Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza

I am trying hard to understand the background to the dreadful situation in Gaza and the powerful emotions evoked on both sides. Peter Beinart's short book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, sets out the history of Palestine and Israel with brutal clarity, and he speaks from the perspective of a Jewish person who has been an unquestioning supporter of the concept of Israel in the past, but who is appalled by the actions of that state against its Palestinian inhabitants (not necessarily citizens).

I struggled reading Ruptured a few months ago, though I could understand that the anguish and the experience of anti-Semitism in Australia described by the various writers is very real; however, there was little acknowledgement of the long and cruel suffering of the Palestinian people that provided a context for the horrific events of October 11. Beinart has no problem recognising this history.

Beinart writes from a US point of view, but much of what he says applies to us here in Australia. Beinart argues passionately that the nation of Israel has betrayed the promise of a Jewish homeland by becoming an oppressor itself. I used to believe that a two state solution was the only possible answer to Israel-Palestine tensions, but I'm coming round to the view that a single state, where Palestinians and Jews have equal rights, is the only way to peace. Whether that's achievable is another question altogether.