The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza - Softcover

Blumenthal, Max

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1568585446 ISBN 13: 9781568585444

Publisher: Bold Type Books, 2016

Synopsis

On July 8, 2014, Israel launched air strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza, followed by a ground invasion. The ensuing conflict led to 51 days of war that left over 2,000 people dead, the vast majority of whom were Palestinian civilians. During the assault, at least 10,000 homes were destroyed and, according to the United Nations, nearly 300,000 Palestinians were displaced. Max Blumenthal was on the ground during what he argues was an entirely avoidable catastrophe. In this explosive work of reportage, Blumenthal reveals the harrowing conditions and cynical deceptions that led to the ruinous war — details that slipped through the cracks of the mainstream media.

Here, for the first time, Blumenthal unearths and presents shocking evidence of atrocities he gathered in the rubble of Gaza after much of the Western media had packed up. He radically shifts the discussion around a number of controversial issues, like the use of civilians as human shields by Israeli forces; the arbitrary targeting of Palestinian civilians; and widespread incitement to genocide by Israeli military personnel, political leaders, and state-sponsored clerics. Blumenthal recorded testimonies from scores of Gazan residents, documenting potential war crimes committed by the Israeli armed forces. He also documented details of the battles that took place between Israeli forces and the armed guerrilla factions of the Gaza Strip, explaining their military and political significance with intimate proximity to the subject. And he explains the outcome of the ceasefire agreement that arrived after 51 days of fighting, showing how US and Egyptian-led diplomacy makes another, even more horrifying war almost inevitable.

The horrors the world witnessed in Gaza, Blumenthal argues, did not occur in a vacuum. They are reflections of the political trajectory of the state of Israeli society today. Here, Blumenthal demonstrates that while residents of Gaza are indeed victims who suffer immensely, they also engaged in dramatic acts of resistance. The 51 Day War exemplifies the fearless reporting and unflinching style that Blumenthal has become known for.

About this title

About the Author

Max Blumenthal is the author of Republican Gomorrah, a New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller, and Goliath, winner of the Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Notable Book Award. His writing and video documentaries have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Beast, the Nation, the Guardian, the Independent Film Channel, the Huffington Post, Salon.com, Al Jazeera English, and many other publications. He blogs at maxblumenthal.com

Review

"[A] heart-wrenching narrative...Blumenthal, who was on the ground for part of the offensive, bore witness to the loss of life, shelter, and possessions but never hope among Gaza's Palestinian residents...The result is a harrowing, transfixing narrative of a people's ordeal that will provoke and challenge." Publishers Weekly

"An alarming report on Israel's devastating 2014 attack on Gaza.... Explosive, pull-no-punches reporting that is certain to stir controversy." Kirkus

The 51 Day War lays bare some of the names, faces and experiences behind [the] statistics Blumenthal offers an unembellished look at the misery on the ground in the Gaza Strip during Israel's Operation Protective Edge in 2014.” In These Times

Max Blumenthal's unflinching book on Gaza war must not be ignored The 51-Day War is the first account by a US journalist of an assault that dropped almost the same tonnage of explosives on Gaza as that on Hiroshima.” Electronic Intifada

The 51 Day War is a tribute to the resilience of a people facing an indescribable reality. ... Whether reading this book with an advanced knowledge of the history of Israel-Palestine or as an introduction to the conflict, The 51 Day War will leave you better informed and filled with an unquenchable, and very angry, thirst for justice and equality in Palestine and beyond.” Muftah.org

"As we would expect from one of the finest and most intrepid journalists working in America today, this meticulous, first-hand report on The Fifty One Day War will stand as the definitive account of the man-made catastrophe so cruelly inflicted on the men, women and children of Gaza in the summer of 2014.” Andrew Cockburn, author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High Tech Assassins

"Max Blumenthal has spent the last decade transforming himself into one of the most vital voices in journalism today, always speaking truth to power with fearlessness and integrity. As with his previous books, The 51 Day War is sure to be talked about for years to come.” Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and No god but God

"Max Blumenthal audaciously takes in-your-face, on-the-ground journalism into the realm of geopolitics.” Juan Cole, Informed Comment, author of The New Arabs and Engaging the Muslim World

About this edition

• Publisher: Bold Type Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1568585446
• ISBN 13: 9781568585444
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272