The Impacts of Lasting Occupation
Lessons from Israeli Society
Edited by Daniel Bar-Tal and Izhak Schnell
Reviews and Awards
"The text is often highly technical, but even if the lay reader finds some passages a bit challenging, those passages reward the reader with detailed information and in-depth analysis that are mostly missing from media coverage. Indeed, it is not too much to say that anyone who holds an opinion on the occupation, one way or the other, ought to read The Impacts of Lasting Occupation, to test his or her own opinions." -- Jonathan Kirsch, JewishJournal.com
"Nevertheless, the book's innovation is not in its answer to the question, How does the occupation affect society? The answer may be summarized in two words that have long since become a cliché: Occupation corrupts. Instead, the uniqueness and importance of the collection lies in the broad, extensive description of the "how": how corruption takes place and how it affects almost every aspect of the life and identity of the occupying society, to the extent of transforming it into a new Israeli identity. This important book, as well as the political reality reflected in Jerusalem's election campaign, should serve as an additional warning sign for those Israelis who, like most of the experts who contributed to the book, want to preserve Israel's democratic and moral identity along with its Jewish and liberal values." --Al-Monitor
"This is an ambitious assessment of the detrimental effects on Israel of its 45-year occupation of Palestinian territories. In his foreword, Michael Walzer appropriately calls the book's 24 contributors 'enemies of the occupation' for their harshly critical analysis of the blowback of Israeli rule on all aspects of the country's public life. The contributors make a strong case that ending the occupation is in Israel's self-interest. This profoundly thoughtful book is must reading for scholars, politicians, diplomats, and readers seeking peace. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels." --R. H. Dekmejian, CHOICE
"It should have become obvious that we are not dealing here with a pro-Palestinian or for that matter anti-Israeli publication, but with a strictly academic yet fully committed attempt at opening the eyes of the Israeli citizens to the negative implications of the lasting occupation for themselves. We may argue that this contradiction between ethnic nationalism, religious fundamentalism and democratic secular humanism had by that time already been exposed as a result of the Nakba, the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians between 1947 and 1949, but this does not in the least diminish the pertinence nor the urgency of the present compelling study." --Ludo Abicht, Politics, Culture and Socialization
"This recently published book is part of the Series in Political Psychology. The multi-dimensional study presents an original conceptual framework that focuses on the impact of protracted occupation on the occupying society. It provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the influence of ongoing occupation of the Palestinian Territories on political, social, economic, cultural and psychological aspects of life of the Israelis. Leading Israeli scholars address the fundamentals of occupation as well as its political, societal and cultural effects. This innovative study presents the extent of social and political deterioration of the occupying society on Israel society." --Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture
