View from the Eye of the Storm: Terror and Reason in the Middle East [Hardcover]

Haim Harari (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 2005

In 2004, internationally known physicist Haim Harari was invited to address the advisory board of a major multinational corporation. In a short speech he offered a penetrating analysis of the components of terror, and presented a passionate call for a new era in the Middle East. The speech, entitled "A View from the Eye of the Storm," was not intended for publication, but when a copy was leaked and posted onto the Internet, it caused a worldwide sensation, eventually being translated into more than half a dozen languages. Now--as the modern era of Islamic terror continues to unfold--Harari reaches further, to offer this serious yet accessible survey of the landscape of Middle Eastern war and peace at this challenging crossroads in history. Moving beyond the sterile discourse of foreign affairs journals, Harari encourages the world to view the Middle East through the eyes of a "proverbial taxi driver," a man on the street whose wisdom (and sense of humor) outstrips that of the experts. And, as he observes, to anyone familiar with the Middle East from a taxi driver's perspective, the "persistent ugly storm" engulfing the Arab world is far more than a territorial battle with Israel: It is an "undeclared World War III" that rages from Bali to Madrid, from Nairobi to New York, from Buenos Aires to Istanbul, and from Tunis to Moscow. The sad result is that much of the Arab world has become an "unprecedented breeding ground for cruel dictators, terror networks, fanaticism, incitement, suicide murders, and general decline." And unless the free nations of the world mobilize to stop it, Harari argues, this new world war will continue to cause bloodshed on all continents. As afifth-generation Israeli-born observer, Harari includes a thorough response to the conventional wisdom about Middle Eastern affairs, including a frank dissection of the media's lopsided portrait of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Drawing on his family's two centuries of life in the Middle East, he offers a compelling catalog of the steps necessary to reach a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians--steps, he writes, that are "inevitable--not because everybody accepts them today, but because all sides must accept them before peace can be achieved." And he urges the civilized world to combat terror by isolating its state sponsors, blocking its funding, and promoting education, women's equality, and human rights reform. Eloquent in its simplicity, written with passion, humor, and the directness of a scientist who has spent a lifetime explaining his work to the general public, "A View from the Eye of the Storm" is that rare book with the power to change hearts and minds.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper (April 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060839112
• ISBN-13: 978-0060839116
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational, April 15, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: View from the Eye of the Storm: Terror and Reason in the Middle East (Hardcover)

The author is a theoretical physicist. His interest has been in neutrino interactions and oscillations, solar neutrinos, atmospheric neutrinos, neutrinos as dark matter candidates, neutrino masses, mixing angles and possible decays, models for neutrino mass patterns, and astrophysical and cosmological implications of neutrino properties. Sounds fascinating!

But this book is on a somewhat, um, heavier topic than neutrinos.

The author's great-great-grandmother was one of those who lived in Jerusalem in 1844, back when it was a little town in the Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire. Back when a census showed it had 7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, and 3390 Christians (by the way, back then, these 7120 Jews all lived in what some folks today mistakenly call "traditionally Arab East Jerusalem").

Harari was sometimes amazed "by the successful penetration of so much fiction into the facts of the Middle East." He points out that "if someone in the world of science is caught even once in a deliberate lie, he or she is excluded, forever, from the scientific community; no scientist would ever listen to or employ him or her again."

I think this is what we need to do with those "scholars" who spread antizionist lies.

Harari tells us about what is behind the suicide murders in Israel. It is money, power, and cold-blooded murderous incitement. It has nothing to do with poverty and despair. Now, what does one do about suicide murderers in wartime? If you are convinced that a man in a heavy coat approaching a big group of children is about to kill a large number of them, do you shoot to kill him? You don't have much time to decide! Harari says that one has to use common sense here. And he's right. Sooner or later, that is what people will do. And what does one do, asks Harari, when faced by a bunch of stone-throwing children, right behind whom are a bunch of adults who are shooting at you? As usual, enemy television is showing you and the children, but not the shooting adults.

Harari shows that international organizations that ought to help with such problems have been corrupted, including the United Nations, the International Red Cross, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Human Rights Commission.

The author also points out that many in Europe say that Israel is defended by the United States, even though Israel has never been protected by American troops. Meanwhile, much of Europe's prosperity has been been supported by American troops on European soil, protecting Europe!

The author says that the way to defeat the terror networks is to have an absolute united commitment among the nations of the free world, eliminate the ringleaders, isolate or liberate the countries who support the terrorists, emancipate women, ban indoctrination of children, prevent systematic brainwashing by media, and open the relevant countries to the world at large.

There are some great lines. God ought to let the terrorists know that He doesn't exist! Immediately! And as for the international organizations that intend to judge Israel, "The jury is out. It better not come back!" Two wrongs do not make a right. But two Rights (the Arab Far Right and European Far Right) can make a Wrong.

Meanwhile, Harari notes that "something is very sick with" the European Far Left, which "spends so much energy attacking Israel without ever protesting any of the true evils coming from the Middle East."

There is a good section about the use of the media by the terrorists. That includes reporting lies as if they were truth and carefully omitting anything that might make the terrorists look bad. I am convinced that to have anything remotely resembling peace in the region, we need to crack down on these lies, with a full-scale Truth and Reconciliation that includes all the major media.

But the lies extend to well-known history. And I think we need to condemn "scholarly books" that include some of the more preposterous ones. As Harari says, "if I told you that the towers of the World Trade Center never existed, that Julius Caesar was British, and that the American Civil War did not happen, would you ever pay attention to anything else I told you?"

The author tells of many of the anti-Israeli lies that are told. Some are shocking. But what is more shocking is that no one stands up and says to the perpetrators in front of everyone (I'm sitting down right now, but I'll say it, and you should too!):

"You are lying. You are deliberately spreading dangerous, vicious lies. Lies like these kill."

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Israel... island of sanity in a sea of madness, November 26, 2006

By 

Frank Bunyard (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: View from the Eye of the Storm: Terror and Reason in the Middle East (Hardcover)

In April 2004 internationally known physicist Haim Harari was asked by a meeting of the International Advisory Board of a large multi-national corporation to present his own personal view on events in the Middle East. He spoke candidly.

Without his knowledge a copy of his remarks was leaked and posted on the Internet. It caused a worldwide sensation and was translated into more than half a dozen languages. (The article is seven pages long and can be obtained by going to the FrontPageMag website, clicking on Archives, setting the date drop-downs to March 15, 2006 and clicking on Go. The article is at the bottom of the page.)

Due to the widespread interest in the article, Prof. Harari went on to write an expanded version, which resulted in "A View from The Eye of The Storm". This is not a scholarly treatise with bibliography and footnotes (although there is a very good index), but the perceptions of a fifth-generation Israeli-born observer. Yet Harari is no ordinary observer. He is a brilliant scientist, trained in objective and precise analysis. And he is a man not only of great acumen and scruples, but a man deeply concerned about human events and the future of humankind.

Prof. Harari believes we are already into a World War with Muslim Extremists, but that a few more years may pass before everybody acknowledges this is a fact. He outlines four main elements of the present World conflict: 1, suicide murder; 2, lies; 3, money and 4, the total breakdown of law. The role of each of these elements is examined in detail in the 211 page book.

Following is Harai's eminently sensible solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict:

"There are certain immutable facts in the Middle East. Peace can arrive only if the Palestinians except the existence of Israel. Peace can materialize only if the Palestinians have their own state - next to Israel not instead of it. The densely Jewish areas will be part of Israel; the densely Palestinian areas will be part of the Palestinian state. Israel will have an Arab minority. Many Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza will have to be abandoned. Most of Jerusalem will remain in Israel, and it will continue to be the capital city. Some heavily populated Arab neighborhoods of the greater Jerusalem area will be in the Palestinian state and may form its capitol city. A carefully planned demilitarized strategy must be developed; it will take a substantial number of years and can be lifted only by mutual consent. Descendents of Palestinian refugees will be settled in Arab countries, many of them in the Palestinian state. All Arab countries bordering with Israel will have peace agreements with it, and no unresolved disputes will remain. The borders between Israel and its Arab neighbors will be protected by some kind of fence...because no open border can survive a 20:1 income ratio."

Later in the book Harari provides a concise prescription for treating the problem of international terror. He admits "it's easy to list these things...it's far more difficult to apply them worldwide." But "it's just a matter of time until all free countries unite and recognize they are facing a life-threatening, global problem."

Read this book, and you will learn the clear-headed professor's answers - answers that he urges are "simply the only possible solutions" to the international terror of our present World War.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem of a book, deep, compelling, intelligent, fascinating, October 4, 2006

By 

Istvan Simon (Pleasanton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: View from the Eye of the Storm: Terror and Reason in the Middle East (Hardcover)

Haim Harari is a great internationally known theoretical physicist. He was the director of the Weizmann Institute from 1988 to 2001 and received important honors as a leading scientist, including the prestigious Harnack Medal, awarded by the Senate of the Max Planck Society in an unanimous decision.

But this book is not about Physics, its about terror and reason in the Middle East. In my opinion, it is by far the best review of terrorism ever written.

Harari is a fifth generation Israeli. His grandmother was born in Jerusalem in 1872, and so was her grandmother. So where his children and grandchildren. He writes in Chapter 1:

"For seven generations we have lived here, in the eye of the storm. We have survived more wars and terror attacks than any other nation. But now we are informed by the former French ambassador to London that we are "a shitty little country" endangering the world; at the same time we learn that the rulers of Iran want to replace our "shitty little country" by yet another Shiite country.

So writes this gifted and deep observer of the reality of the Midle East today. Every page of this book has deep and extremely intelligent observations, whose truth is undeniable. Harari's reasoning is always compelling, like that of any great scientist. He starts each one of the 32 chapters of this extraordinary book with a short citation. These themselves are little gems. For example here is the gem that starts Chapter 30: "You cannot punish a suicide murderer by [the] death penalty; You cannot bomb into the Stone Age somebody who is already there."

Indeed, the war between radical Islam and the West is waged by people yearning to go back to the past. They reject modernity above all.

Or here is the gem starting Chapter 13: " The incredible economy of China creates an entirely new "South Korea" every three years. Why can't the rest of the poor rural areas of the world do the same?"

World War III already started though many people do not realize it yet. A relatively new totalitarian movement has grown and gained roots in the Middle East, financed by Saudi Arabia, Iran and other oil-rich states. Like the totalitarian regimes of the past, whether in Mao's China , Stalin's Soviet Union, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Hitler's Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, or Tojo's Japan, the adherents of this Islamic form of fascism are prepared to kill a large part of Humanity in order to bring forth the Islamic "paradise" that is supposed to triumph in the entire World. All fascists, it seems, are megalomaniacs, and the new Islamic fascists are no different.

This book is living proof that the pen is mightier than the sword, and a potent weapon against the Islamic totalitarians of today in World War III. Just like Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, Tojo's Japan, Pol Pot's Cambodia, or Stalin's Soviet Union were defeated, ultimately reason will win over this new form of religious fascism and barbarism. World War III already started, but the victors are going to be the same ones as the victors in World War II.

This book is highly recommended. It should be read and reread by every thinking person on Earth.