Rashid Khalidi Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University and the author of The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood on the Israeli invasion of Gaza. What does Israel hope to achieve?

Khalidi was in Palestine in November and early December of last year and says that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority were losing support. Neither was very popular. The Israeli assault will only restore Hamas’s popularity and further weaken the PA. Thus it is unclear what Israel hopes to gain other than victory for Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni in upcoming elections. Their popularity has surged in the days following the invasion. But long term security?

Israel has succeeded only in controlling information, something that it failed to do during its 2006 invasion of Lebanon. Reporters have been barred from entering Gaza and the PR offensive has been overwhelming. Hamas instigated the war. Israel is acting in self-defense. The fact is that very few rockets were being launched from Gaza into southern Israel during the cease fire, which Israel violated when it invaded the strip in early November. 

Khalidi also says that Israel has basically presented President elect Barack Obama with a fait accompli. Keenly aware of the US image abroad, Obama’s ability to broker some kind of agreement between Israel and Palestine has been greatly weakened. Khalidi says his task to improve the US standing among Muslims throughout the world may now be infinitely difficult if not impossible. 

Khalidi’s new book, out in February, is Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Hegemony in the Middle East.