Ramzy Baroud's The Second Palestinian Intifada is an impassioned argument intended for an audience that will probably never read it. Though it is subtitled, "A Chronicle of a People's Struggle", it is too thin to be a chronicle. His coverage is more or less chronological, but he is very selective in the events and themes he chooses to tackle. What is covered is only done so superficially. Nearly all of his research appears to come from the internet and his empirical data is usually only a point of departure from which he can engage in an emotional appeal for the suffering of the Palestinians under occupation. Indeed, this book should be read not as a chronicle, but as a polemic.
Broadly speaking, Baroud is pleading with the West to recognize the injustices perpetrated by Israel, their own media biases which dehumanize Palestinian victims, and the failure of liberal discourses of human rights. I tend to agree with the thrust of his arguments, but in order to concentrate his anger he fails to engage comprehensively with many aspects of the Intifada. For those familiar with the Palestinian perspective, I suspect his book will be unsatisfying -- first, because it provides little detail that can't be easily recalled by those who have followed the events of the last five years and, second, because his arguments are not very thoroughly backed up.
I've treated it roughly, but the book does have some strong points. It clearly provides a Palestinian perspective of the second Intifada, both in the collective experiences of violence, betrayal, injustice and hopelessness, as well as the struggle to locate, engage and affirm a life in resistance. Baroud is eloquent when speaking on the meaning of Arafat's death. But it is unlikely that his book will be read by many who do not already agree with his positions.
The book's greatest success is its sweeping condemnation of the international community. If there is one thing this book does chronicle it is the moral poverty of international human rights regimes. Baroud's quick recourse to international law as a measurement of Israeli actions may seem politically naive, but I suspect it is a strategic decision he's made to juxtapose the Palestinian reality with the humanist mythology embedded in such laws. As the evidence of excess mounts and the U.N. squirms, it becomes clear that the international community is utterly incapable of acting against the U.S.'s allies. Our persistent insistence that Palestinians "follow the rules" appears only as a cruel game we play with our own sense of self-importance while others are made to suffer the results.
But these are brief highlights. In the end, Baroud only provides the most cursory introduction to the events, so he won't be very helpful to those seeking much depth. And while his polemic is forcefully and faithfully argued, the moderate, Western audience he addresses is not likely to pick up the book any time soon.
Review of The Second Palestinian Intifada by Ramzy Baroud