Essays originally published in Al-Hayat (London), Al-Ahram weekly (Cairo), and the London review of books between Dec. 2000 and July 2003.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword / Tony Judt -- Pt. 1. The second intifada begins, Clinton's failure -- 1. Palestinians under siege -- 2. The tragedy deepens -- 3. American elections: system or farce? -- 4. Trying again and again -- 5. Where is Israel going? -- 6. The only alternative -- 7. Freud, Zionism, and Vienna -- 8. Time to turn to the other front -- 9. These are the realities -- 10. Thinking about Israel -- 11. Defiance, dignity, and the rule of dogma -- 12. Enemies of the state -- 13. Sharpening the axe -- 14. The price of Camp David -- 15. Occupation is the atrocity -- 16. Propaganda and war -- Pt. 2. September 11, the War on Terror, the West Bank and Gaza reinvaded -- 17. Collective passion -- 18. Backlash, backtrack -- 19. Adrift in similarity -- 20. A vision to lift the spirit -- 21. Suicidal ignorance -- 22. Israel's dead end -- 23. Emerging alternatives in Palestine -- 24. The screw turns, again -- 25. Thoughts about America -- 26. What price Oslo? -- 27. Thinking ahead -- 28. What has Israel done? -- 29. Crisis for American Jews -- 30. Palestinian elections now -- 31. One-way street -- 32. Slow death : punishment by detail -- 33. Arab disunity and factionalism -- 34. Low point of powerlessness -- Pt. 3. Israel, Iraq, and the United States -- 35. Israel, Iraq, and the United States -- 36. Europe versus America -- 37. Misinformation about Iraq -- 38. Immediate imperatives -- 39. An unacceptable helplessness -- 40. A monument to hypocrisy -- 41. Who is in charge? -- 42. A stupid war -- 43. What is happening to the United States? -- 44. The Arab condition -- 45. Archaeology of the road map -- 46. Dignity and solidarity -- Afterword / Wadie E. Said.