Description
‘The lips of the present give depth to history, and Fintan Drury certainly knows that there are several sides to every story. He rows the boat out – for some it will be a drowning experience, but for others it will be a pure lifeboat. The truth is polygonal, but it eventually settles down into a single shape and this book will certainly contribute to where the shape finally falls.’ – Colum McCann
The Nakba or ‘Catastrophe’ occurred between 1947 and 1949 and saw 15,000 Palestinians massacred and more than 700,000 expelled from their homeland by Israel. Today, we’re witnessing a second Nakba – one being played out in front of our eyes.
In Catastrophe, Fintan Drury offers an unflinching exploration of Israel’s genocidal campaign. Through extensive research, he argues that the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 was the inevitable result of almost eight decades of violent oppression of indigenous Palestinians. In his view Israel’s response was totally disproportionate and without the active sponsorship of the US and other major Western powers could not have happened.
Provocative, eye-opening and unapologetically direct, Catastrophe is a call to understand the unique suffering of the Palestinians.
Contents
One Day, One Attack
1. Israel 2023
2. October 7th 2023
3. Another Nakba
4. Oppression
5. Erasing the Past
6. UNRWA
7. Israel’s Wider Intent
8. The West’s Asleep
9. One Year On
Postscript
Praise for Catastrophe:
‘An essential book’ – Irish Examiner
‘Urgent and thought-provoking’ – Limerick Post
‘Remarkable’ – Joe Brolly
‘Superb’ – Matt Cooper
‘Fintan Drury has written a book that melds history with polemic into a compelling narrative’ – Mick Clifford
‘Fintan Drury has written a vital, unflinching account of a people under siege. This book demands to be read, and demands we bear witness.’ – Brian Conaghan
‘A must-read’ – Mary Costello
‘An essential book’ – Dion Fanning
‘Well researched, organised and deeply affective’ – Carmel McMahon
‘Drury’s deeply researched analysis unravels the way cheap party politics in Israel plus global indifference to the Palestinians set the terms for this monumental tragedy. Catastrophe plucks out the heart of the mystery. – Harold Aram Veeser
About the Author
Fintan Drury was a journalist with RTÉ in the 1980s. Before co-anchoring Morning Ireland for its first three years, he was a correspondent in Northern Ireland and reported from Britain, Europe, Africa and the USA. In 1985 he volunteered in the then largest refugee camp in the world, in Darfur, with GOAL. A longtime activist on migration, he’s written extensively on the subject. In 2016 he volunteered in a refugee camp in Athens, which led to a fifteen-part series in The Irish Times on the diary of a Syrian refugee. Fintan now lives and works in Dublin; he is chair of SARI (Sport Against Racism Ireland).
