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It should come as no surprise to anyone who has paid the least bit of attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the years, that America has been an effective partner in Israel’s continued effacement of Palestine from the map of the Middle East. This partnership extends back to the creation of the Jewish state when the United States recognized it. The history of this partnership has been described in many books, in the beginning, mostly favorable to Israel then gradually, over the years, becoming more and more hostile to it as the truth of Israel’s activities to establish itself as a nation in Palestine at the expense of the indigenous population of the Palestinian peoples has come to light.

Of course, the Zionists who run Israel deny that there is hostility, and the Zionists in the Jewish diaspora in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere fully support this line. However, more and more of those very people are beginning to wonder if Israel’s position in the world is as acceptable as it could be had it not turned from its original hopes for a peaceful home for the Jewish people into a war mongering nautilus

attempting to divide the Middle East into a splintering of failed states. In this, the United States is perfectly complicit, if not actually the main cause. Israel has used the US as its protector and supporter, while the US has used Israel as the raison d’être for its own bellicosity in the Middle East and other parts of the world.

In Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestine Conflict, Jeremy Hammond has taken upon himself the task of explaining in great detail the relationship between Israel and the US, and how the US aids and abets the Jewish State to sustain a stranglehold on the Palestinians.

For years, the world has been wondering why Israel and the Palestinians cannot sit down over a peace pipe and work out their differences. It would seem so simple to end the killing and suffering of both peoples: separate into two independent and equal states side by side, or merge into one secular state with all citizens having equal rights. Peace talks have been tried many times, but for some reason all have failed, and peace seems further away today than ever before. Now, in this fine, meticulously detailed and documented book, Hammond takes us through the history and explains the reasons.

In ten explanatory chapters, Hammond describes, first, the rise of Hamas, then moves on to Operation Cast Lead, the first war on Gaza (more of a chicken-shoot slaughter than a war). The third chapter takes us through the numerous attempts at a peace process and shows why these were never planned to succeed. This is followed by a chapter on the hypocrisy of Obama and his role in obstructing progress in making peace. And so on.

In every instant of Israel’s crimes against humanity, the US seconds Israel’s justifications. But then, given the US’ own crimes against humanity in it’s illegal wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc., why wouldn’t they?

Finally, in his conclusion, Hammond explains why he is for a two-state solution to this crisis. He believes that if a one-state solution is what is ultimately sought, then Palestine must have sovereignty through its own state before it can negotiate on equal terms for sharing one state. That sounds logical, but given Israel’s and America’s intransigence, this writer doesn’t see any way a two solution could ever be attained.

But judge for yourself. I urge anyone interested in learning the causes of failure in the Middle East and beyond, of American foreign policy, to read this very important book.