This punchy, substantive, 64-page guide gives the basic facts and some context essential to understanding the events that rocked the Middle East and the world on October 7, 2023, and its aftermath. With useful fact boxes, documents, timelines and in a straightforward style, The Essential Guide to October 7th and Its Aftermath answers 5 basic questions.
First, what happened on October 7 – exploring the horrors of the Hamas invasion that day, as well as October 7. 2, when Israelis saved Israel by mobilizing and fighting back. Second, why did Hamas attack – emphasizing how the hopes of Israel’s Disengagement from Gaza in 2005 and the broad international concession that Hamas had turned “pragmatic” could not compete with Hamas’s ideological commitment to destroying Israel, as articulated in the Hamas charter. Third, why did Israel launch a war that killed and displaced so many civilians — analyzing the complications of urban warfare in historial context, and Israel’s attempts to minimize civilian casualties, while protecting its own troops and achieving its war aims. Fourth, why did events in Israel disrupt so many lives thousands of miles away – describing the worldwide fascination with the Jewish state, along with the intense, systematic, anti-Zionist campaign, laced with anti-Semitism and fueled by anti-American and undemocratic sentiments too. And finally, fifth, why did Iran attack Israel on April 13 – -looking at the Hamas invasion as part of a broader, decades-long attempt to eliminate Israel, now led and bankrolled by Iran.
Already hailed as a “must-read” and blessedly non-partisan, the Essential Guide cannot fully answer all these complex questions, but is written in such a way as to invite thoughtful and vigorous debate, rooted in some basic facts and an understanding of the broader context.