The 51 Day War is…a tribute to the resilience of a people facing an indescribable reality. ... Whether reading this book with an advanced knowledge of the history of Israel-Palestine or as an introduction to the conflict, The 51 Day War will leave you better informed and filled with an unquenchable, and very angry, thirst for justice and equality in Palestine and beyond.” —Muftah.org
"As we would expect from one of the finest and most intrepid journalists working in America today, this meticulous, first-hand report on The Fifty One Day War will stand as the definitive account of the man-made catastrophe so cruelly inflicted on the men, women and children of Gaza in the summer of 2014.” —Andrew Cockburn, author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High Tech Assassins
"Max Blumenthal has spent the last decade transforming himself into one of the most vital voices in journalism today, always speaking truth to power with fearlessness and integrity. As with his previous books, The 51 Day War is sure to be talked about for years to come.” —Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and No god but God
"Max Blumenthal audaciously takes in-your-face, on-the-ground journalism into the realm of geopolitics.” —Juan Cole, Informed Comment, author of The New Arabs and Engaging the Muslim World
"[A] heart-wrenching narrative...Blumenthal, who was on the ground for part of the offensive, bore witness to the loss of life, shelter, and possessions—but never hope—among Gaza's Palestinian residents...The result is a harrowing, transfixing narrative of a people's ordeal that will provoke and challenge." —Publishers Weekly
"An alarming report on Israel's devastating 2014 attack on Gaza.... Explosive, pull-no-punches reporting that is certain to stir controversy." —Kirkus
“The 51 Day War lays bare some of the names, faces and experiences behind [the] statistics…Blumenthal offers an unembellished look at the misery on the ground in the Gaza Strip during Israel's Operation Protective Edge in 2014.” —In These Times
“Max Blumenthal's unflinching book on Gaza war must not be ignored…The 51-Day War is the first account by a US journalist of an assault that dropped almost the same tonnage of explosives on Gaza as that on Hiroshima.” —Electronic Intifada
2015-05-20
An alarming report on Israel's devastating 2014 attack on Gaza. Alternet senior writer Blumenthal (Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, 2013, etc.) arrived in Gaza on the 38th day of the recent conflict, just as the Israeli military took to the air with fighter jets and drones to deliver a relentless barrage of missiles and bombs. In a narrative based on interviews with citizens, physicians, and others, the author writes that the Israeli military "unleashed massive force against the civilian population," killing 2,200 people (mostly Palestinian civilians), wounding over 10,000, and destroying about 18,000 homes. Some 3 million bullets were expended in wreaking $7 billion in damage, he writes. "The shocking level of firepower Israeli forces exerted against Gaza's civilian infrastructure told the story of a frustrated Goliath unable to punish its vastly underarmed foe into submission," writes Blumenthal. Israel, protected by an advanced sheltering and early warning system, had far fewer casualties. Sympathetic to Gaza's 1.8 million refugees and highly critical of Israel's increasingly right-wing leaders, the author attributes the ferocity of the Israeli attack on "bloodlust" over the deaths of three Israeli teenagers who, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had been "abducted and murdered by human animals." Netanyahu added: "Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay." Based on his observations and accounts from survivors, the author charges that the Israeli onslaught targeted Palestinian civilians rather than Hamas fighters. He claims that Israeli soldiers engaged in execution-style killings, deliberately destroyed Gaza City high-rise buildings housing dozens of local media organizations, used Palestinians as human shields, and attacked cemeteries as well as U.N. schools that served as refugee shelters. The war elevated the status of "fundamentalist warriors" in Israel and left a wake of "rage and spreading radicalism" that is certain to bring more military conflict. Explosive, pull-no-punches reporting that is certain to stir controversy.
