Book details

Author: Maher El-Kurd

Israel Owes Palestine builds on the landmark 2025 legal petition Britain Owes Palestine to outline four core Palestinian claims for reparations and restitution. Spanning over a century of displacement, occupation, and mass harm, this book argues that reparations are not symbolic—they are legal obligations essential to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and paving the way for historical reconciliation.

Israel Owes Palestine: Palestinian Demands for Justice—Reparations and Restitution offers a rigorous and accessible account of Palestinian claims for reparations across a century of settler-colonial violence, displacement, and economic exploitation. Building on the 2025 legal petition Britain Owes Palestine, the book traces four major layers of harm: the Nakba of 1948, the 1967 war and occupation, the ongoing economic plunder of Palestinian land and resources, and the genocidal destruction in Gaza since October 2023. Drawing on international legal principles, historical records, and comparative precedents—from Holocaust reparations to post-conflict recovery in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Kosovo—the book argues that reparations are not optional gestures. They are juridical consequences of internationally wrongful acts. Through structured analysis and clear prose, the book makes the case that without acknowledgment, restitution, and compensation, durable peace and historical reconciliation remain out of reach. Written for scholars, students, policymakers, and general readers alike, Israel Owes Palestine is both a legal study and a moral summons. It calls for accountability, repair, and justice—not as abstractions, but as practical steps toward ending a century of harm.