Prophets Outcast: A Century of Dissident Jewish Writing about Zionism and Israel [Paperback]

Adam Shatz (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2004

Contrary to the claims of the American Jewish establishment and the Israel lobby, Jews do not speak with one voice about the Middle East. Since the early twentieth century some of the fiercest and most eloquent critiques of Israel and Zionism have been made by Jewish thinkers. They have hailed from political and intellectual traditions—Zionism (Hannah Arendt), anti-Zionism (Maxim Rodinson), anarchism (Noam Chomsky), and Marxism (I. F. Stone). Unconditional supporters of the state of Israel have denounced them as heretics. Yet in the midst of the violence engulfing Palestine and Israel, their warnings about the Zionist project, with its vision of an ethnically pure Jewish state, have never seemed more prescient. These prophets outcast speak out as individuals in a wilderness, proposing solutions to the question of Palestine that range from a two-state solution to socialist internationalism. What links them is an understanding that Israeli policies have been a disaster not only for Palestinians, but for Jews as well. As Jews, they express a recognition of the tragic thread that connects the Palestinian catastrophe to the Holocaust, the destruction of European Jewry that made Israel possible, and that led many Jews to view Zionism as their only salvation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books (March 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560255099
• ISBN-13: 978-1560255093
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,459,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for anyone who cares about Israel, July 5, 2004

By 

Jon Wiener (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prophets Outcast: A Century of Dissident Jewish Writing about Zionism and Israel (Paperback)

"Prophets Outcast" is a gripping, eye-opening collection of some of the smartest and most knowledgeable writers of the 20th century -- including Freud and Einstein, as well as historians and analyists of the present situation -- all concerned about the anti-democratic forces within Israel and Zionism that deny Palestinian rights to statehood. Several of the contributors are Israelis, and their arguments are particulary powerful. It's a deeply moral book, and an antidote to the despair that seems so pervasive today. The introduction, by Adam Shatz, effectively combines passion and reason: the issue, he argues, is not whether Jews will remain in Israel-Palestine, but where -- within the 1967 borders, or in a Greater Israel; and on what terms -- in an increasingly theocratic state, or in a democracy based on Arab-Jewish equality.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good collection, July 1, 2008

By 

Proud Cynic (Philadelphia, Pa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prophets Outcast: A Century of Dissident Jewish Writing about Zionism and Israel (Paperback)

I have noticed this product has gotten a low review score among many people, this book is often cited as being some sort of Anti-Israel diatribe, a conspiracy between "self-hating Jews" and the ant-semitic gentiles that take advantage of there pathological hatred. I must admit this book does not strike me as such.

What i find useful about this book is the fact that it does not only contain the writings of clearly "anti-Zionist" writers but also Jews of the past (and some in the present) who at one point were clearly Zionist but rather the requirements for being a Zionist became more limited and kept them out of the loop. It might suprise some people to know (and i know this from sources outside of this book) that Martin Buber and Noam Chomsky (gasp) would have probably agreed on a massive amount of issues regarding Zionism (before the state had been created). The Cultural Zionists (such as Buber and Chomsky) now cannot fit into the Zionist category but certainly are not "Self-hating Jews."

The other writer's perspectives in this book are interesting. Leon Trotsky adds a Marxist-Leninist viewpoint to Israel/Palestine issue that i have not had a chance to examine. I would say if anything that people should take a moment and look at it. You don't have to agree but don't shy away from perspectives you haven't seen before. The only issue i had personall with the book is that Israel Shahak (a well know critic of Zionism) is absent, which is suprising considering his stature among his allies and the deep dislike his critics had for him, certainly a "Big Name" who has material to put in here. Overally the selection is very good.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Key to Understanding Israel, Middle East Conflict and the Church, July 13, 2009

By 

Cheryl Noddin (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prophets Outcast: A Century of Dissident Jewish Writing about Zionism and Israel (Paperback)

This was probably one of the most impacting books I have ever read and the most influential in getting an understanding and historical account I was in great need of to understand Israel, the Middle East Conflict and the Church. A collection of essays from various Jewish intellectuals who either lived Israel's history and birth or through their standing in the Jewish Community wrote their impression and their testimonies. For me this book was a key to the Holocaust Theology giving it definition and understanding.The collection includes essays by Isaac Deutscher, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and others. The essays revealed they were not anti-Zionists, but that they believed that for Israel and the Arabs to find resolution a mutually agreeable solution must be found where the sanctity and the right for the Arabs to prosper as a "valued entity" must occur.