The Wandering Who [Paperback]

Gilad Atzmon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2011

An investigation of Jewish identity politics and Jewish contemporary ideology using both popular culture and scholarly texts. Jewish identity is tied up with some of the most difficult and contentious issues of today. The purpose in this book is to open many of these issues up for discussion. Since Israel defines itself openly as the ‘Jewish State’, we should ask what the notions of ’Judaism’, ‘Jewishness’, ‘Jewish culture’ and ‘Jewish ideology’ stand for. Gilad examines the tribal aspects embedded in Jewish secular discourse, both Zionist and anti Zionist; the ‘holocaust religion’; the meaning of ‘history’ and ‘time’ within the Jewish political discourse; the anti-Gentile ideologies entangled within different forms of secular Jewish political discourse and even within the Jewish left. He questions what it is that leads Diaspora Jews to identify themselves with Israel and affiliate with its politics. The devastating state of our world affairs raises an immediate demand for a conceptual shift in our intellectual and philosophical attitude towards politics, identity politics and history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

It is a scholarly and truly monumental work, deeply profound and, of course, controversial. (Alan Hart, British Journalist and covert diplomat in Middle East, ITN's News at 10, BBC's Panorama) A seriously funny writer and the wittiest musician since Ronnie Scott. We're lucky Gilad Atzmon is around. (Robert Wyatt, musician and founding member of Soft Machine)

About the Author

Atzmon is a world-acclaimed jazz saxophonist and composer, a member of the Blockheads and fronts the Orient House Ensemble. He has published numerous political and cultural essays. See: www.gilad.co.uk www.myspace.com/giladatzmon www.jazzaproductions.squarespace.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 177 pages
• Publisher: Zero Books (September 16, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846948754
• ISBN-13: 978-1846948756
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,482 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

112 of 135 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Wandering Who" - A study in small group dynamics... December 26, 2011

By Steve Naidamast

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"The Wandering Who" is a difficult piece to review since it immediately stirs up many defensive positions in those that see anything negatively said or written about the Jewish Community or Israel as racist and\or anti-Semitic vitriol. However, if one were to actually understand what Gilad Atzmon has written it would be found to be a rather impartial, well-written but commonplace sociological analysis of the group-think-dynamics of insulated groups; in this case using the Israeli Jewish Community as its basis. What is presented in "The Wandering Who" is more or less an erudite discussion of what happens to a small group of people when under the constant influence of community leaders that have agendas of their own that do not necessarily accommodate the best interests of the community at large.

There is nothing mysterious about Atzmon's writings since most of what he discusses is fairly common knowledge within Israel and the Zionist community itself. What's more it is well documented primarily by Israeli historians, sociologists, and even in parts of the mainstream, Israeli press.

And the idea of "Jewish Identity" politics has no differing symptoms than any other nationalistic fervor that grips a small group or even a large one in many respects. For example, the myth of American Exceptionalism is as much a similar dynamic as that of the concept of "choseness" by the Jewish Community which is fiercely supported by Israeli political endeavor. Both came about for the same exact reasons where the American symptom was provided for by early, fervently, religious Protestants who came to the American shores in the 17th century while the Jewish\Israeli symptom was provided for by their own Judaic belief system....

Nazism is another classic example of a group-dynamic that came about due to the growing power of the German national socialists that used the terrible economic situations in 1930s Germany to invigorate nationalism within the German populace to a degree that it eventually turned on itself by attacking a long and prosperous Jewish Community that not only saw themselves as Germans above all else but provided part of the foundation for an economically viable Germany. The Zionists have done the same to themselves and it is getting worse as increasingly discriminatory legislation is passed in Israel along with increasing censure of free-speech. However, where the Nazis saw their situation as a result of defeat in the first world war, Zionists saw it first as a reaction to the consistent anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe and Russia and then later the destruction of European Jewry during World War II.

Both situations had\have definitive underlying causes that gave rise to extremist views, the first leading to a second world conflagration, the second, an increasingly belligerent Israeli nation that began life with a war crime.

Many would argue that Israel is right to take such a position but unfortunately, the facts, which are well documented and available for anyone who wants to research them, will refute such a position.

However, Gilad Atzmon is not writing about specific facts that have already been widely discussed and debated, with the promoters being constantly defamed but instead about a way of thinking that in of itself will eventually destroy the Israeli nation outright since much of what Israel and its Zionist supporters are promoting is based upon sheer fantasy. This fantasy is also nothing exceptional in the realm of national mythology. All such nationalistic development is fed, influenced, and encouraged to believe in realities that simply never occurred. It is unfortunate but it is also a basic flaw in the Human condition. Everyone wants to believe they are something special, which in essence is an extension of every individual seeking their place in an extremely large universe.

All nations have taken such developments to the extreme and have given rise to terrible atrocities against other peoples. It does not matter if the country is the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia or any of the other host of countries that have risen to economic and military prowess down through the centuries. All of them have committed crimes against Humanity.

The fact that Israel is coming under debate and attack in the public domain now is a result of the fact that it has for no good reason denied a people their rights as Human beings let alone the fact that they have been the indigenous people of Palestine for centuries. And the Palestinian people have not been known for any crimes against their Jewish neighbors until the 1920s when Eastern European and Russian Ashkenazi Jews started to descend on Palestine with the idea that that they were going to return to their "ancient roots"; something which was all part of the planned national mythology since Eastern European Jews and Russians never had any roots in the mid-east (Current genetic studies which are touted to dispute this contention are ambiguous at best and negatively conclusive at worst...).

"The Wandering Who" attempts to demonstrate why this situation initially occurred and how it is being encourage and re-enforced today through an understanding of group dynamics which has its foundation in how people think and react to psychological, economic, and political stimuli. In this respect, "The Wandering Who" addresses the issue using the basis of "fear mongering" by the Israel\Zionist leadership to maintain the current Israeli status-quo. There is nothing unique here given that ever since the end of World War II every US administration has provided US citizens with the same sense of fear-mongering. First it was the Communists and today it is the terrorists. The idea that Atzmon uses of Pre-TSD can be applied in similar fashion to the United States. In Europe a similar form of fear-mongering is appearing in the guise of Islamists taking over European culture. In Poland it is the still latent intense dislike for Jews, though probably only a single Jew currently lives in all of that country.

What Atzmon is trying to accomplish and does rather well is demonstrate that when narrowly focused individuals and supporting groups come to power they use similar tactics to maintain their control. Again, it is nothing unique or out of the ordinary.

Those who would use the shriek of anti-Semitism to label Atzmon's work not only unethical but irrelevant are attempting to promote the idea that Israelis and Zionists are somehow different from the rest of Humanity which would mean that they are in effect separate from the Human race in particular. I doubt this is possible.

In closing it should be remembered that one of the visions of the Israeli state was to become a nation like all other nations. Well, Israel has succeeded. When it comes to hate and prejudice, Israelis and Zionists are no different from the rest of the Human species. They shouldn't argue with success... Read more ›

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Add it to your list of "Everybody should reads!". January 19, 2013

By soil sommelier

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I had no real interest in reading this until I came across Alan Dershowitz on the John Stossel show, in what seemed a totally inappropriate and uncharacteristic kind of segment. Generally Stossel is all about the Libertarian big ideas, and yet - here was this holder of an endowed chair at Harvard, shrieking like a little girl. He was ranting about how students at some school in Chicago should shun their teacher for him having asked them to read and comment on the book. Seems rational enough a request in an institution of supposedly higher learning, but I got the distinct impression that the Israeli lead apologist thinks that only he and his ilk are qualified to decide what we should and should not be allowed to read. So much for our democratic "friends" in the Middle East eh? More curiously, this Dershowitz character (wasn't he on O.J.'s "Dream Team"?) is actually supposed to be an American citizen, as well as being called one of the great Constitutional scholars of our time. If he's really one of the best, then it's no real surprise why we're where we are. Not being particularly fond of anyone so devotedly myopic to defending Zionism (or any type of close minded zealot for that matter), the more he whined, the more I felt compelled to purchase, read, and share the book. So far, next to Hayek's, Road to Serfdom, it's probably my most frequently lent volume.
The author's credentials were smeared in a very glaring way by the Zionist extremists, but his book is anything but what they claim. Their insults regarding his credentials are meaningless, particularly since people like Dershowitz have never served as the author has, in the Israeli army. This notion of the Holocaust having been turned into a religion all unto itself is also quite an interesting perspective.... I strongly urge everyone to read and see for themselves, just what has the believers that Israel can never do any wrong, all in a lather. Of course just by reading this you'll likely be branded with the reflexive "anti-Semite" label, but that is precisely why this type of book is so important. Many who are not intimately familiar with the region may find quite a few surprises as they learn that everything that they thought they knew should be, as always, questioned. Generally it seems of late that the more we are told something is absolutely so, the more likely that we are being lied to. Yes Virginia, even Israel has warts and an agenda, and it's refreshing to hear someone who was a part of it all give us Paul Harvey's "rest of the story".
Since objective journalism in the main stream media has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaurs, authors like this are the only way that the status quo and their propaganda can ever be challenged. I say BRAVO, and I hope the Mossad doesn't decide to whack him for his efforts. Buy two copies and pass them around. More people need to engage and recognize where this incredible fortune of our tax dollars has been going for all of these years... and why. I doubt that most of you will like what you learn, and maybe that is precisely why people like Mr. Dershowitz are so adamant that no one read this.
Great book. Easy read. Very informative and engagingly written. The author's a pretty fine jazz musician too (something else that Dershowitz suggested made this author's opinions and experiences, less worthy than his own... very curious indeed). Read more ›

26 of 32 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars QUESTION EVERYTHING December 28, 2011

By Sarasvati Panciera

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The Wandering Who is a thought provoking book about identity politics, in this case specifically Jewish identity politics. I've been as much fascinated by the reviews here as I was by the book itself. As a matter of fact, I read many of the reviews before I bought the book, and it was these reviews that encouraged me to buy it...anything that caused so much controversy had to be interesting, and I was right.

There's no question that humanity is certifiably insane...you only have to look at what goes on in the world to realize this is true. We're floating in a violent sea of truths, partial truths, deception, spin, outright lies, and endless brainwashing. Are the Protocols of the Elders of Zion a forgery? Probably, but we can't know for sure. Did the Zionists conspire with Hitler? Probably not, but we can't know for sure. The only thing we can know for sure is that there are people in this world, especially those in power, with no conscience, empathy or morals, and that anything, no matter how repellant, is possible...Psychopaths run the planet. Therefore my motto is "Question Everything."

This book (which provides a counterpoint to the generally accepted narrative about Israel) and its reviews (many of which invoke Godwin's Law), amply illustrate that identity politics in general are the root cause of many problems.

68 of 90 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll buy March 2, 2012

By Tom

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After having read all the reviews (in my Kindle) I have decided to buy the book, such mainly on the grounds of the negative, bigotted reactions from the Zionist apologists.

I have just finished reading 'The Wandering who". There is only one critcism I have to make and that is that the book is too short. His reasoning is sublime and supported by an impressive bibliography of references from a variety of sources. On the whole I found his reasoning clear and easy to follow. There are parts I had to reread twice before I could grasp the meaning. It is a book that one has to read several times. I have read scores of books on the history of the Israeli/Palestine conflict and find this one of the best. It is a must reading it and is in particular recommended to politicians and news paper review editors. But before I am accused of anti-semitism one should know that during WW2 I lived in Nazi occupied Europe and my parents were harbouring Jewish people to save them from the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and by doing so putting their own lives on the line. They were also active in the resistance. When I went to school we learned during our geography lessons about a country called Palestine; we had to locate Jaffa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on the map. Nobody had ever heard of a country called 'Israel'. They are these experiences which have coloured my political views of the present ME conflict and the legal right of people all over the world to resist occupation of their land. I am well aware of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, they can never be denied and no one is denying that, not even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Yet I am still a 'Holocaust denyer'. The problem is that the meaning of this expression is misunderstood by most people.... A holocaust denyer is not denying that six milion Jews were slaugtered and gassed by the Nazis during WW2. However there were many others murdered by the Nazis: Gypsies, Jehova Witnesses, homosexuals and Russian and Balkan partizan resistance fighters. Moreover history has known several holocausts in the past: the Armenian, the North and South American Indians. And what about the milions slaughtered by American emperialism (and Pol Pot) in Indo China, Iraq and Afghanstan. Were they not 'holocausts' to those people ? True the majority of the Nazi holocaust were Jews. However what holocaust denyers reject is the hijacking by Zionism of the Nazi holocaust to justify its creation occupation and expulsion of the indigenous people of Palestine and creating a new holocaust (Nakba/Catastrophe) for those people. There was no need to create an exclusive Jewish settlers state in Palestine and the brutal expulsion of its indigenous populaton, people who had lived and worked their land there for thousands of years. There was no necessity to create such a state, in the middle of the Arab world based on absurd mythical unfounded Biblical grounds. To date there does not exist any archeological or forensic evidence to support contradictory and confused Biblical texts on which to base Zionism's claims. (please read 'The Bible unearthed'). Right from its very inception it was a recipe for disaster, a disaster that is still unfolding for our own eyes. Even in the pre-war years several British and American statemen have warned for the distastrous consequences that such an absurd enterprise could entail.
Jewish people in western Europe were not discriminated, persecuted or despised, as we have seen during some periods in the Soviet Union and Poland and later in Germany. They were completely assimilated and felt like citizens in their respective countries in France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Britain. They had their religion and synagogues, the same as Protestants and Catholics have their churches. Most west European Jews who survived the deathcamps returned to their respective countries and were welcomed with open arms and compassion. Most of the DP's (displaced persons) preferred - understandably - to migrate to the US. The US at the time had proposals for the issue of 400,000 visas for the DP,s, but as result of strong Zionist lobbying and the pressure they exerted on the deathcamp survivors the visas were withdrawn as Zionists needed man power for their colonial project in Palestine.
(with excuses for spelling and grammar mistakes) Read more ›