Martyred but Not Tamed
The Politics of Resistance in the Middle East
- Ram Narayan Kumar - was an Independent Political Activist and Thinker
Along the way, in a systematic, thorough, yet vivid and highly readable manner, the book revisits several 'well-known' episodes of recent history, but with an unsparing gaze, untainted by the softening lenses which tend to distort the self-serving Western narrative. It highlights the role played by Britain and the other colonial powers, which for pure expediency did not hesitate to carve up the body politic of the region; to exacerbate and exploit existing divides; to create new divisions where none existed; and to draw borders that defied all ethnic and historical logic, thereby sowing the seed of intractable conflicts such as the one between Israel and the Palestinians.
Lastly, in a long, densely informative chapter on "oil politics", the book lays bare the naked economic and strategic interests which prompted nearly all the moves of the imperial powers in the region, from the days of overt colonial occupation down to the present age of indirect control and disguised hegemony.