The Writing on the Wall

'Developed in the 19th century as a temporary device to protect civilians, the law of occupation has more recently revealed a tendency to turn into a lasting instrument of disciplining populations. Under a humanitarian pretence, military rule slides into colonial sovereignty. In this insightful work Aeyal Gross discusses cases such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Tibet, and Crimea, and especially the long-standing occupation of Palestine, in order to reveal the paradoxes and hypocrisies of the law of occupation. His critique is sharp and incisive but also sympathetic and oriented from a purely conceptual to a more openly normative reading of the law. This is a wonderful reflection of the limits and possibilities of using a traditional legal concept in a changed world of complex international conflict.' Martti Koskenniemi, author of The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The rise and fall of international law 1870-1960 'The struggle for human rights and the enforcement of international humanitarian law must also include, this book strongly testifies, a profound mediation on the juridical, ethical and political foundation of these framework and a critical account of their limits and legitimizing effects. It is only rarely that a book with a potential to completely reframe our understanding of its subject matter emerges. This book does nothing less than reconceptualise our understanding of the legal reality of 'occupation' - with discussion primarily on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but also on other occupations such as the American occupation of Iraq and with implications relevant to rethinking situations in many places world wide. It is at once a major intervention by one of legal studies most original scholars, and an indispensable resource for lawyers and non lawyers, accessibly written by a public intellectual whose activism always followed his scholarship.' Eyal Weizman, Goldsmiths, University of London 'On every level - theory, ethics, law, politics - The Writing on the Wall's rethinking of the law of occupation is both urgent and long-overdue. Confronting cutting-edge debates in a wide array of fields, Gross unflinchingly develops a bold and innovative framework, which will make this book the indispensable starting-point for all future discussions.' Nathaniel Berman, Rahel Varnhagen Professor of International Affairs, Law, and Modern Culture, Brown University