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Israeli Exceptionalism: The Destabilizing Logic of Zionism 2009th Edition
Purchase options and add-ons
- ISBN-100230619983
- ISBN-13978-0230619982
- Edition2009th
- PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
- Publication dateOctober 14, 2010
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
- Print length274 pages
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Alam writes with keen purpose and with an ethical point of view, one opposed to the injustices inscribed in Zionist logic, and one that is unfortunately still marginalized in North America." - Foreign Policy Journal
"Israeli Exceptionalism is not only a must read, it is a must-think-about book. To add intellectual spice, every chapter starts with a few quotes of prominent individuals related to the topic at hand. Reading these quotes alone speak volumes of the human tragedy that Zionism evokes." - Sam Bahour, Arab News
"Israeli Exceptionalism is nearly the best introduction to Zionism there is" - Holy Land Studies
"This is a critically important book. It enhances and expands on the groundbreaking message of Shlomo Sand s work. If Sand shows that Jews were not a people until Zionism created them as such, Alam shows this also and goes well beyond to show how Zionism and its manufactured nation went about dispossessing and replacing the Palestinians and winning all-important Western support for Israel and its now 60-year-old exclusionary colonialism. " - Counterpunch
"There is no doubt that many will consider[this] book to be controversial, and most will consider it provocative. Nobody will think it is un-interesting or irrelevant. It is novel in insights, keen in analysis, and sharp in language. The dominant discourse in the West, certainly in the US, about the Arab-Israeli conflict is usually simplistic, often cowardly, and almost always tendentious.Alam s counter-narrative, in spite of its indignant tone and grim prognosis, is a brave and bracing antidote to much mainstream blather on the subject." - Informed Comment, review by Ahrar Ahmad
"M. Shahid Alam's book is a splendid read - lively, engaging, and thought provoking. It competently penetrates, as will as demystifies, one of the most well packaged ideological myths of our times - Israel as a benevolent, civilized, moral national project and shows clearly itsdarker side, especially as it pertains to Palestinians who have been the major victims of this myth. Alam offers us a passionate plea for a much needed provincializing of Israeli discourse, one that in the United States monopolizes the public sphere. This book is truly a sobering analysis for all those who believe in this myth." - Khaldoun Samman, Associate Professor of Sociology and Program Director of the Middle East Studies and Islamic Civilization program at Macalester College and author of Clash of Modernities: The Islamist Challenge and the Making and Unmaking of the "New" Jew, Arab, and Turk
"This book should be read because it describes, with remarkable historical insight, why the current crusade of the West and the Zionists beckons dangers that we all need to understand, urgently." - John Pilger, Journalist, writer and documentary filmmaker
"M. Shahid Alam is a marvelous writer dealing with some of the most pressing problems facing both the United States and the Moslem world.In this book, exploring the tragedy inherent in the history of Zionism, Alam reveals to us how anti-Semitism and Zionism have evolved into an unholy alliance that now constitutes a major threat to world peace.For those seeking insight into this threat, Alam's book is a must read. " - Lawrence Davidson, Professor of History, West Chester University
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan; 2009th edition (October 14, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 274 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0230619983
- ISBN-13 : 978-0230619982
- Item Weight : 13.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,838,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,215 in Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
- #2,643 in International Relations (Books)
- #2,873 in Civics & Citizenship (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Born in Dhaka to parents from India, began writing poetry in English in mid-teens, started 'translating' Ghalib as an undergrad at Dhaka U, ended up with a PhD in Economics from Canada (don't ask how that happened), began teaching Economics at Northeastern U (Boston) in 1988, wrote books, professional articles and essays--on development, imperialism, corruption, Qur'an, Orientalism-- went back to writing poetry and 'translating' Ghalib, will retire from Northeastern U end of 2023, preparing for a thousand years of dunya, but ready for aakhira anytime.
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2024This review appeared in - Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (Vol. 29, Issue 9) -
"Economist Alam expertly details Zionism's origins through its effectiveness in current politics. He shows that the 19th-century founders of Zionism not only were aware of the Palestinians, they desired to intentionally establish an exclusionary colonialism in which no non-Jew could cohabit. Alam charts the movement's creation of homeless nationalism that promoted the cause of a future state, through to the "Jewish-Gentile partnership" intentionally formed to exacerbate the negative perception the West has of Islam. This powerful work builds on Shlomo Sand's The Invention of the Jewish People."
- Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2014To much truth to except. Makes me sad and mad. How could we have made such a mess of existence and how could we have let it continued.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2010The author offers his extraordinary research few dared to undertake exposing the destructive dogma of Zionism. A must read for everyone interested to work for justice in the Middle East and peace in the world. A book of solid scholarship.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2012This is one of the few books that traces the origins and evolution of Zionism. While most of of what happened with Israel - Palestinian issue post - 1948 is more common knowledge, the book does a good job of conveying the long-term nature of the movement: Once it gathered mass and convinced the Western Govts of the need for a Jewish state, the work to get the Jews from around the world to move to Palestine and subsequent removal of the population that lived there to make room.
The region will continue to be a conflagration point for the next 50 years and the book gives readers an understanding of the complexities and dynamics in the region vs. the buzz words in the press ('Arabs vs. our allies' or 'extremists vs. a democratic nation'.
Its good to see some open research on this topic and I am happy to see the critical view of Israel's policies from 1948 till now be written up.
Even arabs would benefit from a read to see what sort of racism Jews had been subject to for hundreds of years that give rise to the movement.



