The bard pays homage to his two muses: his wife and his football club

Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters
Helena Cobban and Rami C Khouri, OR Books, £15.99
WHEN Piers Morgan was inviting every guest to “condemn Hamas” only a few notables, including Norman Finkelstein, declined to take the bait and thus seal the terms of debate before even starting it.
As far as Western discourse was concerned, Hamas were the perverts at the bottom of the seventh circle of hell, sadistic fanatics who took great pleasure in atrocities.
Just World Educational, a small US non-profit educational outfit with a board that includes the authors, decided that this demonisation was a serious obstacle for a political solution and a workable peace. Indeed, in a ruling-class narrative that appears ubiquitous at this present time, when an adversary is evil, diplomacy itself becomes pandering to evil and eradication is the only logical course of action.

ANN CZERNIK looks back over the last two years of carnage that began with the unprecedented October 7 operation and considers the rhetoric from both sides in light of the massacre carried out by Israel that has united the world in horror

ALEX HALL welcomes a book about Gaza that recognises how imperial capitalism defines groups of people by their non-existence

