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Blending legal storytelling, historical excavation, and political analysis, Occupation from Within is a journey into the soul of a nation scarred by persecution and a genocidal trauma—and how it embraced a Darwinist worldview which opened the door to an ideology of supremacy. Drawing on the author’s experience litigating human rights cases defending Palestinian communities in Israeli courts, the narrative unfolds in reverse: beginning with the constitutional coup, moving back through pivotal moments in Israeli history—the 2010 opening shot in the crackdown on civil society, the 1967 occupation, the 1948 war and the Nakba, and ultimately the trauma of the Holocaust—before returning to the present: October 7th and the devastating war on Gaza.
At its core, the book advances a stark argument: that Israel’s long-standing domination of Palestinians—both under occupation and as citizens—has cultivated an ideology of Jewish supremacy that now turns inward to silence dissent and dismantle the state’s core democratic features. This same ideology has enabled the spiraling cruelty of occupation, apartheid, and the war of annihilation in Gaza.
About the author
Michael Sfard is one of Israel's leading human-rights lawyers, specializing in international human rights law and the laws of war. He advises major Israeli rights and protest organizations and for the last three decades has represented Palestinian communities and Israeli and Palestinian activists in Israeli courts. His opinion pieces frequently appear in the Israeli and international press, including Haaretz, The New York Times, and The Guardian. Author of several books including The Wall and the Gate: Israel, Palestine and the Legal Battle for Human Rightsand a recipient of the Emille Grintzweig Human Rights Award.
