AN INSIGHTFUL ANALYSIS OF ONE OF TODAY S MOST PRESSING WORLD ISSUES 2017 marks a year of significant milestones in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One hundred years ago, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration, calling for the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine. Seventy years ago, the UN recommended the partition of Palestine into two states a Jewish State and an Arab State. The decision paved the way for the establishment of the State of Israel a year later on 78 percent of historic Palestine, amid widespread ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinian inhabitants. And 50 years ago, Israel militarily occupied the Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip an occupation which endures to this day. In light of these milestones, Josh Ruebner draws on personal anecdotes and reflections, historical documents, and legal analyses to answer one of the most pressing issues in international affairs today: is Israel a democracy or does its separate and unequal treatment of the Palestinian people render it an apartheid state? With President Donald Trump s willingness to explore a one-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the question gains immediacy, as Ruebner argues that any settlement of the conflict must be based on freedom, dignity, and equality.

Israel: Democracy or Apartheid State?

History

Ruebner, Josh

Middle East

Olive Branch Press

President Barack Obama’s first trip abroad in his second term took him to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, where he despondently admitted to those waiting for words of encouragement, “It is a hard slog to work through all of these issues.” Contrast this gloomy assessment with Obama’s optimism on the second day of his first term, when he appointed former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell as his special envoy for Middle East peace, boldly asserting that his administration would “actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.” How is it that Obama’s active and aggressive search for progress has become mired in the status quo? Writer and political analyst Josh Ruebner charts Obama’s journey from optimism to frustration in the first hard-hitting investigation into why the president failed to make any progress on this critical issue, and how his unwillingness to challenge the Israel lobby has shattered hopes for peace. Written in a clear and accessible style by the advocacy director of a national peace organization and former Middle East analyst for the Congressional Research Service, Shattered Hopes offers an informed history of the Obama administration’s policies and maps out a true path forward for the United States to help achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Shattered Hopes: Obama's Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace

Verso

Verso Books

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Books by Ruebner, Josh