된 과정을 다룹니다.
그리고 가자 지구에 인도적 지원 물자를 운반하던 마비 마르마라호에 대한 비열한 공격 사건을 언급합니다. 이 공격으로 활동가 7명이 사망했고, 배는 압수되었습니다.
이어서 55일간 지속된 2014년 전쟁, '보호의 칼날 작전'을 다룹니다. 저자는 이 작전이 상상할 수 없는 파괴를 초래했다고 믿으며, 당시 일부에서는 가자 지구를 재건하는 데 170년이 걸릴 것이라고 말했습니다.
물론, 그는 2023년에 일어난 일을 아직 목격하지 못했습니다.
이 책은 이스라엘의 가자지구 공격이 불가피하며, 하마스의 공격은 단지 구실에 불과하다는 것을 알려줍니다. 안타깝게도 하마스는 여전히 자신들이 피해자이며 자기방어를 위해 행동하고 있다고 세계를 설득하는 데 성공하고 있습니다.
이 책은 매우 중요합니다. 우리 대부분이 알지 못하는 세부적인 내용들을 알 수 있고, 문체 또한 훌륭하고 흥미롭습니다.
아브자드 출판사의 책 소개에 따르면,
이 책은 팔레스타인 민족의 투쟁 전반, 특히 가자지구와 그곳에서 자행된 연이은 학살과 숨 막히는 봉쇄를 중심으로 얽히고설킨 사건들을 서술합니다. 이스라엘이 평화 제안을 일관되게 거부하고, 미국의 지원을 받아 여러 국제 포럼에서 증인들을 침묵시키고 책임과 처벌을 회피하려 했던 과정을 자세히 설명합니다.
이 책은 네 부분과 부록으로 구성되어 있습니다. 첫 번째 부분은 '캐스트 리드 작전'과 그 여파를 다루며, 국제 인권 단체의 보고서 내용, 이스라엘 옹호론자들의 주장과 그에 대한 반박을 종합적으로 분석합니다. 두 번째 부분은 골드스톤 보고서와 그 보고서가 의장 위원회의 조사 결과를 철회한 과정을 분석합니다. 세 번째 부분은 인도적 지원 선단 공격과 그 정치적, 법적 파장을 다룹니다. 마지막으로 네 번째 부분은 '보호의 칼날 작전'을 다루며, 이스라엘의 만행과 배신 행위를 상세히 기술합니다. 이 범죄 이후 인권 단체들이 팔레스타인 사람들을 비난했습니다. 부록에서는 아파르트헤이트 정권의 국가 점령에 대한 법적 지위와 나미비아 점령에 대한 법적 지위를 독특하게 비교합니다. 아브자드 팔레스타인 - 사랑하는 사람 - 논픽션 도서 - 22
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Tim
337 reviews276 followers
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November 20, 2023
Updated Nov 20 2023: Finkelstein documents through exemplary sourcing the many atrocities committed on Gazans, the exact situation in Gaza, and the history of Gaza back to the founding of Israel. Further as Finkelstein said in a recent interview it will infuriate you and can perhaps inspire all of us in further ways we can pressure those in power to stop this madness. Now that I've been watching this carnage for going on 7 weeks the events in this book couldn't possibly shock you further. However, it's unbelievable that so many in the West don't know that there's been a siege and complete control of utilities, food, water and basic essentials by Israel since Hamas assumed power in 2007. Obviously Israeli military occupation, harrassment and ethnic cleansing has gone on in various forms in Gaza for nearly a century. So nothing happening from October 7th on comes out of a vacuum. This fact has become all too painfully aware to many in recent weeks.
The current genocidal activities of the Israelis all have patterns admitted by IDF members in the past whereas terrorization of populations is a "legitimate military tactic" - i.e. collective punishment admitted by those in the IDF going back even before 1948 to the days of the Hagana, Irgun and Stern Gang. This is documented by soldier testimony in the book. Their playbook happens in front of our eyes, their words say another and it has been this way for decades. Finkelstein's book just serves as source material for all this with very specific cited instances and subsequent reporting and testimony
Further notably concerning is that settlers are never prosecuted for shooting Palestinians (of course not) but now we have record numbers of gun purchases and assaults in the West Bank. Neither are IDF soldiers of course. Also documented in the book through many many international sources.
I have a friend in Gaza who I check in with daily (when there is internet) to make sure he's alive. I have many Palestinian friends in Jordan where I lived who send me messages of friends or loved ones losing multiple family members in bombs or know of them it's all very close and very personal to me. I feel helpless, but I see more around me are becoming ever more aware and I'm seeing people asking questions I never would have imagined. It's encouraging from that aspect but why does it have to take a genocide for this to happen! Let's hope all the death and destruction has not been in vain and that there's a better future for all people in this land.
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Kaelan Ratcliffe ▪ كايِلان راتكِليف
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March 23, 2019
Relentless, Uncompromising Truth
This book serves a duel purpose. On one hand, it is a meticulous, and unrelenting critique of Israels collective punishment of the Gazan people - specific focus on Operations Cast Lead and Protective Edge - as well as the Palestinians as a whole. On the other hand, Gaza acts as an incredible example for anyone who wants to understand how propaganda can influence the views of multiple populations who are aware of an ongoing conflict.
Finkelstein is on an entirely different level in this magnum opus when it comes to the latter function previously mentioned. I felt myself tutored by a true scholar in this field. He opened my eyes not only to the thousand little lies that have been peddled regarding Gaza, but also to the almost missable phrasing of terms when discussing the hideous crimes enacted on Gaza (I'm looking at you Amnesty).
The reader may slow down during his breakdown of Amnesty Internationals report, as well as the UN councils report post-protective edge. However I cannot emphasise how important it is for the reader to stay with this book. It is without a doubt the most powerful, heart-wrenching and gobsmacking piece of text I have opened my eyes to about Israel and Palestine.
activism classic colonialism-imperialism
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Nelson
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March 14, 2019
The son of Holocaust survivors, Finkelstein documents Israel's assaults on the Gaza strip since Israel "disengaged" from it in 2005, as well as Israel's cover-up operations, acting as a lawyer for the people of Gaza.
Israel, for all I admire about her talent and her accomplishments, has really. gone. bonkers. Yesterday the IDF just shot and killed two more Palestinians. During Cast Lead and its shooting down of the humanitarian aid flotilla (2008) and Protective Edge (2014), Israel killed 1,000 and 2,000 people each war, 80% of whom were civilians. They've dropped one-ton bombs on densely-populated civilian areas, shot at ambulances, aid workers, and journalists, and bombed a UN shelter. Its alibi has always been that Hamas is hiding among the population, although in the overwhelming number of cases, human rights organizations such as Amnesty, HRW, and B'Tselem (which is Israeli) wasn't able to identify any military targets or Hamas operatives. Testimonies from IDF soldiers involved in the conflicts show they often did not see a single Hamas fighter the whole war. They were also told to shoot anybody who looks over 15 or is moving, assuming civilians have all fled.
Israel has also blockaded Gaza in order to bring its economy to the brink of collapse, without starving it, in order to delegitimize Hamas.
When Richard Goldstone, the South African Jew and Zionist, concluded in his UN report that Israel's intent was to terrorize and humiliate the civilian population during Operation Cast Lead, Israel launched vicious PR campaign against him and forced him to recant. This offensive subdued Human Rights Watch into not saying anything after Protective Edge and and Amnesty into watering down its reports on the latest war.
Again acting as Gaza's attorney, Finkelstein has punched all of Israel's atrocities into the peer-reviewed record (UC Press), as a monument to its people's resilience.
Jews have an admirable human rights record and they lead, fund, and heavily staff reputable organizations like Amnesty and HRW. I'm confident they can turn the state of Israel around.
middle-east political-science
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Mostafa
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March 21, 2024
저자는 독자를 사로잡는 법률 글쓰기의 모범을 제시합니다. 그는 딱딱한 국제법 및 인권 보고서를 해체하고 이를 역사적 사건으로 다루어 독자가 지루해하지 않도록 서술함으로써 가자 지구 주민들의 고통을 탐구합니다. 핀켈스타인의 이러한 글쓰기 스타일은 주로 당시 상황에 대한 그의 신랄한 비판에서 비롯됩니다. 그는 "야금줄을 깔고 유엔, 앰네스티 인터내셔널, 철학자, 그리고 이 문제에 대한 객관성과 균형을 주장하는 사람들을 향해 맹렬하게 비판을 퍼붓습니다. 이 문제는 비례성의 원칙에 따라 처리되어서는 안 된다고 주장합니다." 또한 국제 사회의 위선, 유동적인 법률, 그리고 순교로 점철된 가자 지구에 미친 그 여파를 강하게 비판합니다. 물론 이러한 방법론적 틀을 넘어서, 이 책은 믿기 힘들 정도로 고통스럽습니다. 당시 실제로 이런 일들이 일어났는데도 세계의 양심이 움직이지 않았다는 사실이 믿기지 않습니다. 지금 이 순간에도 더 큰 규모로, 더 잔혹한 학살이 우리 눈앞에서 매 순간 생중계되고 있습니다. 그런데도 우리는 여전히 이를 믿을 수 없고, 무력감에 휩싸여 있습니다. 부디 신께서 가자 지구 사람들에게 자비를 베푸시고, 긍휼을 베푸시기를 기도합니다.
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Rob Prince
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ReadFebruary 13, 2018
Finkelstein...a careful and serious researcher. He's the focus of many attacks from pro-Israeli ideologue types who try to paint him as some kind of extremist on the margins...This is silly. His work is about the best stuff out there - and this book is a masterpiece. Appreciated more outside the US of A than within it where he is essentially blackballed from the mainstream media. His work will endure. If you listen to what he has to say politically, by the way, he is a thoughtful moderate and realist. Personally a difficult person...but so what?
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Christopher Moltisanti's Windbreakers fan
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May 11, 2021
Finkelstein is a rare breed of historian and researcher whose books contain thousands of footnotes so that no one can twist his words or dispute his claims that Israel is a rogue ethonofascist state that has no boundaries of inflicting sufferings on Palestinians both living in Palestine and refugees outside of it. His mastery of using oppositional views and slowly dissecting the flaws and lies in them makes him one of the most beloved figures among Palestinian activists.
Not to get sappy here, my admiration of Palestinians have no limits. For decades with patience they took them upon themselves to save their dignity, protect their friends and families, educate the rest of the world about their sufferings. Yet, the so called civilized world not only doesn't look at them, they actually demonize and inflict more sufferings onto them. It's heartbreaking to see my Palestinian brother's and sister's sufferings for basic humanity. You can't claim to be anti-imperialist and do revisionist bullshit on the history and struggle of Palestine.
Long Live Intifada until Palestine is free. From river to the sea Palestine will be free.
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Sue Miz
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October 28, 2024
This book took me almost a year to finish
Not because its writing style is hard to read, but because every time I finish a chapter, I needed a lot of time to come back to myself.
On March 2018 to December 2019, every Arab news lit horrifically shows how Z!0nists IOF shot over 220 Plstn who were peacefully protesting their return to their lands which they were displaced from.
Seeing how a Holocaust survivor descendant standing up for Plstn rights makes me both restore my faith in humanity and feel sad that "Never Again" is happening again
Fck Z!0nism
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Sophia
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February 3, 2021
This book was the first I read about the Israel/Palestine conflict, and while I can’t recommend it as a good starting place due to its density and focus only on recent history, I can wholeheartedly recommend it for its thoroughness and the author’s incredible commitment to the truth. Finkelstein carefully sifts through human rights report on recent “operations” inflicted by the Israel Defense Forces on Palestine and exposes in minute, even excruciating detail the places where these reports obfuscate, fall short, or even flat-out lie about the situation on the ground in Gaza.
Support for the state of Israel is a given in American politics; it’s one of the only issues that Democrats and Republicans can agree on. Donald Trump proudly upheld Israel in American foreign policy, and Joe Biden has promised to do the very same. But the fact is that Israel regularly and systemically commits crimes against humanity on the civilian population of Gaza with nearly zero criticism from Western media. And that’s what makes a book like Finkelstein’s so important: we are seeing atrocities, actively aided by the US government, committed right in front of our noses and most of us don’t even know it’s happening.
This book is dense, it’s packed full of numbers, statistics, and complicated legal analyses, but all of the work Finkelstein does here shows us the myriad ways the truth can be corrupted and distorted for political goals and the horrific human costs of these obfuscations. In the process, he teaches us to be better readers and better people in the pursuit of social justice. This is not an easy read, but I cannot recommend it enough. Five stars.
social-justice
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Marwa Fathy
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January 4, 2024
가자 지구 주민들은 순교의 위기에 직면했을 때, 비인간적인 봉쇄 속에서 서서히 죽어가는 것보다 저항하다 죽는 길을 택했습니다. 💔
Abjad Palestine 앱
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