Introduction: Nakba(S) that Killed All the Norms -- Where will Separation Lead?: The Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza and Future Prospects -- Israel's Ongoing Annexation of East Jerusalem: Oppressing Palestinian National Sentiments Before and After October 7 -- Culture and Resistance in Palestine: Rap Music from Gaza -- In the Shadow of Israel’s Prosperity: The Illiberal History of the Liberal International Order -- How Public Opinion in Israel Shifted: Insights From Post-Cross-Border Attack Opinion Pollshow Public Opinion in Israel Shifted: Insights from Post-Cross-Border Attack Opinion Polls -- From the Oil Weapon to Mediation Diplomacy: An Examination of the Gulf States' Responses to the Gaza War- The Myth of Vertical Integration of Regional Conflict: Iran and the “Axis of Resistance” -- Gaza War 2023-2024 and Reactions from Neighboring Countries: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria -- The Gaza War from the Perspective of International Law -- Japan’s Foreign Policy Regarding the Arab-Israeli Conflict and the Palestinian Question from the Perspective of Three Factors.

This book is one of the first edited volumes on the current Israel/Palestine conflict—the Gaza Nakba 2023–24. It contains contributions from both young post-doctoral researchers and more seasoned scholars from Japan. These authors, with their rich experience of field work in the region and their interdisciplinary approaches, are able to provide critical analyses on the current breakdown of humanitarian norms, the dysfunctional state of international organizations, and the breakdown of conflict management and peace-building. The unique viewpoints of Japanese scholars are shared regarding their understanding of the critical developments in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Further, these chapters analyze the background of the conflict, focusing on popular sentiments, national identity, and historical memory in Israel/Palestine, and the importance of space and land as national and cultural symbols, using rich and updated written and visualdata from the region. This work significantly challenges prevailing arguments, as it avoids stereotyped understandings of the persistence of religious and ethnic hatred, the proxy relationships of global powers (e.g., USA) and regional ones (Iran), and regional rivalries over geopolitical and economic interests in the Middle East. Such arguments as these provide no more than a quick divide-and-rule type of solution, encouraging merely superficial diplomatic coordination among the major global powers rather than a real solution. Alternatively, this book provides a new framework for understanding the structure of the conflict, making way for solving the problem from the popular level, and delving deeply into reconsideration of the durability or non-durability of the state system in the Middle East and a Western originated liberal international order and norm in general. The book also discloses the severe reality that human rights in the Global South are often neglected. In this sense, the purpose of this work is to disclose the significance of the Gaza War as an iconic event which reveals all the contradictions, inequalities and injustices in a global historical context. This book is essential for anyone who wants a fresh and expert consideration of the Israel-Palestine-Gaza issue, which avoids the often parochial stereotypes that attend it in the West, and which views it through a global lens. Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan.