I'm quite behind with the reading, I'm still reading through part one, but I really like the book. So far Finkelstein has briefly gone over the historical conflicts Israel has engaged in, both with Palestine and the neighbouring Arab states from 1967 to the 2000s. This not only provides wider context for the oppression of the Palestinian people but also allows Finkelstein to demonstrate the development of what he refers to as the 'Dahiya Doctrine'.

Finkelstein argues that after the 2006 Lebanon War, Israel sought to reassert its dominance and save face after the humiliation. One area of the war that showed how Israel might achieve this was the Israeli attack on the Beirut suburb of Dahiya, where many homes and other infrastructure was destroyed in a massively disproportionate attack on a largely defenceless civilian population. More attacks like these would allow Israel to show its might to deter potential attackers and galvanise domestic support whilst also ensuring that whoever they were attacking would not be able to claim a victory, regardless of how the conflict actually went - e.g. if someone's home and school were destroyed and half their family dead, it would be pretty much impossible for their political leaders to convince them they were on the side of the victors. Thus the Dahiya Doctrine was born:

"We will wield disproportionate power against every village from which shots are fired on Israel, and cause immense damage and destruction. This isn’t a suggestion. This is a plan that has already been authorized. (Head of IDF Northern Command Gadi Eisenkot)

The next war . . . will lead to the elimination of the Lebanese military, the destruction of the national infrastructure, and intense suffering among the population. Serious damage to the Republic of Lebanon, the destruction of homes and infrastructure, and the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people are consequences that can influence Hezbollah’s behavior more than anything else. (Head of Israeli National Security Council Giora Eiland)

With an outbreak of hostilities, Israel will need to act immediately, decisively, and with force that is disproportionate. . . . Such a response aims at inflicting damage and meting out punishment to an extent that will demand long and expensive reconstruction processes. (Reserve Colonel Gabriel Siboni)."

The Israelis, however, were not confident that they could take on Hezbollah again given the massive loss they had just suffered in Lebanon. So instead, a small, poorly defended Gaza was chosen as the target of the next Israeli attack - the defiant but defenceless population would be the perfect target for these conflicts of pure spectacle where the primary goal is essentially an Israeli public image campaign and any actual military objectives come second. From here, Finkelstein goes on to examine various Israeli military operations in Gaza (beginning with the 2008 Operation Cast Lead) where Israel would try to provoke Hamas or other groups into attacking so that Israel could respond with the overwhelming force against civilian populations. I think the more recent attacks on Gaza in the last few months have shown that the 'Dahiya Doctrine' is still very much alive.

Finkelstein gives very very detailed accounts of all of this, often using IDF sources or spokespersons themselves to back up his argument. Sometimes he might use several long quotes in a row which at times can get a little hard to follow but I think that would be nit-picking. I've just started reading the parts on Operation Cast lead which, whilst obviously terrible to read about, seem to be written as methodically and encyclopaedically as the earlier parts of the book but still with the obvious passion and the anger with which Finkelstein writes. Overall this book seems like it might be a tough read but a very informative one:

"If the evil is in the detail, it can only be confronted and disposed of in methodical parsing of logic and evidence."