Book Review

Avi Shlaim’s Genocide in Gaza: A Review

Shlaim’s core argument is that Gaza’s suffering—especially after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and Israel’s brutal response (Operation Swords of Iron)— is no accident. He sees Zionism as a settler-colonial project, echoing scholar Patrick Wolfe’s idea that “invasion is a structure, not an event.” Gaza’s blockade since 2007, the repeated bombings Israel calls “mowing the lawn,” and the staggering toll— over 40,000 deaths by mid-2024, mostly women and children— aren’t just security measures but steps toward elimination.

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Book Reading Session: Mushirul Hasan’s A Moral Reckoning

On 6th September 2025, Free Voice organised a reading session. The book chosen was A Moral Reckoning: Muslim Intellectuals in Nineteenth century Delhi (2005, OUP) by Mushirul Hasan. The session was proposed by budding sociologist Zeeshan Husain, an admirer of Hasan’s work since his college days. The session aimed to introduce this important work to young readers and encourage them to read it whenever they could.

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The Myth of Damaging Identity Politics

There are two definitions of identity politics. The first is the effort to secure the rights denied to some on the basis of their identity—defensive identity politics. The second is that which seeks domination on the basis of identity—aggressive identity politics. Aggressive identity politics espoused by the majority is thought to be ‘natural and benign’. And identity politics, as practised by the blacks, the Asians, the minorities and the disadvantaged, is thought to be ‘dangerous, indulgent and damaging’.

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