[2] In his introduction, written in London in July 2010, Barat explains his decision to include a mix of interviews, dialogues and essays to answer to the question, "Why has this conflict lasted so long, who can stop it, and how?"

American peace negotiations, inspired by the realist school of academics Hans Morgenthau and Kenneth Waltz, have condemned all efforts to failure by not taking Palestinian views into consideration.

While this policy has long been denied by Israeli authorities in their efforts to build a 'heroic' narrative for their fledgling nation state, he concludes, it has recently begun to be exposed to, and even accepted and supported by, the general population of the now established country.

In this reworked 2009 essay, based on a talk given at MIT on January 19, 2009, and originally published on ZNet and in The Spokesman, Chomsky examines the US–Israel instigated Gaza War, which he describes as morally depraved and compares to someone walking down the street unconcerned about killing ants as they consider them insignificant.

This aggression, he continues, is conducted with weapons and technology supplied and paid for by the U.S. government, including a shipment announced while the attack was in progress, at an unprecedented level of military aid set to increase under the Obama administration.

The aim of the attack, which also included the bombing of Sudan and the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea, remains open to speculation, contends the author, but has resulted in an increase in support for HAMAS and other militant Islamist groups across the region.

The author maintains that, as well as specific violations such as deploying US-made white phosphorus shells in attacks on the al-Quds hospital and the UNRWA compounds, the entire operation, aimed at the destruction of all means of life including agriculture, fisheries, industry and universities, was itself a war crime.

In this dialogue, originally published as Les Champs du possible (Arden Editions, November 2008) and extended following the Gaza flotilla raid in 2010, Pappé and Chomsky discuss the Israel–Palestine conflict with Frank Barat.

In this original essay Pappé details how this former gateway community, which covers less than 2% of Palestine, has since 1948 been turned into an overpopulated and completely isolated refugee camp by the restrictive policies of the Israeli and Egyptian governments.

"Chomsky" he states, "appeals to the authority of his chosen sources (prominent, leading), though he also espouses views that may surprise some of his critics – against academic boycotts, and in favour of Hamas recognising Israel", while "Pappé retorts: Peace is made between enemies not lovers."