Customer Reviews

Israel (Modern World Nations)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, this book should not have been labeled for children aged 4 to 8. Clearly, the publishers have very little notion of what children of that age bracket can read. This book is more appropriate for children aged 8 to 12, which is a far different reading level.

Beyond that, the book is not really about Israel, but about Israel's non-Jewish minorities, who make up less than a quarter of Israel's population. That would be fine, were not every page filled with arguments pointedly indicating why the author feels that Israel should not be a Jewish state.

For the most part, the facts (such as there are) are taken out of their regional context, failing to note that while every Arab state surrounding Israel also have non-Muslim minorities, they are all governed by variations on Islamic law, and consider themselves Islamic theocracies.

Furthermore the book accepts the ridiculous notion that Palestinians are descended from the vanished people called Philistines. It's true that Arabs today calling themselves Palestinians take their name from the Philistines, but those ancient people disappeared from the land 3,000 years ago, and today's Arab residents are either descendants of the various Muslim conquerors of Israel (beginning with the Arab conquest in 736) or more recent immigrants (within the last 150 to 200 years).

It's fine to have a book about Israel's minorities. Such volumes are very much in demand, and needed. But the title of this book is a misnomer. It should more accurately have been titled Israel's Minorities. (It doesn't even include statistics as to the population of each group.) As it is, the book reads like an anti-Israel tract for children.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

This book attempts to describe the geography, cultural milieu, and history of modern Israel. The description of the geography and the problems modern Israelis encountered and solved in living in such a harsh environment is detailed and accurate. The author points out that Israel is a land that welcomes many cultures and that it has been enriched by its diversity. The author traces Israel's history back to Abraham, making the common error of confusing Biblical accounts of the Jewish people with historical documentation of the founding of Israel. The text does, however, point out that the three major religions that hold Israel as a sacred land consider Abraham the progenitor of their common belief in monotheism. Unfortunately, the author reduces two thousand years of history to two pages in this book. He then concentrates on the more recent violent struggles between Israel and Palestine. The book even includes mention of the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers and the subsequent Israeli incursion into Lebanon this past summer. Although not perfect, this is one of the better books recently published about Israel. It struggles to include positive information about the many Israeli modern scientific innovations and makes a point of relating several programs Israel has developed to work with all its Middle Eastern neighbors to solve common ecological problems.
The book contains a useful appendix called "Facts at a Glance." It also has an index, bibliography, and additional sources of interest, including acceptable web sites. This book should prove useful to students doing research on Israel and the Middle East.
For ages 12 and up.
Reviewed by Susan Dubin