‘The lips of the present give depth to history, and Fintan Drury certainly knows that there are several sides to every story. He rows the boat out – for some it will be a drowning experience, but for others it will be a pure lifeboat. The truth is polygonal, but it eventually settles down into a single shape and this book will certainly contribute to where the shape finally falls.’ – Colum McCann

The Nakba or ‘Catastrophe’ occurred between 1947 and 1949 and saw 15,000 Palestinians massacred and more than 700,000 expelled from their homeland by Israel. Today, we’re witnessing a second Nakba – one being played out in front of our eyes.

In Catastrophe, Fintan Drury offers an unflinching exploration of Israel’s genocidal campaign. Through extensive research, he argues that the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 was the inevitable result of almost eight decades of violent oppression of indigenous Palestinians. In his view Israel’s response was totally disproportionate and without the active sponsorship of the US and other major Western powers could not have happened.

Provocative, eye-opening and unapologetically direct, Catastrophe is a call to understand the unique suffering of the Palestinians.