Palestine Inside Out: A Review

This is a review of Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation by Saree Makdisi. W. W. Norton. 2008.

Saree Makdisi is a Palestinian-American academic. What makes this UCLA professor stand out right away is the fact that he is the nephew of Edward Said.

Makdisi was raised in a Christian home in Washington D.C and Beirut. Conservative pundits such as Rob Shapiro have long urged UCLA to blacklist Makdisi, who is disliked for launching pro-Palestinian discourse on campus.

The book suggests that Makdisi is very much like his uncle. It also confirms that Makdisi is possibly the best Palestinian representative in the United States, truly able to convey the despair and anger of West Bank and Gaza citizens. Furthermore, the author asks interesting questions about the nature of Zionism: Is “Socialist Zionism” better than “Revisionist Zionism”? Are Left-Wing Zionists such as Amos Oz and Yossi Beilin and Right-Wing Zionists such as Ariel Sharon and Avidmor Liberman similar or alike?

This book illustrates the most disgusting details of the daily occupation to American readers. It is a good starter-book for people who have begun to familiarize themselves with the Palestinian issue. It discusses the complex nature of the State of Israel: asking whether it is a democratic entity or an openly racist state in which Bedouins and Israeli Arabs are subjugated to be the second-class citizens.

Non-American readers, particularly Europeans who tend to be more educated on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a whole, may find that this book tells them nothing new. But in an American market, where few still understand the day-to-day horror of existence under occupation, this book is essential reading.

It also serves as a good examination of why the bi-national state solution, which considers both the Zionist dream and the Palestinian desire to return, may be the only way for two peoples who claim to be the holders of the land to achieve the long-awaited peace.