Rating this book is difficult. At times, it was dry and academic, bordering on tedious. It was also prone to repetition. Yet, it was also so informative. Between this book and Chomsky's Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians, my eyes have been opened to the fact that Israel repeatedly and unashamedly commits atrocities against the Palestinian people. There have been multiple massacres since the colonization of the land and the original oppression of its people. These horrors are made all the more tragic when the United State's complicity is highlighted by the mention of United Nations veto votes and the never-ending influx of money and military supplies.

I have a small notebook full of facts and figures. I also recorded a few quotes that felt weighty or important.

I think one of the more interesting things about this book (and Chomsky's) is that religious and racial differences may be the apparent and underlying motivators. Still, the author rarely brings either factor directly into the text. A few instances, of course, directly mention both, but they are few and far between. More subtle passages include statistics involving the number of cultural and religious structures targeted by Israel without any military justification or reasoning. The wanton destruction of Palestinian civilian domiciles and critical infrastructure only adds to the brutality of Israel's attacks.

The statistics are jarring. The losses on the Palestinian side of the ledger far outweigh those on the Israeli side. Always. There is not a single instance when Israel is on the losing side of this neverending struggle between the Zionist state and the people it so openly oppresses through blockades, giant walls, and razor wire. Yet, it's not the statistics that moved me to tears. Mathematical figures may provide a jarring overview, but it was the more personal stories of loss of life and limb that really drove home the horrors. There weren't many personal accounts, indeed not as many as I expected, but when they were included, I found I could not stomach them. I cried more than once. I also cussed a lot.

Incredibly, this historical overview had so many parallels to the current war being waged in Gaza. History is repeating itself. The only difference this time is that Israel is having a more challenging time covering up their war crimes because social media exists, and the Gazans are able to document their own genocide. And still, America throws money and votes in Israel's favor. It's abhorrent.