What Does Israel Fear About Palestine?

#### With elegant prose and insightful observations, Raja Shehadeh, winner of the 2008 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, chronicles the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from its inception to the present day. The book includes an epilogue written in October 2025.

Raja Shehadeh, the 2008 Orwell Prize-winning political writer, human rights lawyer, and arguably the foremost Palestinian writer of our time, details the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: from the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, which led to the forced displacement of the Palestinian population, creating divisions that continue to erupt violently and tragically to this day, to the failure of the Oslo Accords, the intensification of the occupation of Palestinian territories, and the growing divisions within the Israeli political class, which finds solace in the common Palestinian enemy. With elegant prose and insightful observations, Shehadeh offers a clear and realistic perspective, illustrating how a large segment of Israeli society accepted the destruction of Gaza and the annihilation of the Palestinian people in response to Hamas's terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. Despite personally witnessing the devastation of his nation and the annihilation of his people, Shehadeh emphasizes the necessity of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation on the path to peace.