I Accuse
by Norman Finkelstein
(OR Books, £16)

I ACCUSE is a demanding read, in every sense. Its indictment of the behaviour of Israel and the International Criminal Court is detailed and dense.

Norman Finkelstein’s book concerns a specific incident in 2010 when the Mavi Marmara, flagship of a humanitarian flotilla carrying supplies to Gaza, was attacked by Israeli commandos.

Nine people were killed, one later died from his injuries, scores were injured and many more assaulted. The proof presented, textual and photographic, is harrowing. Half the book is taken up by evidential appendices and the explanatory notes are at a point size requiring the use of a magnifying glass.

These are observations, not complaints. Finkelstein’s assessment of a violent action by Israeli armed forces brims with controlled anger but is informed by meticulous analysis.

The case was referred to the ICC in 2013, where chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda agreed that  there had been a war crime but declined to investigate because it was of insufficient gravity. She also claimed there was no compelling evidence that the flotilla was on a humanitarian mission and suggested the commandos opened fire due to unanticipated violent resistance from passengers.

Finkelstein claims Bensouda’s decision is a perversion of justice and uses material from the court’s vast record to support his argument. He highlights errors of law, faulty reasoning, misrepresentation of fact and the chief prosecutor’s reluctance to assess the incident in the context of Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.

Finkelstein demonstrates that the ICC's reliance on the Turkel Report, commissioned by Israel, has been used to exonerate their own troops from war-crime charges. And he examines the prosecutor’s attribution of partial blame to the victims and shows this to be ludicrous. Why was an elite shoot-to-kill commando unit deployed where aggression was unanticipated?

The book’s conclusion connects the attack to Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the humanitarian crisis it caused, with the appendix providing headline statistics and a record of the deaths of families, children and medical workers as a result of Israeli military action.

Finkelstein examines Bensouda’s interpretations of the factual narrative and carefully cross-references ICC evidence, finding glaring inconsistencies in both. He accuses Bensouda of judicial malpractice —  evidence tampering, concocting a conspiracy theory and capitulating to political pressure.

As a result, he suggests, Israel will commit further “heinous crimes.”

This is a compelling examination of a decision that unsettled many international lawyers and a reminder of the extent to which Palestinians have been let down by international institutions.

And Finkelstein’s exhaustive exploration of a single outrage illuminates the gross iniquities and humanitarian damage wrought by the ruthless behaviour of the Israeli state.