Customer Reviews

The Jewish Revolution; Jewish Statehood

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

 

 

This book, written by one of the key heroes of the pre-state Jewish underground, should be read and re-read by all Israelis. Israel Eldad (z"l) documents for all time the way things ought to be in Israel. Since this book's publication, we've seen a steady withering of nationalist ideology in the public schools in Israel. One short generation removed, the curriculum is decidedly left wing. Governments after governments now suggest new offers to the terrorist enemy of sacred Jewish land in exchange for time--not even peace as if such a concept were possible to attain at a negotiating table. When will the Israeli people realize that once we had the answer to all of these issues with the Arab enemy. It's all here in Eldad's book.

Amazingly, in the USA, more Christians will agree with Eldad than American Jews always frightened of what their "intellectual" colleagues might think. May every Jew read this book. Christians will find much of it familiar because it fulfills the very teachings of the bible.

This brilliant treatise on Zionism and Israel by one of the Lehi fighters offers an amazing glimpse into the past and yet, despite the fact that it was originally written 1970, it offers important lessons for today. The book begins with the fate of the Jews in Europe and why assimilation and equal rights failed to provide security for Jews. Some may disagree that "before the emancipation, before the Jews attained their civil liberties, there was no 'Jewish problem' ". However the emancipation led to the theory of racial anti-Semitism. The author points out, correctly, that the inquisition was not directed against Jews, but Jewish converts. He points out correctly that "outward signs of Jewishness [were] the first ingredients of shame and self-contempt that entered the soul of the emancipated Jews." He draws an important parallel between Karl Marx and Joseph, each desired to help the other and forgot about his own people and the result in both cases was that a "new pharaoh" came to rule over the Jews.

Succeeded chapters detail the forgotten world of extreme Soviet anti-Semitism and how that anti-Semitism infected western leftists. He details his own meetings with the Mufti's brother while they were both in a British prison in Palestine. Most moving of all, Eldad speaks of Jewish military prowess "suddenly gathering all its latent military strength, stirring the embers of its ancient courage and strategic talents." He also notes the increasing attempt by the left to compare Israeli actions to hose of the Nazis; this "all to frequent analogy made by Jewish intellectuals in order to denigrate Zionism and Israel and thus give vent to their own self-hate."

His discussions of the Israel-Arab conflict are less original today. Declaring that Jordan is not a state rooted in history and that there are no Palestinians is not new. Statements such as "the swastika was a direct descendant of the cross" may annoy some.

Other premonitions are quite brilliant, noting that "the whites I South Africa will suddenly remember that the Jews were actively inciting the blacks against them and the blacks of South Africa will remember that the Jews are members of the white race that has been exploiting them." The statement has been born out as were the authors predictions about problems between Africa-Americans and Jews in the U.S.

He sums up his brilliant work noting that "we still have created no paradise here. Sometimes it smacks somewhat of hell. But it is our hell, and our job to turn it into the paradise we want."

Seth J. Frantzman

Anyway familiar with historical books/studies will automatically notice that this book is missing a bibliography and does not cite any sources. If you are familiar with European and Middle Eastern history, especially the role that Jews have played in both, then much of what is written here will not be a surprise for you. The context given to all of the above is, on the other hand, interesting, from time to time. It would be even more interesting if the author could cite sources!

I can't say I agree for 100% with all the arguments but much here makes sense. The sad fact, in the end, is that the world cannot and will not function as this book/author would like. A lot of what is advocated comes from hindsight, but humanity does not work that way. At other times the author wishes that double standards would not exist against Israel, so do I, but that is, again, not the world we live in. In the end this book is filled with a good amount of truth and honesty as well as emotion. At the same time, there is also too much idealism and not enough realistic thinking and acceptance. If the majority of the world was familiar with its own history then many of the mistakes made today would never have occurred, but that type of idealistic dream is just that. We should not concentrated on what could have been but rather try to understand our present reality, including how and why it came about, and what we can do to change it in the future, for the better.

The author of this book; Israel Eldad, should have been a Nobel Prize for Literature! And do you know why? Because this book's content is just pure dynamite! Well, if you remember who was the original inventor of this very explosive material!
The author is talking about a free Israel, an independant Jewish state, things which are not commonly or freely debated today in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv's streets. Jewish pride is present in every page of the book but I am not convinced this would please many readers? Israel Eldad had guts, well Jewish guts. The kind which is no more found even in the Holy land of Israel!
Anyway, if you still dream of a real Jewish state of Israel, please get this book and be inspired! And let yourself be consumed by Jewish spiritual fire. All for the good..