f you have ever wondered "Why is there so much violence in the Middle East?", "Who are the Palestinians?", "What are the occupied territories?" or "What does Israel want?", then this is the book for you. With straightforward language, Phyllis Bennis, longtime analyst of the region, answers basic questions about Israel and Israelis, Palestine and Palestinians, the US and the Middle East, Zionism and anti-Semitism; about complex issues ranging from the Oslo peace process to the election of Hamas. Together her answers provide a comprehensive understanding of the longstanding Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Sections include: The Crisis; The Other Players: The Role of the US, the UN, the Arab States, and Europe; Recent History: Rising Violence; Looking Backward (1900-1991); The Future....

Widening opposition to the illegal Iraq War, growing recognition that the war in Afghanistan has failed to bring stability or democracy to that beleaguered country, new tensions rising in Pakistan, escalating violence and humanitarian crisis in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, all have brought new fears but also heightened interest in the wider Middle East region, especially interest in Iran. This book aims to address this new and renewed interest in Iran, to answer questions, and propose some ideas to prevent another looming disaster of a U.S. military attack....

Even before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, challenging questions were on the rise. Why did three separate U.S. administrations, so different in so many ways, all agree on maintaining crippling economic sanctions on Iraq? Was it really the United Nations that imposed those "international" sanctions? Why was the second Bush administration so determined to go after Saddam Hussein? What was Operation Iraqi Freedom all about? What did oil have to do with it? And what about those U.S. bases constructed across Iraq? Was Saddam Hussein really connected to the September 11 attacks? Was this really "Bush's war," and what does Congress have to do with it? Is the U.S. occupation of Iraq connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? With tens of thousands of U.S. troops bogged down in Iraq, is an attack on Iran even possible? Are those who oppose the war really anti-American and "soft on terrorism?"

Even if the mainstream press in the U.S. ignores many of those questions, independent analysts have examined them since before the war began. Phyllis Bennis was one of the many Middle East and UN-watchers who anticipated disaster long before the first U.S. troops crossed into Iraq. Here, in an easy-to-read, "Frequently Asked Questions" format, Institute for Policy Studies scholar Bennis provides clear, unambiguous and honest answers to those and many more queries. With the Bush administration and most Democratic presidential candidates for the 2008 elections agreeing that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq "indefinitely" this handy guide is a must-read....