Jonathan Cook, 'Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East'

IssueOctober 2008
Review by Jessica Nero

Jonathan Cook is a journalist of rare commitment and integrity. In 2001 he left his job as a staff-writer at The Guardian to work freelance from the Arab majority city of Nazareth in Israel, in the belief that such independence from the mainstream papers, coupled with geographical proximity, would allow him to more freely evaluate and reflect on both the Israel-Palestine conflict and the wider problems of the Middle East. This book is a shining example of this newfound freedom.

Short but wide-ranging in its analysis, it focuses on the developments in the region since the outbreak of the “war on terror”, using both historical and futuristic lenses, with Israel at its centre.

While there is some discussion of oil control and nonexistent weapons of mass-destruction, Cook’s main concern are the even wider intentions behind the actions. Recalling one of the neocons’ favourite slogans during the build-up to the Iraq war, “The road to Jerusalem runs through Baghdad”, he compellingly argues that the chaos which followed the invasion of Iraq was not a predictable mistake, but rather the calculated goal of the neocons and Israel alike.

Neither America nor Israel wants strong, Middle Eastern democracies, or stable Arab countries, he argues, as their own continued dominance relies on the instability of others. This can be most closely observed in the occupied territories of Palestine, where Israel’s support of factional divisions has strengthened their grip on the Palestinians for years and even succeeded in creating an unofficial, but at least political, partition between the West Bank and Gaza. In this sense Palestine has been used as a “trial project” for what is now happening across the Middle East.

Overall a convincing if uncompromising analysis of current issues, though it can seem a bit hyperbolic at times. For instance, while there is no doubt that the USA will go to extraordinary lengths to strengthen Israel’s influence in the region, I find it hard to believe that Israel’s own desire for power could have determined the “war on terror”’s objectives so totally. Nonetheless, Cook does a great job of highlighting why the issue of Palestine needs to be a priority for the antiwar movement.

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