The World After Gaza by Pankaj Mishra, published on 15 January 2025, is a deeply researched and timely book that examines the war in Gaza through the lens of global history, politics, and morality. Mishra, one of today’s leading public thinkers, connects the current violence in the Middle East with larger global issues like racism, colonialism, and the lasting impact of the Holocaust. His writing urges readers to question why the world often turns a blind eye to the suffering of some, while mourning others. In The World After Gaza, Mishra compares the West’s focus on the Holocaust with how people in the Global South remember colonialism and slavery as their main historical pain. He shows how these two different views of history shape today’s political choices, including the strong support for Israel from many Western countries. Mishra also challenges the idea that the West has the moral high ground, especially when far-right politics and racism are growing stronger.
The World After Gaza explores how the memory of the Holocaust was used to justify the creation and protection of Israel, while ignoring the rights of Palestinians. Mishra dives into how Western powers treated Jewish refugees during World War II, how Zionism became dominant, and how global media has played a role in shaping biased narratives. He even connects Israel’s actions to rising far-right movements across the world, showing a clear pattern of selective morality.
With courage and clarity, The World After Gaza ends by reflecting on the future of Palestinians and the global moral crisis. Mishra offers a mix of sadness and cautious hope, reminding readers that history is repeating itself. This book is a powerful guide for anyone trying to understand the deeper roots of today’s conflicts. It is essential reading for those who believe in justice, truth, and the need to rethink the stories we are told about the world.
Availability & Details of Book: The World After Gaza
The World After Gaza by Pankaj Mishra, published on 15 January 2025 by Juggernaut, is available in both hardcover and Kindle editions. The hardcover is priced at ₹580, while the Kindle version costs ₹551 and offers instant access, making it a convenient and cost-effective option for readers. This book can be purchased on Amazon India, where both formats are listed. You can also find it on Goodreads and Flipkart. This book explained that most people around the world are the ‘darker peoples’, in W.E.B. Du Bois’ words – the main historical memory is that of slavery and colonialism, and the central event of the twentieth century is decolonization – freedom from the white man’s world.
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About the Author: Pankaj Mishra
Pankaj Mishra is an Indian essayist, novelist, and critic, born on February 9, 1969, in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Allahabad and earned a Master of Arts in English literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. Mishra’s literary career began in the early 1990s, and he gained international recognition with his novel The Romantics (2013), which has been translated into 11 European languages. His nonfiction works, such as From the Ruins of Empire (2012) and Age of Anger (2017), delve into the complexities of colonialism, modernity, and global political dynamics. Mishra’s writings have been featured in prominent publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and The New York Review of Books. He was awarded the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize for Nonfiction in 2014 and the Weston International Award in 2024. Currently, Mishra divides his time between London and India.
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Exploring the Central Themes of The World After Gaza
Pankaj Mishra’s The World After Gaza delves into the intricate interplay between historical narratives, colonial legacies, and contemporary geopolitical dynamics, particularly focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Politicization of the Holocaust: Mishra examines how the Holocaust has been utilized in Western discourse to justify the establishment and actions of the Israeli state. He argues in The World After Gaza that this singular focus often overshadows other historical atrocities, such as colonialism and slavery, leading to a skewed moral hierarchy in global consciousness.
Decolonization and Competing Historical Narratives: The book The World After Gaza contrasts the Western narrative of triumph over totalitarianism with the Global South’s experience of decolonization. Mishra highlights how these differing perspectives shape current global responses to conflicts, emphasizing the need to acknowledge and integrate multiple historical viewpoints.
The Rise of Ethnonationalism: Mishra draws parallels between the ethnonationalist movements in Israel and India, and Turkey particularly under leaders like Netanyahu and Modi. He discusses how historical grievances are repurposed to fuel contemporary nationalist agendas, often at the expense of minority communities. Mishra shows how strong identification with powerful nation-states allows majoritarian groups to justify violence, drawing attention to global silence or even support for such actions.
Global Solidarity and the Future: Mishra calls for a re-evaluation of global solidarity, urging readers to move beyond Eurocentric frameworks and recognize the interconnectedness of struggles against oppression worldwide. He emphasizes the importance of empathy and historical literacy in fostering a more equitable global society.
West and Inequality: In The World After Gaza, Mishra sharply critiques Western democracies for promoting equality abroad while maintaining systems of racial and economic dominance. He highlights how these powers often back authoritarian regimes to serve their interests, reinforcing long-standing global disparities.
Media and Perception Control: The World After Gaza examines how global media shapes the way we understand conflict, especially in Palestine. Mishra explains that selective coverage and biased narratives can influence public opinion, often protecting powerful allies while ignoring suffering in places like Gaza. This, he argues, contributes to the marginalization of Palestinian voices and experiences.
Personal Reckoning and Growth: Through The World After Gaza, Mishra also reflects on his own shifting views about Zionism and postcolonial struggles. His personal journey is used to show how political beliefs can and should evolve when faced with new understandings of global injustice and history.
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Excerpts from Book: The World After Gaza
“Hitler seemed exceptionally cruel only because he presided over ‘the humiliation of the white man’: the ‘fact that he applied to Europe colonialist procedures which until then had been reserved exclusively for the Arabs of Algeria, the coolies of India, and the blacks of Africa’.”
In The World After Gaza, Mishra quotes Aimé Césaire to show that people in Europe were shocked by Hitler’s actions because they had never faced the same cruelty their own empires had used on colonized people in Asia and Africa. The horror felt in Europe was not just about the violence, but about the fact that this violence was turned on white Europeans for the first time.
“The historian Geoff Eley has described how the Nazis’ Polish policy ‘fits into the larger repertoire of practice associated with the pre-1941 “colonial ordering of the world”’.
The World After Gaza links Nazi actions in Poland to the colonial mindset that existed long before World War II. Mishra points out that the way Nazis treated people in Poland was not unique—it followed patterns already used by colonial powers in Asia and Africa.
“With Israel’s existence reconceived in the 1960s as a preparation for another Shoah, continuous aggression seemed the only feasible solution to the Palestinian question… The Shoah thus became the sacred core of Israeli nationalism; and it rendered political negotiation meaningless, while serving to justify the grossest forms of violence and dispossession as self-defence.”
In The World After Gaza, Mishra explains that after the 1960s, Israel started framing itself as a defense against another Holocaust (Shoah). This fear justified constant violence against Palestinians, making peace talks seem pointless and allowing harsh actions to be seen as necessary for survival.
“The sanctification of the Shoah and Israeli power has made the most well-intentioned forms of liberal Zionism seem a cynical deception…”
Mishra argues in The World After Gaza that making the Holocaust central to Israeli identity has even made peaceful, liberal voices seem fake. It’s as if any call for peace is just a way to stall while continuing to take land and silence Palestinian voices.
“Narendra Modi claims that Hindus were enslaved for a thousand years… and then uses this lachrymose version of Hindu history to justify the degradation of Muslim and Christian minorities…”
In The World After Gaza, Mishra draws a connection between India and Israel. He shows how leaders like Modi use stories of historical suffering to justify present-day discrimination. Just like Israel uses past trauma to excuse violence, India’s Hindu nationalists use it to harm minorities.
“The racism of American and Western societies, which Hitler had learned and borrowed from, was taken out of its original location, the institutions of slavery, colonialism and imperialism, and presented as a case of ugly individual bigotry.”
In The World After Gaza, Mishra says that the kind of racism seen in Nazi Germany wasn’t something new—it was actually learned from Western countries like the U.S. and Britain. Hitler got many of his ideas from how these countries treated others through slavery, colonization, and empire-building. But after World War II, people tried to pretend that racism was just a personal problem—like one bad person being hateful—rather than admitting it came from big systems of power built by the West.
“…and constructed as the most hated ‘other’:
There is among majoritarian movements a strong sense of identification with an ethnonational state that unleashes lethal force without constraints; it explains, much better than any calculus of geopolitical and economic interests, the stunning complicity of many in the West in an absolute moral transgression: a genocide.”
In The World After Gaza, this part talks about how powerful groups (called “majoritarian movements”) in many countries support strong, nation-focused governments that use extreme violence without any limits. These groups see such force as acceptable, even admirable. Because of this belief, many people in Western countries ignore or support acts that are morally wrong like genocide. The people being attacked are treated as the ultimate outsiders, or the “most hated ‘other’,” which helps justify the violence in their eyes.
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Why You Should Read The World After Gaza
The World After Gaza by Pankaj Mishra is an essential read for those interested in understanding the deep-rooted historical and political dynamics behind the Israel-Palestine conflict. Mishra carefully examines the role of Western powers, particularly how their involvement has contributed to the ongoing violence and suffering in Gaza. This book goes beyond just a recounting of current events and explores the narratives that have shaped global perspectives on the region. It challenges readers to reflect on the complexities of Western ideologies, colonial histories, and the moral implications of geopolitical actions. Mishra’s work provides an intellectual platform to critically assess the situation in Gaza and its broader consequences for world politics.
The writing style of The World After Gaza is accessible and engaging, which makes it an excellent choice for both general readers and those more familiar with the subject. Despite dealing with complex and heavy topics, Mishra’s prose is clear and concise, avoiding nonsense while still offering in-depth analysis. His ability to weave historical context with contemporary issues allows readers to grasp the interconnectedness of global events. Whether you are new to this subject or looking for a fresh perspective, Mishra’s thoughtful writing ensures that readers are not overwhelmed but instead encouraged to think critically about the material presented. The book’s balance of readability and scholarly insight makes it an excellent choice for those who want to understand the broader implications of the ongoing conflict.
Final Thoughts
The World After Gaza offers a powerful analysis of the historical roots and current realities of the Palestinian conflict. Pankaj Mishra challenges dominant Western narratives, highlighting the role of colonial powers in the oppression of Palestinians. His accessible writing encourages readers to reflect on the uncomfortable truths of global politics, race, and power dynamics. Ultimately, the book calls for a deeper understanding of history and its ongoing impact, making it a crucial read for those seeking to grasp the complexities of today’s conflicts.
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