The Jewish Divide Over Israel: Accusers and Defenders [Hardcover]

Edward Alexander (Editor), Paul Bogdanor (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0765803275 | ISBN-13: 978-0765803276

Before 1967, Israel had the overwhelming support of world opinion. So long as Israel's existence was in harmony with politically correct assumptions, it was supported, or at least accepted, by the majority of "progressive" Jews, especially in the wake of the Holocaust. This is no longer the case. The Jewish Divide Over Israel explains the role played by prominent Jews in turning Israel into an isolated pariah nation.

After their catastrophic defeat in 1967, Arabs overcame inferiority on the battlefield with superiority in the war of ideas. Their propaganda stopped trumpeting their desire to eradicate Israel. Instead, in a calculated appeal to liberals and radicals, they redefined their war of aggression against the Jews as a struggle for the liberation of Palestinian Arabs. The tenacity of Arabs' rejection of Israel and their relentless campaign—in schools, universities, churches, professional organizations, and, above all, the news media—to destroy Israel's moral image had the desired impact. Many Jewish liberals became desperate to escape from the shadow of Israel's alleged misdeeds and found a way to do so by joining other members of the left in blaming Israeli sins for Arab violence. Today, Jewish liberals rationalize violence against the innocent as resistance to the oppressor, excuse Arab extremism as the frustration of a wronged party, and redefine eliminationist rhetoric and physical assaults on Jews as "criticism of Israeli policy." Israel's Jewish accusers have played a crucial and disproportionate role in the current upsurge of antisemitism precisely because they speak as Jews.

The essays in this book seek to understand and throw back the assault on Israel led by such Jewish liberals and radicals as Tony Judt, Noam Chomsky, George Steiner, Daniel Boyarin, Marc Ellis, Israel Shahak, and many others. Its writers demonstrate that the foundation of the state of Israel, far from being the primal sin alleged by its accusers, was one of the few redeeming events in a century of blood and shame.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bad and dishonest argument works, sad to say; especially when it is endlessly repeated by individuals and journals whose academic prowess or cultural standing gives them an apparent authority. The only recourse, for those who wish to oppose the perennial tendency of bad intellectual currency to drive out the good, is, here as ever, to take up the tedious job of patiently teasing out, in detail, sense from nonsense, truth from lies. This is the central task to which this admirable book addresses itself. . . . This book reveals the extent to which Jewish debate about Israel recapitulates and reveals strains, not just within Jewish life, but in the life we all inherit."

—Bernard Harrison, Ericksen Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Utah

"It is to the credit, therefore, of Alexander and Bogdanor that the essays in their volume focus on the stupidity, ignorance, bias, distortion and extremism of the Jewish Israel bashers, rather than on the supposed mental and emotional status which which has propelled them to endorse their preposterous statements. Edward Alexander's introduction to this volume, and his chapter on The Berkeley School, evidence a deep knowledge if views and opinions which he does not share but which he does not hesitate to present and then counter with a wealth of information and keen analytical tools of great precision."

—Arnold Ages, Chicago Jewish Star

"This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand not only why so many Jewish intellectuals turn against Israel, but also the mechanisms by which their otherwise shoddy and superficial scholarship and journalistic work earns so much praise."

—Emanuele Ottolenghi, National Review Online

"Although some of the essays in the book have been published elsewhere, their inclusion here, together with the new material, is a great service to those who recognize the threat that Jewish defamation of Israel represents and want a better understanding of its nature and roots."

—Dr. Kenneth Levin, Jewish Political Studies Review

"Edward Alexander and Paul Bogdanor have assembled eighteen essays that strip away the prophetic robes of Israel's Jewish detractors."

—Isranet Briefing, Canadian Institute for Jewish Research (CIJR)

"The publication of the collection of essays, The Jewish Divide over Israel: Accusers and Defenders, edited by Edward Alexander and Paul Bogdanor, could not be more timely, given the recent ascent of the unrepentant terrorist organization Hamas, the fevered rantings of the President of Iran calling for the elimination of Israel, and the recent Harvard publication of Professors Mearsheimer and Walt's 'The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.'"

—Congress Monthly

"Collectively, the essays comprising The Jewish Divide make a significant statement about the lacerating effects of Jewish self-hatred."

—The Jerusalem Report

"At a moment in history when Israel is again fighting for its survival while being vilified as the aggressor and the villan, many Jewish intellectuals have once again sought the spotlight to state that what Israel is doing is 'not in my name.' This book may not provide a cure for this disease, but it certainly offers a key to recognizing its symptoms and developing an effective antidote."

—Emmanuele Ottolenghi, National Review Online

"This important and timely essay collection explores the poisonous phenomenon of Jews who fulminate against the Jewish state. Among those it considers are the best-known representatives of this group, many of them ensconced in academia."

—Jewish Political Studies

"Meticulously studied anthology of the most virulent anti-Israeli and antisemtic views which have been voiced, shouted and published in recent years by, mirabile dictu, a coalition of Jewish writers in North America, Europe, and Israel."

—Arnold Ages

"Jewish hostility toward the state of Israel is the volume's central focus. In studies of figures on the extreme edge of anti-Israel politics (such as Norman G. Finkelstein, Noam Chomsky, and Marc Ellis) and other more temperate cases (such as Tony Judt, Thomas Friedman, George Steiner, and Peter Novick), the volume offers a survey of left-wing Jewish intellectuals whose stock and trade is calumniation of the Jewish state. Its best essays go beyond cataloging outrageous lies and antics to offer plausible explanations of the psychosocial factors that impel such behavior. Because extreme denunciations of Israel by prominent Jews have played an exceptionally important role in legitimizing hatred of the Jewish state in the Middle East and across the world, this volume is not only timely, it is overdue.

—Commentary

"One does not have to go back a millennium to find "renegade" Jews eager to level accusations against the Jewish community. . . . Because extreme denunciations of Israel by prominent Jews have played an exceptionally important role in legitimizing hatred of the Jewish state in the Middle East and across the world, this volume is not only timely, it is overdue."

—Middle East Quarterly

"The volume offers a survey of left-wing Jewish intellectuals whose stock and trade is calumniation of the Jewish state. Its best essays go beyond cataloging outrageous lies and antics to offer plausible explanations of the psychosocial factors that impel such behavior. . . . this volume is not only timely, it is overdue."

—Gabriel Schoenfeld, Commentary

"An extremely important group of essays . . . Alexander and Bogdanor explain why so many Jewish liberals and radicalscontinually and wrongly undermine the Jewish state. The book is must reading."

—Alex Grobman, The Jewish Voice

About the Author

Edward Alexander is professor emeritus of English at the University of Washington, Seattle. He has been a member of the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics, the National Association of Scholars, and the Washington Association of Scholars. He is the author of The Jewish Idea and Its Enemies, The Holocaust and the War of Ideas, and Irving Howe: Socialist, Critic, Jew.

Paul Bogdanor, a writer living in London, has written for Judaism, the Jewish Chronicle, and Middle East Quarterly.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (March 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765803275
• ISBN-13: 978-0765803276
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,520,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific collection of articles, April 9, 2006

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jewish Divide Over Israel: Accusers and Defenders (Hardcover)

There's already an excellent review of this fine book on this site (by Shalom Freedman). But I'd still like to add a few words of my own.

There are more than a few Jews who attack Israel. Are they "self-hating Jews?" Are they traitors? Well, some folks who oppose Israel, Jewish or not, are clearly under no obligation to defend it. If they side with those who would destroy it, they are not traitors, just enemies of Israel. In many cases, I would not bother to regard them as Jews. It is true that some of them are clearly embarrassed by the existence of Israel, but even that does not get me to think of them as Jews unless they show some genuine support for the human rights of Jews. Of course, what I think about this doesn't make much difference. The Jews are the ones who need to decide who they think are Jews, and they are the ones who need to decide what to think of the fact that many anti-Zionists boast about those who advertise themselves as Jews who oppose Israel.

Some actual patriots sincerely recommend surrender to one's enemies, on the grounds that fighting will likely result in obliteration while surrender gives a much greater chance for survival. In World War Two, Jews who tried this generally got killed, and for this reason, this idea has merited less respect since then. But if Jews sincerely recommended this strategy, I'd still think of them as Jews (I think I'd regard them as Jewish even if they made the absurd and immoral recommendation to, um, get rid of all Jews, on the grounds that this would end actual oppression of Jews once and for all...by the way, some of the Jews mentioned in this book come pretty close to advising this).

How do we tell if one is going over the line and betraying one's people rather than simply being moral? Well, an editor of this book, Edward Alexander has a simple test. Do you demand the same rights for you and your group that you demand for others? If you refuse to do that, you flunk his test and are being counterproductive by giving too much support for your enemies.

Still, according to the editors in the introduction to this book, "'cowardice' is the word that springs to mind most often as the suitable epithet for Israel's Jewish enemies." I agree. These Jewish accusers of Israel are generally taking some easy and immoral shots against truth, justice, human rights, and peace. They're rarely paying much of a price for this. And it is annoying to hear some of them praised for their courage.

After the introduction, there are seventeen superb articles. And they expose some of the hostility towards Israel by some of the anti-Israeli, um, cowards. But that's not the aspect of this book that I find most interesting. I'm not all that interested in tribal wars. But I am interested in truth, justice, and human rights. That's why my focus in reading this book was to witness the extent to which many of the opponents of Israel are amazingly dishonest and arbitrary. For example, Michael Neumann is quoted as saying that if an "effective strategy" means "the destruction of the state of Israel" he doesn't care. And that "to regard the shedding of Jewish blood as a world-shattering calamity...is racism, pure and simple, the valuing of one race's blood over all others." That's an eye-opener. I think those Germans who were put on trial after World War Two would have loved that argument, as it would have given moral justification for the genocide they perpetrated. Later, we see Neumann make the absurd argument that the purpose of Zionism is not to provide a refuge for Jews but simply to wage a race war in order to embark on "genocide" against the Levantine Arabs!

Of course, Neumann's claims are preposterous. But even so, I feel that even his lies do not necessarily support his conclusions. Suppose it really would be better for your enemies if you and your family were to be murdered, robbed, and slandered. Would it be best for you to allow this to happen, and to refuse to fight for your lives, property, and honor? It would depend on the circumstances, but the answer might well be no.

Edward Alexander makes quite a few good points. For example, he suggests that a good response by West Bank settlers to David Grossman would be "my dear fellow, we will imagine ourselves as Arabs if you will imagine yourself as a Jew."

Other articles discuss in detail some counterproductive writings by George Steiner, Tony Judt, Noam Chomsky, Israel Shahak, Tanya Reinhart, Norman G. Finkelstein, Peter Novick, Daniel Boyarin, Marc Ellis, Judith Butler, Martin Jay, Jerome Segal, Thomas Friedman, Seymour Hersh, and Benny Morris. It says on the back flap of this book that these articles "seek to understand and throw back the assault on Israel led by" these folks and that the writers "demonstrate that the foundation of the state of Israel, far from being the primal sin alleged by its accusers, was one of the few redeeming events in a century of blood and shame." I agree. And I very highly recommend this book.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important analysis of an extremely sad phenomenom, April 7, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Jewish Divide Over Israel: Accusers and Defenders (Hardcover)

This book is a collection of essays in which the phenomenom of Jewish self- hatred most particularly in the form of hatred of the Jewish state is analyzed and to a degree explained. It deals with many of the most well- known haters, including Chomsky, Tanya Reinhart, Norman Finkelstein, Israel Shahak, Daniel Boyarin , Jacqueline Rose, Joel Beinin, Michael Neumann(Canada), and others.

In the opening essay Alvin Rosenfeld considers how important a part 'shame' plays in these intellectuals life, how many of them feel the need to 'apologize' for imaginary crimes of the state of Israel. The book goes on to chronicle some of the most amazing and remarkable actions of hypocrisy, and moral idiocy of the modern era. Imagine the kind of prevarications which a Jew must go through to defend as many of these haters do, Palestinian Arab suicide bombers who deliberately kill women and children, just because they are Jewish.

This book exposes a great deal of biased and inaccurate thought about Israel and its history. However it also signals a very worrisome phenomenom and trend which must be contended with as openly and vociferously as possible, especially on the university campus where many of these 'Jewish Anti- Semites' have prestige and power.

This book is recommended highly to all those who care about Israel and the Jewish people.

It also provides a great deal of information which I believe would be excellent material for psychologists interesting in understanding the form of self- hatred , which focuses not upon oneself as individual but upon the collective, religious , national, ethnic to which one ostensibly belongs.