Monday Jul 08, 2024
Professor Ussama Makdisi: Israel's "Existential" Wars 1982 vs 2023
Ussama Makdisi, professor of history at the University of California Berkely and auhtor of several books on the history of the Middle East on Israel's modus operandi in wars, and why it never learns its lessons. Despite the 42-year gap between the invasion of Lebanon and that of Gaza, the parallels are striking. Its 1982 invasion of Lebanon resulted in an 18 years occupation and ended with a withdrawal leaving behind, Hezbullah, an opponent that is fiercer than the PLO it sought to eliminate. The results of Its invasion of Gaza, despite the greater scale of horrors it committed, is unlikely to end with a victory or with an end to resistance.
Follow Ussama Makdisi on X: @UssamaMakdisi
Listen to his podcast: Makdisi Street
Read more from Ussama Makdisi:
- Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab Worldwas, 2019 (University of California Press).
- Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations, 1820-2001 , 2010 (Public Affairs).
- The West's Love for Israel Erases the Middle East's Real History in Jacobin Magazine, 2023
11 months ago
Ruba brilliantly chose the right person to navigate this complicated issue with. She also made the flow of ideas, historical events and highlights of pivotal junctures run smoothly. The ideas discussed are easy to grasp and many points were explained in a for further research fashion by the listeners to this podcast.
11 months ago
This episode is an important addition to the collective knowledge about the Palestinian struggle and its coupling with Lebanon in particular. The compare and contrast approach between the current war and the 1982 war is rudimentary for the understanding of this relationship especially that the first changed the direction of the armed struggle and the current one is changing the World.