Method and Madness: The Hidden Story of Israel's Assaults on Gaza by Norman G. Finkelstein

Method and Madness: The Hidden Story of Israel's Assaults on Gaza Reviews

• 
  Daria Dasha

  This book put me in a state of deep and profound shame on many personal levels. First and foremost, I was ashamed to have realized that, just like Dr. Finkelstein's parents used to say that the world had forgotten about the European Jews during the Holocaust, I was among those in the world who forgot about the Gazans during the Israeli operations carried out in Gaza throughout the years 2009-2014, and before.
  
  Then it was the shame of not knowing the basic facts, crucial events, numbers and reports behind and after the operations. It was also the shame, or rather shameful realization, of having drawing conclusions on the basis of propoganda, be it Israeli-driven or advanced by the American Jewish lobby.
  
  One of the most revelationary things I've learned after reading the book is that Dr. Finkelstein is not the only one in the field to put himself in the way of the Israeli propoganda machine. He gives a list of references with several names worth looking into.
  
  This book taught me some basic steps to undertake when something of this magnitude and importance is taking place, namely, learn the facts, refer to trustworthy organizations for information, analyze everything to the detail and do not allow propogandistic slogans to obscure the view.
• 
  Joey

  This son of Holocaust survivors pulls no punches with Israeli war crimes. Supporters of Israel hate Dr. Finkelstein for good reason, he shines a harsh light on what is naked aggression, clearly not defense.
• 
  Sophia

  God, the optimism of the conclusion's call for non-violent resistance in Gaza (knowing this was written pre-Great March of Return) had me tearing up. When will it end? Free Palestine til it's backwards!!!!! 🇵🇸
• 
  Aisling

  A look at the history of Israeli attacks on Gaza and their motives. This was very good, through but not too long. The only thing that I disliked was the slight repetitive nature. It is also very clear what the author thinks of Israel but I agree and honestly it is hard not to considering the facts.
• 
  Muberra

  This is an important read on Israel's motives behind the countless attacks on the Palestinian people by the Israeli's. This book reveals that Israel has a systematic policy designed to destruct and murder Palestinians, as well as to humiliate and dehumanise them. The Israeli's aren't in 'war' with the Palestinians. They are ethnically cleansing them.
• 
  Jacob

  "Do Palestinians have the right to symbolically resist slow death punctuated by periodic massacres, or is it incumbent upon them to lie down and die?"
• 
  Scottie

  Finkelstein’s optimism is important and necessary
• 
  Laurel

  There were a lot of reasons that made me worried about picking up this book:
  
  First of all, I am not a big non-fiction reader. I've always been very intimidated by it, I've found it difficult to focus on the few non-fiction books I've picked up in the past, and therefore I've pretty much exclusively read fiction novels throughout my life.
  
  Second of all, the information I had on Palestine was quite limited. I had been keeping informed as much as possible on current events, but other than a few headlines here and there, and one basic 1h30 class on the Israeli-Palestine "conflict" in high school, I had been woefully uninformed about what preceded October 2023.
  
  This tied into my third concern: this book focuses on the events of ~2002-2014, and only very quickly summarizes any earlier history to at least minimally contextualize the attacks addressed by Finkelstein. I was worried that I should start with the very beginning, but then worried about pinpointing the elusive "beginning" of this "conflict".
  
  Finally, all of this was amplified by the fact that everyone has always told me, either through school or family or Canadian news and other international western media that this was an "incredibly complex" issue, seeming to imply that even the most informed, academic experts on the topic struggled to pick a side or understand the true depth of the situation.
  
  I started reading this book expecting to set it down after a chapter or two, only to maybe pick it up again later once I did some more "basic" research. It ended up being an extremely straightforward, yet still deeply informative read.
  
  I'm sure part of the reason is that Finkelstein is indeed a very talented author. His research is so extensive and his references/footnotes constitute in and of themselves a great source of further research. The way he presents his arguments is super clear and concise, the entire book was so well-organized which made it really easy to follow.
  
  However, I think another reason this ended up being an easier read than I expected, is that the struggle of Palestinians and the violence they've had to face from Israel for decades now, is not nearly as complicated as the world has made it out to be. Just a couple of chapters into this book and I guarantee you will see that you cannot, as a person with humanity and logical critical-thinking, be anything other than pro-Palestine.
  
  I strongly urge everyone to pick this up, even if it is the very first novel you ever read on the topic. It serves as a great starting point or as a complimentary read for people who have already been educating themselves on the issue for some time now. I'm excited to read some of Finkelstein's other books and I will absolutely be recommending this novel to everyone I know.
• 
  Mirko Kriskovic

  Never disappointed by Mr Finkelstein, how you feel about this book, which focuses on Israel attack on Palestine during the last 5 years Operations Cast Lead (2008-9), Pillar of Defence (2012) and Protective Edge (2014) depends on your grasp on reality and your understanding of the the rule of law, if you believe that some land has been given to a group of people by G-d, then this is not the book for you!
• 
  Alejandro Salem

  A short and straightforward read, Finkelstein goes about debunking the official Israeli arguments downplaying the destruction in three separate attacks carried out in Gaza. It lays out an unforgiving look at Israeli policy regarding Palestine, but doesn’t delve too deeply into an analysis of the problem. It is a pretty good review of the facts.
• 
  Stefan Gugler

  Finkelstein is in my opinion extremely sharp and has an eye like a hawk for details. I especially found his treatment of the Goldstone report illuminating, how there was a huge back and forth and what was said at which point. Some of the bits felt very game-theoretic: the optimal information strategy to convey X at time T would have been S, yet since Israel opted for S' (the suboptimal strategy, sometimes vastly so) gives us retrospective insight into how honest an earlier statement was. Given that we are more or less surrounded by pro-Israel pundits and newspapers (particularly since the discourse is heavily US-dominated) it was certainly a fresh perspective on the conflict in the middle east. In most of the arguments, Finkelstein was able to convince me of how the Israel government and/or the IDF played some mischievous bully game, where they provoked an attack from underfunded Palestine only to retaliate 10-fold. The power asymmetry is hugely important as well as who initiated which piece talks.
  
  Finkelstein himself really avoids and practically never plays the 'card' that he is the son of Holocaust survivors but I feel it gives his point credibility beyond of what any fanatic US-Bible belt commentators, who write pro-Israel books just because they think the rapture is going to happen in the Palestine area, can ever achieve.
• 
  michal k-c

  Funny enough, Norm comes pretty close a few times to realizing Walter Benjamin’s vision of a historicism comprised entirely of quotations. intensely convincing characterization of Israel’s tendency to systematically target civilian structures / civilians themselves. Norm’s only downfall is his honourable but stubborn commitment to Gandhi’s tenets of nonviolent resistance.
• 
  Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ

  imo one of the best books detaining the colonisation and genocide happening in palestine. i recommend this book to everyone and anyone, there is so much to learn about. education is one of the best tools to contest an apartheid and hold governments accountable
• 
  Mahadi tauhid

  Norman G. Finkelstein amazes you with his way of showing things so clearly than before. Counter logic against the official narrative of different organization and spokesperson of state of Israel is simply reveals his intellectual depth on the matter. His intellectual gravity depletes all the foggy nature of uncertainty and obfuscating seems impossible. He is so adept to put Israeli power elite's own words against them when they tried to switch their position in order to misled people.
  
  
  
• 
  Ailith Twinning

  This is like a long persuasive essay - it only really discusses a few points: defence of the call, or clarification thereof, "Let us try Gandhian nonviolence against the crimes of Israel."
  
  Well done, really. But, I have no idea how it impacts people that are not, basically, on the same page.
• 
  Andrew Boden

  As usual with Norman Finkelstein's work — superlative scholarship compressed into a short, highly readable book. A must read to inform oneself about the horrific assaults on the Gaza Strip.
• 
  Krupa Naik

  Thank god for Norman Finkelstein. We are so lucky to have a voice like his. This book provides the context one needs in order to understand why October 7th happened. Because this did not start on October 7th. It beats me how anyone can blame oppressed Palestinians for fighting back if they know this history of the occupation.
  
  In Finkelstein’s recent TrueAnon interview he says he can not, in good faith, condemn Hamas. And that his parents, Auschwitz survivors, would not have condemned Hamas either. Today, the Auschwitz Memorial just posted a statement in support of Israel and its right to “self defense.” Bleak.
  
  Do I agree with all of Hamas’ policies? No. Do I agree with their antisemitic views? Personally, no. But people of color are always expected to be the perfect victims. You can not slap a Star of David onto WAR CRIMES and expect the survivors to not be terrified and reactionary to Judaism.
  But this is what Israel/Zionism wants. To carry out atrocities in the name of Judaism and to then be able to cry “anti-semitism” when they are resisted against and criticized. All this so that ultimately they can mobilize terrified, isolated Jews all over the world to defend their regime. “Look! We are alone, they will always hate us, they will always want to kill us! We HAVE to do this! We have to kill these terrorists! Or the Holocaust will happen AGAIN!!!” And it works like a charm.
  
  Shame on Israel for exploiting the trauma of the Holocaust and using Jews as cannon fodder to carry out a genocide in the name of white supremacy and western imperialism.
  
  So much of Jewish identity is built around the idea that Jews were uniquely persecuted. But this is the teaching that allows holocausts against people of color to slip through the annals of history, long forgotten. This is the teaching that allows genocide against people of color to persist quietly today. This is why Jews get the “THE Holocaust” title, because of the (predominantly) white European status of those killed in Nazi Germany. And you can not ignore these facts. Because this is the agenda that is trying to justify the violence against Palestinians right now. I pray more Zionist Jews realize they are defending an entity that does not give a shit about them. They are being manipulated, that they are on the same side as white supremacists. It’s ironic, in a devastating way.
  
  “Your Jewish friends are scared!” Are you not ashamed? Of these tone-deaf statements in between pictures of you going out with friends, on vacation, doing shopping sprees? While Gazans dig through rubble for their loved ones’ body parts? And actually, my Jewish friends are enraged. They’re mobilizing with people of color. They’re not staying silent. They openly, loudly condemn Israel and Zionism and the genocide being done in their name. My friends aren’t cowards. You can’t use them for your agenda!
  
  Anyway. This was an eye-opening book. A devastating read but I’m glad I know what I know. The more I learn the more clear it becomes to me that anyone defending Israel does not know its history, or does not care. In which case, they might actually be evil. Thank you god for making me brown and giving me a natural built-in doubt towards white people LOL.
  
  Question everything, read Finkelstein, and Free Palestine.
• 
  Jameson M.

  This book is a great overview of Israel's major military incursions into Gaza, from Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09 to Operation Protective Edge in 2014 - Israel's most devastating assault to date. Since this book's publication, there have been several more Israeli attacks on Gaza, varying in duration and intensity.
  
  Finkelstein, as always, has a penetrating insight into the reasoning behind Israeli leaders' decision-making, and explains the context and political situations that gave rise to each major assault on Gaza. He explores how international law pertains to the situation, and also dedicates much time to the Goldstone Report, Israeli response to it, and its author's subsequent retraction of it.
  
  One section towards the end of the book made me particularly sad. In discussing nonviolent resistance, Finkelstein ponders, "What if 1.8 million Gazans marched on the Israeli border crossings under the banner, STOP STRANGLING US! END THE ILLEGAL BLOCKADE OF GAZA... What if Palestinians found the inner wherewithal to stay nonviolent even as Israel fired murderously on the crowd?" (p. 93-94)
  
  Unfortunately, we now have our answer to this question, as this exact situation occurred during the Great March of Return protests in 2018. Israeli snipers fired upon crowds of unarmed people, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. Even medics and journalists were killed. And Israel suffered no repercussions for these obvious crimes. Anyone interested in learning more about these protests should watch the documentary "Gaza Fights for Freedom."
  
  I recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about Israel's war crimes in Gaza. I would also recommend Max Blumenthal's book "The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza" which is specifically about the 2014 assault. 
• 
  Priscilla

  Well-researched indictment of Israel's continuing efforts to decimate Palestinian population through its key military operations in the 2000s up to 2014,such as Operation Cast Lead. As well as ignominious incidents such as killing the passengers of a humanitarian vessel off the Gaza coast, just because they can and they know that the idiotic US will still support them.
  
  Also dispels key myths about H@mas being all out to eradicate Israel, as Finkelstein shows repeatedly they have consistently since 2008,and as stated in their manifesto, supported a two state solution and a return to the 1967 borders. Finkelstein demonstrates how in contrast to what is widely reported in the MSM and applies to this day, it is Israel who has consistently broken any temporary ceasefire pacts in order to provoke a reaction from Hamas which they can then justify retaliating against (sound familiar).
  
  I salute Norman for his ongoing and courageous decades long commitment to exposing the truth of the tragedy and devastation of this continuing occupation and economic blockade, which as he shows includes banning inane items such as chocolate, herbs and teacups!?? He truly is an historian and man of great principle.
  
  Thoroughly recommend if you want to understand how Israel's current actions have plenty of precedent i.e. things didn't start on October 7th!!!
  
• 
  Ahmad Alzahrani

  كثيراً ما يُلام الفلسطينيون على عدم تبني استراتيجية غاندي للمقاومة اللاعنفية.
  
  في عام 2003، قال نائب وزير الدفاع الأمريكي آنذاك بول وولفويتز أمام جمهور في جامعة جورج تاون: "إذا تبنى الفلسطينيون أساليب غاندي، أعتقد أنهم قادرون في الواقع على إحداث تغيير هائل وبسرعة كبيرة جداً".
  
  رغم هذا الرأي الجدلي ، لا يزال يتعين علينا أن نتذكر ما قاله غاندي بالفعل حول موضوع اللاعنف.
  
  لقد صنف المقاومة العنيفة في مواجهة الاحتمالات المستحيلة - امرأة تصد مغتصبًا بالصفعات والخدوش، أو رجل أعزل يقاوم جسديًا التعذيب على يد عصابة، أو دفاع بولندي مسلح عن النفس في مواجهة العدوان النازي - على أنها "لاعنف تقريبًا" لأنها في الأساس مقلومة رمزية ومجرد حافز للروح للتغلب على الخوف والتمكن من الموت الكريم؛
  
  لقد قال "رفض الانحناء أمام القوة الساحقة مع العلم الكامل أن ذلك يعني الموت المحقق". وفي مواجهة المذبحة الجهنمية التي ترتكبها إسرائيل في غزة، ومن الصعب ألا نرى هجمات حماس الصاروخية المتقطعة تقع ضمن هذه الفئة،من العنف الرمزي الذي كان غاندي لا يدينه.
  
  وحتى لو سلمنا بأن هجمات حماس الصاروخية تشكل عنفاً كاملاً، فما زال من غير المؤكد أن غاندي كان سيرفضها. فقد نصح قائلاً: “حارب العنف باللاعنف إذا استطعت، وإذا لم تتمكن من فعل ذلك، فحارب العنف بأي وسيلة، حتى لو كان ذلك يعني انقراضك التام. ولكن لا ينبغي بأي حال من الأحوال أن تتركوا مواقدكم وبيوتكم للنهب والحرق"
  
  طبعا هذا الكلام ٢٠١٤
• 
  Tessa

  This is a good book and a good resource for information on Israel’s almost century-long assault on Palestine. I can find little fault with it, and could find even less if the last two pages of the book where excluded from the final draft, in which Norm seems to say that Palestinians should come together to sacrifice their children en masse in the hopes that Israelis will wreak such havoc that the bloodbath can no longer be ignored and tolerated by the international community. That would seem, to me, to... not be the best way to go about things, though I understand his point on non-violence perfectly well.
• 
  Nour

  "What if 1.8 million Gazans marched on the Israeli border crossings under the banner "Stop strangling us. End the illegal blockade of Gaza." What if Gaza's one million children stood at the head of the march?"
  
  We now have an answer to this question, but where does that leave us?
  
  This book filled me with rage. Although I'm familiar with these attacks, I still learned a lot from this piece. Given the current climate, I wonder if Norman was a tad too optimistic regarding how this issue can be resolved.
  
  Overall, it was a well-written and succinct recount of the assaults on Gaza.
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Redwell

  A concise and dense accounting of recent operations carried out by Israel on Gaza. Finkelstein's essays don't mince words or take detours. The footnotes are exhaustive. It's a high level legal argument.
  
  You might expect someone so studied on the subject to be cynical, but his pleas for peaceful resistance are anything but. Gaza's Great March of Return were the exact kind of protest he called for. They yielded virtually nothing.
• 
  George Kanakaris

  The book documents the manner in which the Israelis have engaged in on-going collective punishment of the people of Gaza and intentionally provoked confrontation with Hamas time and time again, often as a direct response to peace initiatives by Hamas leaders. The book cuts through the myths of the main-stream media of a belligerent Hamas and an Israel that sincerely wants peace as a hot knife cuts through butter.
• 
  Danielle Langley

  Very difficult but important read for today and the world’s condition. We must stand up for those that are oppressed and murdered. Or we are repeating the most shameful histories the world has experienced and lived through.
• 
  Ben Haines

  +
  https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/...
  +
  https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27...
  
  pretty rough
• 
  George Murray

  Norm Finkelstein is probably the best rhetorical writer ive ever read
• 
  ljoss

  A comprehensive account of 21st-century Israeli manufacture of pretext for mercilessly bombing Palestinians.
• 
  Raheel

  Concise and informative. I'd say it's a must read to give context to the current ethnic cleansing of Gazans.