Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on America (Hardcover)

by Kenneth R. Timmerman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The Western media commonly report that in much of the Middle East, anti-Zionism has edged into full-blown anti-Semitism, and Timmerman, in this travel journal intermixed with political analysis, gives potent and frightening examples of this phenomenon. The most visceral, and common, illustration he has found in interviewing Middle Eastern clerics, reporters and politicians is the widespread acceptance of the 1895 fraudulent document The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which details an alleged Jewish plot for world domination. Over the past two decades, he reports, the Protocols have become required reading throughout most Arab countries. Equally frightening is his analysis of the anti-Semitic sentiments routinely found in school texts in Arab countries. Timmerman, who has written for Time, Newsweek and Reader's Digest, has a forthright and compelling journalistic style that is also highly opinionated and often inflammatory. Many of his noteworthy reports and observations are undercut by heedless generalizations, such as his comment that "among European limousine liberals... it has become fashionable to [want Israel] punished by the international community, or simply eradicated," which will seem to many to be a gross simplification of a very complicated political reality. When he is not writing about the Middle East, Timmerman takes on such topics as what he sees as anti-Americanism on U.S. university campuses with the same lack of delicacy. MIT linguistics professor Noam Chomsky is described as typifying "the hate-America-first faction of campus radicals" and Timmerman baldly misrepresents his political positions. Timmerman, whose best selling Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson made the bestseller lists but which was frequently and severely criticized for its reliance on incendiary far-right rhetoric, has touched on some important topics in this book, but they are to a large degree lost in his tendency to overgeneralize and overstate.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Timmerman, an investigative reporter, offers a "layman's guide" and personal account of the troubling growth of anti-Semitism. Using his years of reporting in the Middle East and Europe, Timmerman examines the politics that demonize Israel--and, increasingly, the U.S.--for failures of domestic policy in many Arab nations. He sees the "ideological prologue" to 9/11 occurring days before in the UN World Conference against Racism, which allowed the venting against racism and imperialism by Jesse Jackson, Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat, and a host of others who prominently targeted the U.S and Israel. Timmerman recounts several attacks on Israel, including a gruesomely detailed account of a suicide bombing in a hotel where Jews were gathered to celebrate Passover. He provides historical perspective on anti-Semitism, including the "definitive text," The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which is taken very seriously and literally by many Arabs. Timmerman cautions that the shared values of Israel and the U.S. make them targets for the hatred practiced by rabid anti-Semites. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Crown Forum; 1 edition (October 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400049016
• ISBN-13: 978-1400049011
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #570,916 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true eye opener., September 11, 2004

By	I. Pluzhnik (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Kenneth Timmerman has gone to a lot of work to complete this book as can be seen through all his interviews with top Islamic sages, and "moderates" of the Muslim world. Not only will the reader be astounded by the sheer irrationality of the virulent hatred that spreads from these self-professed "intellectuals", but it will also come to be understood how this unfathomable hatred of the Jews and of the U.S (Which is seen as a Bastion of Jewish control)has been indoctrinated to the susceptible minds of Islamic youth.

Although the book is slightly biased against the Islamist world, Timmerman makes it clear on many occasions that true Islam has been hijacked by Islamic fundementalist terror groups - Hamas, Hezbollah, Jammah Islamiah, Al Qaeda, other Wahhabi backed terrorist organizations - whose one goal in mind is to make every citizen of this Earth a Muslim.

Timmerman irrevocably dispells the myth that Jew-hatred in the Middle East is something of a modern day phenomenon. He covers events which occured in Damascus in 1845, in which Jews again were the targets in massive pogrom-like raids, with tens of them being murdered.

For anyone who would like to truely find out for themselves the extent of Jew-hatred among the left and the Islamic world, this is definitely a book for you.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong Medicine, October 16, 2004

By	Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book skillfully and thoroughly characterizes anti-Israeli propaganda, not only in the Middle East but also in Europe and the United States. It is an impressive recounting of the author's coming to grips with the nearly surreal racism, irrationality, and hatred he discovered among segments of the Arab world. Everyone ought to read this book to realize what the terror we're at war with is all about. But be prepared: Timmerman does not mince words.

Timmerman reminds us that "war without a victor and a vanquished is still war," as we've seen many times in the past century. One reason we haven't seen the kind of peace that followed World War 2 is that whenever Israel has defeated Arabs in battle, Europe and the United States have made sure to guarantee an inconclusive result. The Arabs, being neither crushed nor forced to apologize nor even forced to stop incitement towards future adventures, would inevitably be encouraged to fight again. Timmerman says that "it is time to reconsider such policies."

It is true that this book emphasizes one side of the war between Israel and the Arabs. However, Timmerman takes the trouble to explain why the two sides are not symmetrical. As he says, visions of an Israeli victory would likely "resemble what we have seen over the past fifty years: Jewish sovereignty over borders defined by Israel as defensible, with full citizenship offered to Arabs who choose to live peacefully within them." On the other hand, today's Arab children are being taught that peace requires the removal of all the region's Jews. Timmerman asks which of these outcomes risks a new "Holocaust." He shows us that under Arab rule, the vanquished Jews would be likely to lose their rights, including their rights to life.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opening, April 2, 2006

By	Jordan R. Walls (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm more than halfway through. I have to stop all the time to tell my family about it. I feel like I've been betrayed by the media and our government and our schools for never mentioning this information.

There is a world of hate that wants to destroy us and we don't even know about it. Islamic countries and their leaders have declared war on us (America and the West) and we don't do anything about it.

I'm not going to run through the info, just suffice to say, if you want to know about Islam and it's goals, actions, funding, workings and far reaching influence, you MUST READ THIS BOOK!