Best of
Israel

1995

Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict


Norman G. Finkelstein - 1995
    Finkelstein opens with a theoretical discussion of Zionism, locating it as a romantic form of nationalism that assumed the bankruptcy of liberal democracy. He goes on to look at the demographic origins of the Palestinians, with particular reference to the work of Joan Peters, and develops critiques of the influential studies of both Benny Morris and Anita Shapira. Reviewing the diplomatic history with Aban Eban‘s oeuvre as his foil, Finkelstein closes by demonstrating that the casting of Israel as the innocent victim of Arab aggression in the June 1967 and October 1973 wars is not supported by the documentary record. This new edition critically reexamines dominant popular and scholarly images in the light of the current failures of the peace process.

A Life of Poetry, 1948-1994


Yehuda Amichai - 1995
    Employing the style and idiom of a post-Modernism--of a twentieth-century artist--and filtering it through the prism of his Israeli and Jewish sensibilities, Amichai's words ifs cosmopolitan, muscular, and ironic. Resounding with the exhilarating of the human encounters--it is brought into the sharper contrast by the ever-present precariousness of Israeli existence. The burden and legacy of this history, and its impact upon modern, secular society, places Amichai's work within a uniquely Israeli landscape--arid, verdant, cruel, and beautiful--while simultaneously transcending national and religious borders. Translated from the Hebrew by Benjamin and Barbara Harshav, this volume brings Amichai to his rightful place beside the leading poets of the twentieth century.

Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist: An American Story


Yossi Klein Halevi - 1995
    He grew up, his father's stories grew within him, and Halevi found himself identifying more and more with the persecution and suffering of his people. Even as a boy, he wanted justice, retribution, and action. By the sixth grade, Halevi was learning how to handle a gun, handing out leaflets, joining right-wing movements. Soon he was swept away by the extremist rabbi Meir Kahane and was on the front lines of every protest, hoping to see his face and raised fist on the television news reports. At the climax of his activism, he led an unprecedented demonstration in Moscow to force the world to free Soviet Jews. But then Halevi began questioning the basic premises of his life, repudiating rage as a worldview, and trying to free himself from the bitter accounts of history. He wished for a life that embraced a world different from his father's. In Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist, Halevi looks back on his youth with wry affection, reflecting on who he was - and why - and seeing his hotheaded and passionate fellow activists from the perspective of time.

Listen World, Listen Jew


Meir Kahane - 1995
    Rabbi Kahane wrote: A certain resolution on Zionism has been passed at the United Nations. In reality, it is a resolution on Judaism. It is important that a reply be given. It is important that the world know precisely what Zionism is and what the Jewish people are. It is important that the nations hear our proclamation: â��Listen world, I am a Zionist, I am a Jew!â�� And listen, too, Jew. Listen so that you will understand yourself who you are and what and why. For there is no escape from it even if one should be so foolish as to desire to flee the greatness and majesty of the Jewish destiny. Listen so that you will be able to stand proud and tall and know what to replyâ��with dignity and not hesitant defensiveness. So that you will know from where you came and to where you go, since without the former it is impossible to know the latterâ�¦ â��Our feet are standing within thy gates O Jerusalem,â�� and they will never leave. This is Zionism, and the United Gentiles call it â��Racistâ�� and debate how to take my city away from me. Foolish world; sooner will the sun fail to rise tomorrow. The Jews have come home to their Zion and have welded their city together with a fierce tightness that noneâ��least of all the humor that is the United Nationsâ�� can sunder. A people which patiently bides its time for millennia will not easilyâ��everâ��give up its state and capital.

Secret Soldier


Moshe Betser - 1995
    Photos.

In the Warsaw Ghetto, Summer 1941


Rafael F. Scharf - 1995
    The comments and observations of ghetto residents accompany photographs of Jewish ghetto life in 1941 Warsaw.

Israel, Palestine and Peace: Essays


Amos Oz - 1995
    As a founding member of the Peace Now movement, Oz has spent over thirty-five years speaking out on this issue, and these powerful essays and speeches span an important and formative period for understanding today’s tension and crises. Whether he is discoursing on the role of writers in society or recalling his grandmother’s death in the context of the language’s veracity; examining the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a tragicomedy or questioning the Zionist dream, Oz remains trenchant and unflinching in this moving portrait of a divided land. “[Oz is] the modern prophet of Israel.” —Sunday Telegraph (UK)

Fallen Pillars: U.S. Policy Towards Palestine and Israel Since 1945


Donald Neff - 1995
    It demonstrates how and why this evolution has been almost invariably in a direction closer to Israel, and how this has caused unintended strains and contradictions that, at times, have confused allies, aided enemies, and left many Americans unsure about U.S. policy. Of great interest to scholars, students, and all those interested in U.S. foreign policy, Fallen Pillars is a well-researched, highly readable, and coherent account of American influence in one of the most complex conflicts of our time.