Why has peace in the Middle East remained so elusive? Obstacle to Peace: The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict provides the answer while also explaining why you won't hear it from U.S. government officials or the mainstream media. With incisive and provocative analysis, Jeremy R. Hammond provides a meticulously documented account that explodes popular myths and deconstructs standard narratives about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For anyone seeking a better understanding of the conflict's root causes, the true reasons for its persistence, and the way forward, Obstacle to Peace delivers the knowledge and insights to effect the paradigm shift that is necessary for a just peace to be achieved. "carefully documented and highly informative" - Noam Chomsky In Obstacle to Peace, you'll learn: How US and Israeli policies have strengthened Hamas Why Israel implemented an illegal policy of collectively punishing the civilian population of Gaza, and how it's been able to do so with impunity What really happened during Operation Cast Lead and Operation Pillar of Defense, two of Israel's large-scale military assaults on the defenseless Gaza Strip What the so-called "peace process" is and why the US pursues it so aggressively Why Israel attacked the Mavi Marmara in international waters, and why the US defended the killing of nine peace activists on board How Israel has maintained its occupation of Palestine and what must happen to bring it to an end What must occur for Palestinian refugees to have a realistic hope of exercising their right to return to their homeland How and why the US mainstream media manipulate information so as to manufacture consent for US foreign policy How to decipher the euphemistic language used by the government and media to deceive the public How the United Nations helped create the conflict and how Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has played a duplicitous role What the Goldstone Report was, what its findings were, and why it so upset the US and Israel How, despite congenial rhetoric to the contrary, the Obama administration has continued the longstanding US policy of rejecting the rights of the Palestinian people And much more!