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

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"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.

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.

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.

Some people think that they can dictate to others what they should or should not do. The people of Israel will decide their desiny not radical Jewish nuts

This book will be loved by the ideological followers of David Duke, Noam Chomsky, Amy Goodman, Pat Buchanan and Robert Fisk. They all share something in common. That is singling out the Jews of Israel for opprobrium or condemnation on the one hand. And on the other hand ignoring the atrocities committed by Palestinians,Arabs and Iranians on the other. I don't know which one is more detestable the pseudo-liberals on the one side or the anti-Israel conservatives on the other. While it is acceptable to call David Duke a bigot, the anti-Israel bigots on the left are far more dangerous to the fate of the Jewish Israelis. If you criticize their one sided presentation they will quickly try to shut you up by claiming "criticism of Israel is not antisemitic." Of course its not but singling out Israel is also not mere criticism. Call it what you will, but it is by definition a bigoted.

No one has to be moral. No one has to support human rights. I think all people ought to do so. But different people will always see things differently.

Still, if one is to support human rights, one has to at least try to support human rights for everyone (or at least not oppose them). And that means supporting Zionism (or at least not opposing it). And that gets us to the theme of this book, which consists mostly of articles encouraging us to oppose Zionism. The authors are, for the most part, opponents of Zionism. They don't seem to want to be a part of the Hebrew nation. Fine. Neither do I. A nation is not for everyone in the world. Nor is a religion.

Anyway, the authors are not trying to provide constructive criticism to Zionists. They are providing advice to humans in general, telling us not to be Zionists. Um, why should we listen to them? That is, I'm a human being. I'm providing advice to humans in general, telling everyone to support Zionism. Does that mean that those of you who don't support human rights ought to take me Seriously? Of course not.

In short, I see no reason why the authors have any particular credentials merely by being Jewish. And in fact, I was struck by their emphasis on Israel. Don't they realize that not everyone in the world is Jewish? Don't they realize that there are Arabs and others who stand to lose quite a bit if everyone abandons support for human rights?

The list of authors does include some Zionists, such as Albert Einstein, Martin Buber, and Ahad Ha-Am. These people supported Jewish nationalism in one way or another. And they wrote before the establishment of modern Israel, when Jewish nationalism did not need to include support for the existence of a Jewish state. However, the more recent contributors are a little different. And while I could argue against their politics, and even more against their facts and logic, my point is that they rarely have anything to offer to those who support human rights.

So when Tony Judt basically wants Israel to give up on being a state where Jews will be guaranteed rights of life, liberty, property, and immigration, he's overlooking the fact that he's setting a precedent for removing rights from everyone, not just from Israeli Jews. When Ella Shohat misrepresents the Arab-Israeli conflict, she is doing a big disservice to the very people she says she wants to help, the Sephardim.

More amusingly, when a very diplomatic (and to my mind, uncontroversial) statement by Lawrence Summers draws an amazing blast from Judith Butler, I think Butler misses a big opportunity to say something, anything, of value. There are plenty of statements that are worthy of criticism. Why on Earth go after that one?

Those of you who aren't sure about how some of the authors stand on equality ought to ask themselves what solutions they would come up with if they did not know who they were. What if you did not know whether you were rich, poor, Arab, Israeli, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Pagan, young, old, woman, man, religious, secular, or whatever? What kind of solution would you see as fair then? What if you had to demand the same rights for everyone, not more for yourself or less for yourself? Would you still decide to deprive Israeli Jews of the rights you demanded for Arabs?

Nevertheless, there are plenty of articles by rather bright authors in this book. And there are a few perceptive statements mixed in with the propaganda. In particular, I loved it when Noam Chomsky demolished the idea that "the rightness of a political idea is never absolute." He's right about that! No matter how absurd things are, we must always remind ourselves that truth, justice, and fairness are never incorrect, even if they are out of fashion or unachievable at the moment. He and the other authors would have done well to take that advice.

I could barely make it through to the middle of this book. The author (Shatz) seems to have dedicated his life to anti-zionism... and, okay, so be it. But as a gentile agnostic, I find the idea of collecting writings of jews who detest Israel to be a ploy, as if just because they are Jewish, they know better than the rest of us that it is right to be anti-israel. Yet Shatz writes for the Nation with arrogant, cynical bitterness about Ajami, an Arab who frequently takes on the Arab establishment! Mr. Shatz, if you, a Jew delight in finding other jews who are anti-zionist, then why does it stun you that an Arab might be against Arab nationalism? Hail a clue taxi.

As Jill Malter points out in her excellent review of this book on 'Amazon' it dishonestly puts together the views of those who supported in one way or another the Zionist Enterprise, Einstein, Buber, Arendt with those who are its vicious opponents.( Chomsky, Judt). But worse it preaches a denial of the right of self- determination to the Jewish people in their national homeland, the land of Israel. It turns its back on the historical record and right of the Jewish people in Biblical times and afterwards in the land of Israel.
The book also repeats claims which are simply false i.e. that the Jewish people have denied the Palestinian Arabs their right of national definition. In fact the historical record shows that the Jews of Israel at least five times in the past half - century offered partition , and a two- states for two peoples kind of solution. The naysaying of the Arab world is completely denied in this collection.
I would make one point about some of these contributors. Their need to excoriate Israel, and the Jewish people is very connected with their need to be justified as 'citizens' of the world, to be free of any special burden as part of the Jewish people.
Many of them are ashamed and are filled with hatred of the Jewish people
This book is not really about Israel, not about its history or its people in all their complexity and with all their problems. It is really about the collective psychology of self- denying and self- hating Jews .