Book Review: Drawing Fire: Investigating the Accusations of Apartheid in Israel by Benjamin Pogrund

A Book Well Researched and Informative 

I had just finished reading Benjamin Pogrund’s book and I would recommend it to people who are interested in learning about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This conflict is very complex and Israel is often accused of being an apartheid state. Benjamin Pogrund was editor of the Rand Daily Mail, a South African newspaper that was closed down in 1985, and he himself has a thorough knowledge of apartheid. He had been arrested and banned because of his views and activities against apartheid. His passport was taken away from him a number of times. Eventually, it was returned to him and he emigrated to Israel where he founded the Yakar movement for peace and coexistence. He had researched his book by interviewing many Palestinians and Israelis. He starts his book giving a precis of his life and activities in South Africa as well as a short history of the Jewish People and their sufferings in Europe because of anti-Semitism over the centuries culminating in Israel’s establishment.

The book at times is heavy going because of the incredible amount of statistics he gives on demography and other issues which he felt the reader should be aware.

He also writes about South Africa under the White Apartheid Government. He is the ideal writer for a book as complex as this. He knows apartheid very well because of what he had experienced and he knows the Israeli psyche very well too. He does criticize Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians under their rule as well their suffering under occupation. Despite that, he maintains it is still far from apartheid.

Pogrund refutes the argument that Israel is an apartheid state and he gives very good and convincing reasons for his conclusion. His book is well referenced and very informative. He has written objectively, which is a feat in itself. Many books on this subject are emotional and biased according to views of writers, who are more motivated by their ideology rather than presenting the truth and being objective. This book was written in 2014 and takes the reader up to the Gaza War. It, therefore, is a bit dated as much has happened after that. The Middle East and Israel are dynamic and the situation does change. However, the problems remain unchanged.