The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: partition plan, sacred mosque, jihadist groups, Temple Mount, Holy City, Camp David (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This exhaustively researched book by a former Israeli ambassador to the U.N. (Hatred's Kingdom) reads like an informed diatribe recounting the 3,000-year history of Jerusalem, from its origins in Davidic Israel through the Islamic conquests and Crusades, to its central place in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations and global religious consciousness. While meticulously detailing the role of the Holy City in the evolution of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and the modern diplomatic battle for its custody, Gold is far from impartial. He displays an intense repudiation of fundamentalist Islam, and the perceived ineptitude and ingratitude of the West toward Israel, which he considers the only legitimate savior of the city. Warning of the apocalypse, he concludes that today's Jerusalem is threatened by the "evil wind" of Islamic fundamentalism; if redivided, he argues, the precious city will be the next great victim of global jihad. Comprehensive and cogent, this book may be a helpful resource to anyone interested in the historical and theological antecedents to today's political quagmire. However, the spiteful, defensive tone diminishes an otherwise fascinating history. Christians and Muslims alike will find his argument disquieting, as Gold repeatedly devalues the religious authenticity of their claim to the city. (Jan.)
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Product Description

Radical Islam has long desired to seize Jerusalem and cut it off to Christian and Jewish believers. In his revealing new book, The Fight for Jerusalem, bestselling author and former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold explains why the battle for Jerusalem is intensifying today. Gold shows why only Israel can preserve its holy places for Christians, Jews, and even Muslims, and why uncovering Jerusalem's past-and the truth of biblical history-can be the key to saving its future.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc. (January 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159698029X
• ISBN-13: 978-1596980297
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #259,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here you will get an interesting refutation of Temple Denial and a better context for the current political struggle and war, March 9, 2007

By	Craig Matteson (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

The PLO and other affiliated groups, including the President of Iran, have vowed to exterminate Israel. This has proved more difficult than they have vowed it to be over the decades since Israel's modern re-establishment. Many different strategies have been applied through countless different tactical approaches, but despite the death and mayhem, Israel still stands. Among the more recent approaches is that of Temple Denial. That is, Yassir Arafat began preaching that there never was a Temple on the Temple Mount. That if there ever was a temple it was actually somewhere else.

The evidence against this theory is overwhelming, but is hardly known by the general person today. Many influential media outlets, college programs on Middle-Easter Studies, and certain politicians from around the world are so supportive of the "Palestinian Cause" that they are willing to support any political wedge to help them including misrepresenting the evidence of the history of the Jews and of Israel.

This very helpful book explains the evidence of the history of the Jews and the Arabs in Palestine (a term for the area invented by a Roman emperor when he wanted to punish the Jews and named it after their traditional enemies the Philistines - a people of Aegean heritage, not Arab).

The author, Dore Gold, has served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations. He begins the book by introducing us to the problem of Temple Denial. The book is presented in three parts. 1) The Religious Dimension of Jerusalem, 2) The Diplomatic Struggle over Jerusalem, and 3) Radical Islam and Jerusalem.

Unless you are already deeply familiar with the history of the area and all the conflicting arguments and claims, you will likely learn a great deal from this book. The first part takes us through what Jerusalem has meant to the Jews, the Christians, and Islam over the millennia. The second part discusses the political treatment of the area and how these claims have been mediated before, during, and after the Ottoman Empire, the realities of the area during the 19th century (did you know that in the second half of the 19th century that Jews outnumbered Arabs in Jerusalem?), the political work towards and against the establishment of a Jewish homeland, and how it came about. And, finally, the struggle and political conflicts since Israel was established by a United Nations charter.

With all this background the reader is in a better position to understand part III and the way radical Islam (or the Islamofacists or Jihadists - whatever you want to call them) has used its claims and approaches to Jerusalem in their global struggle against the West rather than the struggle originating because of Israel and Jerusalem. It is an especially interesting part and currently relevant part of the book. I found the discussion of the current stream of apocalyptic vision in Islam to be particularly interesting in understanding the global War on Terror we are having to fight.

Mr. Gold does consider the various sides of the arguments made and the evidence for each. Obviously, he will be charged with bias, but anyone who reads the book will find that charge awfully weak. It isn't that we don't all have self-interest, but even when one has personal interests in one side of the argument, one can fairly present all the evidence. That way when the other side presents its case one can compare their expression of all the evidence and see who is being more objective (not completely objective).
I recommend this book to anyone interested getting good information about this important topic and is a tired of the constant drumbeat against Israel (for example, Jimmy Carter's recent tome that all but accuses Israel of apartheid). Please get it, read it, and keep your mind open to what the author is actually saying rather than dismissing him out of hand or imputing his arguments with things he is not saying.

The appendix also has a dozen relevant documents that you can read as they are discussed in the text.


Strongly recommended.

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting!, January 22, 2007

By	Isaac Stewart (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

I have never had such an exciting time learning so much! I always knew Jerusalem was sacred, hotly contested, and a flashpoint of conflict. What I didn't know until now was how Jerusalem is being used to launch an apocalypse, by champions who are serious and armed enough to start a new world war. Alarming as it is, I was still glad to learn that we can fight this threat, and that protecting Jerusalem ultimately means protecting so much more. Beyond that, this book is an enjoyable and fast read, especially for such a fact-rich account: I learned everything I could ever have wanted to know about this amazing city, all the way back to King David. What a thrilling experience!!

45 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding the Purpose Of Jerusalem, January 24, 2007

By	Allen Roth (New York, New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with Mr. Isaac that Christians and Jews should read this informative and riveting history of Jerusalem. While Christianity and Judiaism have direct religious ties to Jerusalem, Islamic radicals discover Jerusalem when it serves a political puropose. Dore Gold's Fight For Jerusalem documents this reality.

Like his perviuos books, Dore Gold proves himself to be a first-rate researcher that lets the facts tell his story. This book contains many fascinating maps and photographs that help bring to life this unique city. Any one who reads the Fight For Jerusalem will come away with important information that will help them understand the importance of Israel's capital.