Ali Abunimah - The Battle for Justice in Palestine

Contents

Praise for The Battle for Justice in Palestine

Every community that stands fast, loving its people and its land, its customs and its ways, will be seen, eventually, as worthy of saving. This is because it is our own humanity we are learning from, our own value. There will also arise a special voice to champion us, one that is brave, trustworthy, and true. In The Battle for Justice in Palestine it is the voice of Ali Abunimah, fierce, wisea warrior for justice and peacesomeone whose large heart, one senses, beyond his calm, is constantly on fire. A pragmatist but also a poet. This is the book to read to understand the present bizarre and ongoing complexity of the Palestine/Israel tragedy. And though it is filled with the grim reality of this long and deadly, ugly and dehumanizing conflict, it also offers hope: that as more people awaken to the shocking reality of what has for decades been going on, we can bring understanding and restitution to the Palestinian people. Their struggle to exist in dignity and peace in their own homelandand this may be the biggest surprise of Abunimahs bookis mirrored in the struggles for survival and autonomy of more than a few of us.

Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple and many other works, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award

A crucially needed dose of educated hope. This is what hits me from this fascinating amalgam of incisive journalism, analytic prose, and intellectually compelling vision that emanates from many years of brilliant activism. Sailing effortlessly from the domestic to the global, from Johannesburg to Belfast and from Chicago to Tel Aviv, Ali Abunimah paints a lucid, accessible picture out of a complex web of racism, racialized oppression, and creative resistance. Ali does not give us hope; he helps us dig for it within us by meticulously laying out before us the facts, the trends, the challenges, and the inspiring resistance to them.

Omar Barghouti, Palestinian human rights activist, co-founder of the BDS movement, author of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights

With incisive style and scrupulous attention to documentation and detail, Ali Abunimahs new book offers a complex portrait, from every angle, of the Palestinian struggle for justice today.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace

"This is the best book on Palestine in the last decade. No existing book presents the staggering details and sophistication of analysis that Abunimahs book offers. Abunimahs scope includes an analysis of the politics, economics, environmental policies, identity politics, international relations, academic scholarship and activism, global solidarity, and official and unofficial lobbies that have come to bear on Palestine and the Palestinians. The Battle for Justice in Palestine is the most comprehensive treatment of Palestinian suffering under Israeli control and offers the only possible way to end it. It is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the current situation of the Palestinians and Israel."

Joseph Massad, Columbia Univer sity

In The Battle for Justice in Palestine , Ali Abunimahthe most astute commentator writing on Palestine todaybursts the leaky myths of Israeli exceptionalism while carefully examining where the battle for Palestine is currently being waged. Forget the endless peace process, which has ushered in little more than massive economic exploitation, tragic environmental degradation, and servile and destructive politics. Focus instead, Abunimah tells us, on the many civil society and campus initiatives around the world that are bravely ushering in a new era of global grassroots organizing for justice. Rich in information and deep in analysis, The Battle for Justice in Palestine will inspire readers that Palestinian self-determination is not only possible but absolutely necessary.

Moustafa Bayoumi, author, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America

First published by Haymarket Books in 2014

2014 Ali Abunimah

Haymarket Books

P.O. Box 180165

Chicago, IL 60618

773-583-7884

info@haymarketbooks.org

www.haymarketbooks.org

ISBN: 978-1-60846-347-3

Trade distribution:

In the US, Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, www.cbsd.com

In the UK, Turnaround Publisher Services, www.turnaround-psl.com

In Australia, Palgrave Macmillan, www.palgravemacmillan.com.au

All other countries, Publishers Group Worldwide, www.pgw.com

Special discounts are available for bulk purchases by organizations and

institutions. Please contact Haymarket Books for more information at

773-583-7884 or info@haymarketbooks.org.

This book was published with the generous support of Lannan Foundation

and the Wallace Global Fund.

Cover design by Eric Ruder. Cover image of a celebration in Gaza in November 2012 by Majdi Fathi, APAimages.

Library of Congress CIP data is available.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

List of Abbreviations

ADL Anti-Defamation League

AIPAC American Israel Public Affairs Committee

ANC African National Congress

ANSWER Act Now to Stop War and End Racism

BDS Boycott, divestment, and sanctions

BMIP Bethlehem Multidisciplinary Industrial Park

BNC Boycott National Committee

CSUN California State University, Northridge

DUP Democratic Unionist Party

GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

HIDTA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area

IACP International Association of Chiefs of Police

IMF International Monetary Fund

IPCC Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce

IPO Initial public offering

IRA Irish Republican Army

JINSA Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs

JNF Jewish National Fund

JTA Jewish Telegraphic Agency

LGBTQ Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer

MSA Muslim Student Association

NCLR National Council of La Raza

NUG National unity government

NYPD New York Police Department

OCR Office of Civil Rights

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OFC Olympia Food Co-op

OPIC Overseas Private Investment Corporation

PADICO Palestinian Development and Investment Company

PCRF Palestine Childrens Relief Fund

PIEFZA Palestinian Industrial Estate and Free Zone Authority

PA Palestinian Authority

PRC Palestinian Return Centre

SJP Students for Justice in Palestine

SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies

TSA Transportation Security Administration

UCSA University of California Student Association

UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency

WTO World Trade Organization

Acknowledgments

It would be impossible to thank everyone who played a role in helping me write this book individually. The ideas and experiences I describe were shaped by countless interactions over several years, from conversations in cars with students who came to pick me up at airports for events to articles and conversations shared on Twitter. I would especially like to mention my visit to the Gaza Strip in May 2013 at the invitation of the Palestine Festival of Literature. For a week I barely slept as I visited almost every corner of the territory and heard from so many people who were unstintingly generous with their time and insights. Just a few weeks after that visit, the Egyptian military coup regime tightened the closure of Gaza, meaning that a similar trip would be all but impossible today.

From conception to completion, my editor Anthony Arnove provided invaluable advice and reassurance that enabled me to finish the book. And as I told Sarah Grey, the copy editor, I like my writing much better after youve edited it. Her skillful pen greatly improved the quality of my prose. Everyone at Haymarket Books has made me feel that they are as excited about this book as I am.