Reviews (12)

Powerful, required reading
Gabriel Schoenfeld is a great writer and makes excellent point in The Return of Anti-Semitism.

People think that Anti-Semitism is a discrete form of hate.But the enemies of the Jews end up being enemies of freedom.

Think about it, the biggest enemies of Israel are the biggest enemies of freedom and democracy.You do the math.

this is a brilliant book.

A report on the popularity of antisemitic ideas today
In the 1930s, antisemitism was a serious problem.It manifested itself in widespread defamation of Jews, attacks on European Jews in particular, a series of horrible anti-Jewish laws, and an environment in which the combination of attacks on Jews and anti-Jewish propaganda caused Jews in general to become increasingly despised.So despised that it was possible to murder millions of them in World War 2.

That is not exactly what is happening today.For the most part, Jews are faring well, and very few have been murdered.But anti-Jewish propaganda (much of it "antizionist") is widespread, especially in the Arab world.This book describes where things stand, and it notes the intensity of anti-Jewish propaganda in the Arab world, clearly showing that "the parallels between Nazism and the current Arab-Muslim brand of anti-Semitism are striking."It also shows how Arabs are training many of their children to be antisemites.

A chapter on Europe shows a striking correlation between Arab attacks on Israelis and local attacks on European Jews.I hadn't realized the extent to which terrorist attacks inspire violence elsewhere, but the author also explained that "the September 11 terrorist attack on America led to a sharp increase in European violence against Jews," with dramatically increased incidents of violence in England and France in the months of September and October, 2001.

The author says that antisemitism is a grossly delusional view of the world and its implications continue to reach far beyond the fate of the Jews.I agree, and that's a reason I think this book is important for everyone.

Reviews (4)

A brilliant collection of articles
This book deals with hatred of Israel and many of the reactions to it.It consists of about 50 separate essays.One of the inspirations for the book was Philip Roth's novel, "Operation Shylock," and the relevant excerpt from this book is included as one of the essays.That essay explains the threat of Israel becoming a sort of extermination camp for Jews, with nuclear weapons rather than Zyklon B being the relevant weapon.

The book, which begins with an excellent introduction by Ron Rosenbaum, is a superb collection of ideas and thoughts.One of the essays that impressed me the most was by Tom Gross, describing the ghastly reporting by the British media of the events in Jenin in April, 2002. Until I read this article, I just couldn't believe that the folks at the Guardian would abandon all journalistic standards just to hurt a few Jews by spouting some absurd lies about Israel.After all, no matter what they thought about Jews or Israel, these people were professionals who I thought were unlikely to wish to destroy the good reputation the Guardian had so carefully built up.Such destruction would cost them money! But this article showed me that they had indeed turned the Guardian into something far less valuable than it had been in the past (perhaps thinking that such an approach would appear more sensational and improve their sales).

I also especially enjoyed the articles by Paul Berman, Robert Wistrich, Gabriel Schoenfeld, Ruth Wisse, Melanie Phillips, Joshua Muravchik, Martin Peretz, Cynthia Ozick, Fiamma Nirenstein, and Bernard Lewis.And of course, I had to read the essay by Daniel Gordis that started "Dear Jill."No, it wasn't to me, it was to Jill Jacobs.But it was a scary look into the politics of a graduating rabbinical student.

There are articles by various opponents of Zionism, including Tariq Ramadan, Edward Said, and Judith Butler. I think it was a good idea to allow the reader to see a little of how they view the world.

I certainly recommend this book.

A comprehensive collection
The revival of Anti- Semitism a bit more than half a decade after the Shoah is one of the most painful and disappointing realties of our time. This revival has one major source, the hatred of Israel being preached throughout the Arab and to a degree the Islamic world, a hatred which has been adopted by the Left in the West. This new anti- Semitism combines with the ' old European Fascist Anti- Semitism' which many wanted to think had disappeared with the defeat of the Nazis.
Instead we see a new improbable combination of Extreme Right and Extreme Left.
In this collection of fifty essays a good share of which are of very high quality a very serious exploration of this anti- Semitism is made. The book contains the work of the most respected people working in various areas, such as Bernard Lewis surveying the world of Islam's Anti- Semitism ,Paul Berman and Melanie Philips looking at New- Left Anti- Semitism, Dr.David Zangen an eyewitness telling of the blood- libel in the alleged Jenin massacre, Gabriel Schoenfeld on Israel and the Anti- Semites,Ruth Wisse on the consequences of ignoring Anti- Semitism.
The supposed seed of this work was Rosenbaum's reading Philip Roth's ' Operation Shylock' and considering the possibility of a 'Second Holocaust' And it is clear, and I am not sure that this is explored fully enough in this volume that the real aim of Arab Anti- Semitism anyway is the delegitimization of Israel that would lead to its destruction. In other words the new Anti-Semitism does not like the Nazi- brand focus on killing every Jew everywhere in the hope of eliminating Jews completely from the world. Its real aim is to eliminate the Jewish state, and in so doing eliminate the Jews from any place of their own in the world, and any power of their own in History.
This collection contains a great deal .It is not complete. And there are articles I would not have included. ( I do not really think it makes sense to give a hearing to those who wish to somewhat hypocritically tell the world how wonderful Jews they are in opposing the Jewish state) On the whole however a first rate work which calls attention to one of our time's most important moral questions not only for Jews but for mankind.

written by the decent race
It is rare, I suppose to recommend a book by noting who contributed to it, but then again it is rare to find the late Edward Said and Cynthia Ozick condemning the same thing and with equal passion.And yet they like intellectuals from all over the world have come together, in this book, to gaze with heart-breaking pain at the age-old specter of anti-Semitism.Their "solutions" are many; their ideological commitments are numerous but they have one thing in common: they refuse to look away from this hideous spectacle though looking at it causes them intense pain.

It is with pain that Melanie Phillips writes, "Want to make yourself, really, really unpopular if you're a Jew?Try saying that the world is witnessing a terrifying firestorm of hatred directed at Israel and the Jewish people in which the Europeans are deeply implicated"; it is with pain that Edward Said writes that "There is now a creeping, nasty wave of anti-Semitism insinuating itself into our political thought and rhetoric...When I mentioned the Holocaust in an article I wrote here last November I received more vilification than I thought possible.."The pain these authors feel is evident; so evident that the reader will need to take breaks from this book.Frequent breaks.For the pictures it paints-from the European, American, Arab, or Israeli perspectives are not pretty ones.They are ugly as only racism can be ugly.

But the authors of this book do not flinch from this ugliness; they stare it in the face.They expose it for what it is.They do not hide it behind euphemisms and double standards; they assure it that (as Harold Evans puts it) "There are things which are bad, and false, and ugly, and no amount of specious casuistry will make them good or true or beautiful."

This book was written by those who dared to look, unflinching at this ugliness and, more, to write about it; to expose it.And that is what makes this book, if not enjoyable, then immensely precious and worthwhile.For it was written by the decent amongst us.

Reviews (11)

Admirable by and large
This book points to one of the most alarming phenomenom on the world scence in recent years, the revival of the world's oldest hatred Anti- Semitism. The author Abraham Foxman is the head of an organization the Anti- Defamation League that does valuable work in contending with this phenomenom. Foxman in this book describes many of the organization's activities in this regard.
The new anti-Semitism is a combination of anti- Semitisms. It is the old right wing Fascist anti- Semitism now embodied in neo- Nazis and their ilk, and it is the Islamic world's anti- Semitism which is a wall to wall hatred of Jews and Israel, and it is also ( and here Foxman fails to be strong enough) the anti- Semitism of the radical extreme left which has turned against the Jewish world . The new anti- Semitism often tries to disguise itself as ' Anti- Zionism' only but as Alan Dershowitz pointed out this is a deception.
Foxman's work is admirable by and large. To my mind he places far too much emphasis on Christian anti- Semitism , and does not give credit to the vast number of Christian groups and individuals who are allies of Israel and the Jewish people. He too as I have said under-emphasizes the role of the Left. And this when it is precisely the radical Left which should be confronted more vigorously by the ADL ( and this even when members of this radical left are Jewish.) On the whole however this is a valuable book.

Zero stars! A racist diatribe against the truth
The head of a totally reactionary and racist organization, the Anti-Defamation League (more properly called the Defamation League) tries the big lie canard of trying to say that to be anti-Zionist and anti-Israel is anti-semetic. As the grandson of four grandparents who died in Hitler's concentration camps, I forcefully reject that. The zionists are the Nazis of today and "israel," the racist theocratic entity currently occupying the nation of Palestine, is committing genocide against the Palestinian people, just as the Nazis committed it against my family. The whole world is uniting to support the just struggle of the Palestinian people, which must be waged by any means possible, and must have the aim of total victory and an end to "israel" and zionism, which is a form of racism. Zionists engaged in collective punishment of the Palestinian people, bulldozing the homes of the families of Palestinian freedom fighters who strike out against the zionist racist child murderers. This book and its vile author and the totally evil organization he heads must be denounced, criticized, and ostracized, and the growing movement on U.S. campuses to divest investments from racist israeli companies (and from any entity that invests in them) must be supported. Companies that invest in israel, like coca cola, starbucks, and mcdonalds must be boycotted. The Palestinian people, who are justly waging a war without terms against the zionist racist nazis of today will win. No Justice, No Peace, zionists out of the middle east and off of humanity's planet!

Reviews (3)

What Is Really Behind The Smiles At The Negotiating Table.
Peace The Arabian Caricature.

Arieh Stav presents here an extremely disturbing, moving, horrific insight into the indoctrination of hatred towards the Jews so prevalent in official Arab nations. It is a real stain on humanity that so little has changed behind the scenes since the days of the Holocaust.

Drawing on countless official, published sources, we are presented here with a shocking study of the virulent anti-Semitic doctrine hidden behind official Arab Government policies and one is left to wonder what real chance there is for any peace settlement in the Middle East.

It is clear from the sources here that whilst portraying to the West the acceptable face of pursuing peace with the Jewish state, the official state controlled media of most if not all the Arab world reveals a completely different agenda.

The official portrayal of the entire Jewish people, not only their political leadership, is subjected to a deep-rooted theological, moral, racial and political negation. It's very nature is shown by Arieh Stav from official sources to be parallel to that of the German/Nazi era. See it for yourself. It unbelievably presents the individual Jew and the race as a whole as an object of hatred, vilification and physical extermination.

I was stunned to see the images portrayed here. I knew the Islamic and Arab hatred of the Jews to be considerable, but I never knew it was as bad as this.

This book can only be recommended in the highest manner, if for nothing more than to open the eyes of the international community to what is going on behind the scenes in the Middle East and to show ultimately what the Jewish state is up against. I am not Jewish and it frightens me.

Arab perception of Israel and Jews
The book is a compilation of graphic Arab declarations of war against Israel and Jews everywhere. It is an insightful and sobering look into the Arab psyche. It also shows how the state-controlled Arab press harkens back to Nazi defamation of all things jewish.

MIXED MESSAGES!
"Peace: The Arabian Caricature, is a shocking message to those of us who truly wish for peace in the Middle East. On the one hand, the Arabs talk peace, on the other hand, their newspapers are filled with disturbingimages of Jews and the State of Israel. It makes one wonder where we'rereally headed. This book is very enlightening!"

Reviews (25)

Interesting but blinkered
To be blunt Chesler has an attitude problem.She does not seek to contend that Israel is above criticism; with the single caveat that the criticism must be spoken by her.

Anyone else - heaven forbid anyone else non-Jewish - who voiced the opinions she did (about discrimination against Arabs in Israel for example) would be castigated by her in the book as a raging anti-Semite.(Those who laud Chesler for her courage have a point in that she never shrinks from embracing the most hackneyed of cliches - for example describing "self-hating Jews" criticizing Israel "for protecting herself.)

Chesler's list of abuses of individual Jews on American campuses is indeed shocking, and as difficult to justify as some other comments reported from the audience of Chesler supporters at a recent "The Middle East and Academic Integrity on the American Campus" conference: "[Israelis] should have killed them all" in reference to the inhabitants of Jenin and "They should have shot you in the head" to an Israeli activist who had been shot and wounded by the Israeli army.(Undoubtedly those quotes will be featured prominently for balance in Chesler's next edition.)

Also as someone who grew up a Catholic in the 70s in Northern Ireland I could give Chesler some hints about why the UK didn't receive the same level of criticism that Israel has done.That the UK forces committed numerous excesses against the Catholic population is beyond any doubt, but the level has never been remotely comparable to what goes on in the occupied territories.Neither my extended family nor that of any of my friends has lost a member to the British security forces.You would be hard pressed to find an Arab in the occupied territories who could say likewise.And reference to a lack of criticism of the Serbs is disingenuous to say the least.Perhaps Chesler had forgotten that NATO fought a war against them?And India over Kashmir? - more disingenuity.Problems "over there" have always for a variety of reasons received less media scrutiny than those within Western nations, and Chesler herself acknowledges that Israel is de facto part of Europe.

Chesler's book has much information of value, but the description of her research as "impeccable" is somewhat belied by the fact that she dismisses some reported quotes she dislikes from Dayan and Ben Gurion by saying they "don't sound right or in context to me".Case closed then, fact fans!

What I particularly dislike about the book is Chesler's constant and hysterical attempts to lump anyone who believes, for example, that the settlements should be dismantled in with Holocaust Deniers and Suicide bombers.This kind of "you're with us or against us" absolutism of course plays very well among a certain sector of the American electorate but has no place whatsoever in a serious debate about important issues.

If you think that the Middle East problem is one best solved beneath a mushroom cloud over Mecca then this book is undoubtedly right up your street.If you are looking for reasoned and inclusive debate or have ever cringed when an Israeli missile is fired into a residential area in Nablus, then I would suggest looking elsewhere.

Powerful book
The New Anti-Semitism is a wakeup call.

While the world is out to get the Jews first, after that, they will go for the next bunch of infidels.

Reviews (34)

Flawed Beyond Belief !
This book and it's author's logic is flawed beyond belief !

The fact that some Historians might differ on what exactly took place inside a concentration camp is not the same thing as "denying" there was such a thing as a concentration camp.
Well, it is the same thing in the mind of this author !

Asking for proof and evidence for some of the wild claims as to what actuallyhappened constitutes "Holocaust Denial" - in the mind of this author !

Dicussing what phisically could have happened based upon the exact science of modern forensic technology constitutes "Holocaust Denial" - in the mind of this author !

However, she goes even beyond illogic, and into the world of "make believe" with her wild claims when it comes to noted British Historian David Irving - whome she rashly bashes and libels as a "Holocaust Denier".

The problem with that reckless defamation is that David Irving has NEVER, EVER, written ANYTHING on the "Holocaust" in any of his many books on World War Two subjects.

This deliberate misrepresentation alone should consign this book to the trash heap - which sentiment a great number of others agree with considering how many are offered on Amazon Marketplace starting as low as four bucks.

For a much better look at the real meaning of the "Holocaust" in modern times, read THE HOLOCAUST INDUSTRY by Norman Finkelstein, a truly righteous Jew whose parents were both incarcerated in concentration camps in World War Two.

The denial is the same Jew hatred that caused the Holocaust
I know hundreds of people who lost family in the Holocaust. My wife's father was put on a train at the age of twelve from Vienna and never saw his parents again. They were murdered in Auschwitz. I know people who were the sole survivors of extended families of tens of people. I live in Israel where a very large share of the population has family members who were murdered in the Holocaust. When I was a child in Troy, New York one of my best friends was Sammy Rozines who has since died. He came over from a concentration camp which he his mother, his brother but not his father had survived. There were other Jewish refugees in our small American town , who came to the US and made new lives. They are real people. The Genendelmans, and the Singers, and the Bergers. I remember them all. Thus when I first heard about the phenomenom of Holocaust denial some years ago I could not believe it. Here were all these people in the world who had had relatives murdered, and someone who did not know them, who was not close to being anywhere near what happened , was denying this. Well soon it became clear what it was. Jew - hatred again. The same phenomenom that caused the Holocaust was behind these , I will not say sick, but I will say , evil people who hate even the dead, and who would do them injustice.
Deborah Lipstadt who I have heard speak, is a person of tremendous courage and integrity. Her courageous fight against Holocaust denial is a proof of what one dedicated person can do for good. In this book she tells the story of this evil phenomenom and addresses the dangers it represents.
Her book is important but there is something even more important. The information available about the Holocaust is available to every person. There have been thousands of books, films, eye-witness accounts of survivors. The proof of the reality of the Holocaust is so tremendously overwhelming that anyone who denies its reality is clearly doing so out of some kind of evil anti- Semitic purpose. I believe the great share of humanity consists in decent and fair human beings who understand not only that the Holocaust occurred, but that it is humanity's task to make sure that no similar evil ever occurs again to any other people.

Reviews (3)

Heartrending.
This book will break your heart. Written by Edward Flannery, a Roman Catholic Priest, it studies some twenty three centuries of worldwide anti-Semitism.

This considerable, well written revised & updated edition is all the more significant and encouraging due to it's Christian authorship. This itself is commendable due to the many aspects of historic anti-Semitism prevalent within some areas of the Church itself. Whilst many might see some of the writings as self incriminating, others might see a refreshing honesty and a wish to heal the relationship between Christian and Jew, both of whom share a common foundation in their faith.

At the outset, the author claims that the vast majority of even well educated Christians have been relatively ignorant of what has happened to the Jews throughout history and the culpable involvement of many facets of the Church. Apart from a few recent publications, little having been included about anti-Semitism in Christian history books or social studies.

The author states that, by comparison, the Jews themselves are largely & acutely aware of their painful history in such matters.

This excellent book covers anti-Semitism in all it's many forms, including persecution, torture, pogroms, massacres, social degradations, forced baptisms & conversions throughout the many periods of the Diaspora.

These including the Black Death (plague), the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust and the present day Middle East. Throughout all these eras in history, many peoples having found in the Jew the scapegoat needed to rationalise the evils of their social, political and natural calamities.

Writing about the `Black Death' (1347-50), the author describes how the Jews were directly blamed not only for the onset of the plague but also it's spread. This virulent myth leading to the untold massacres of whole Jewish communities. The population of one entire Jewish town in France being burned to death on just such a assertion.

Indeed the author painfully outlines that during this era, the extent of Jewish casualties was virtually impossible to determine. Over 200 Jewish communities, large & small, being destroyed in similar manners. These massacres of Jewish people being so widespread, with the greatest perhaps in Germany, where every sizeable city was affected. The scope of the slaughter being given some scale when the Polish casualties of some 10,000 being described as relatively light in comparison to other areas. The utter savagery of some incidents not being suitable to describe here.

In relation to the Holocaust, which is commendably covered in itself, the writer illustrates the sympathies for the Nazi regime & the `Final Solution' expressed by prominent Arab personages such as the close confident of Adolf Hitler,Haj Amir El Husseini, the Grant Mufti of Jerusalem. (The latter being an uncle to PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, whose family name is al-Husseini.).

With reference to the modern day Mid-East, the writer covers what he calls the overt expression and practice of Arab anti-Semitism. He proceeds to describe how Arab propaganda, already hostile to the existence of the State of Israel, has widened it's focus to further include the Jewish people and their religion.

The author describes how the horrendous myths of the `Blood Libel' and the `Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion' have been revived in the Mid-East often through state approved channels of some Arab countries.

Considered in the context of how these two myths have resulted in the historic massacres and slaughter of innocent Jews worldwide, the impact of their revival is analysed.

All in all this is an upsetting book. However, I really consider it to be required reading on this subject. There is not really any prejudice towards any one group as being responsible for the anti-Semitism so graphically illustrated and discussed here.This work just really shows how widespread the actual sources and origins of this virulent enmity actually are. It also shows the basic evil of this racial hatred that has seen one people suffer more than any other, just because of their religion, just because they are Jews.

standard and great intro
This book covers the facts of the history of antisemitism, but it does much much more than that as well.It tries to provide analysis, both big-picture and small-picture analysis.Big picture wise, especially in the last chapter, Flannery tries to figure out the why's of the history of antisemitism.Each chapter generally covers a certain period of antisemitism, and Flannery attempts to analyize these smaller periods as well.He does a fairly balanced and good job at that, but he is not dogmatic.He understands that many of these issues are complex.

One of the more interesting points that Flannery picked up on was that the relationship between church and synagogue was strained from the outset, when Christians were primarily Jewish.It should be mentioned at this point that this book is geared towards other Christians and that shows through.Flannery himself is a Catholic priest.

I do have a few critiques, but they are minor.I am just going to say right now that not many within this field agree with my views.

Flannery touches on the fact that Christianity is Jewish in origin.This is important because many in this field state that Christianity and the New Testament contain, inherently, antisemitism.However, if one places the faith in its original context, this view doesn't hold water.While antisemites have used the New Testament to support their views, they have also used the Old Testament Scriptures as well.This comes up a lot in this field.I wish Flannery drove the point home instead of dancing around it.Flannery does not ignore this issue though.It is pretty obvious when rabid atheists are rabid antisemites that the issue is complex.Here comes my controversial point.He seems to miss the forest for the trees.So many different antisemites in so many different contexts.It seems to have a demonic cause, in a literal sense.

The book does not address modern evangelism, the Messianic Jewish movement, etc.That's a big whole.

Flannery while understanding the role of replacement theology in Christian circles as a cause of antisemitism misses the mark when he deals with the Judaizing heresy.This heresy is mentioned in Acts and was dealt with by Paul in some of his letters.The gospel states that we are saved by faith in Jesus.The Judaizers added works, specifically adherence to the Mosaic Law, to faith.They said we are righteous before God by faith and adherence to Torah.Stick with me this is important.Gentiles come along add see "Judaizers."They assume it means anyone who practices Jewish stuff in the church commits this heresy.(Paul goes to synagogue, the Temple, etc. btw.)This is a wrong view.Flannery does not pick up on this. Catholics, from my perspective, do this as well, just not with the Mosaic Law.Because of this, I feel Flannery missed this issue.This is a very complex issue.I suggest reading Faith Alone by R.C. Sproul for a Protestant but balanced perspective on it.

All in all, the book is wonderful and a must read.

Reviews (11)

***ISLAMAPHOBIC ALERT***
Although we're living in the 21st century a good millennia after the dark ages (European dark age that is!) it hurts to see authors that have the same mentality and vile repugnance in them forming their own outsider views on the truth that is Islam.

Economic Jihad, Cultural Jihad...(blah, blah, blah) the author has blatantly conjoured up her own ideologies to support her disturbing views on a group of 1.5billion people.

The truth is there is no Euro-Arab axis and there never will be, especially since the 21st century crusade (Quote Bush and his allies) was launched.

Move on from the distasting conspiracy theories people, especially when they're created by an outsider trying to stir fear/hate amongst different groups of people.

A major new social reality defined
Occasionally a book comes along that distinctly defines a social reality that has been developing before everyone's eyes and has gone previously undescribed. Samuel Huntington's ' The Clash of Civilization' is such a book, and Bat Ye'Or's Eurabia is another.
I am not a scholar of European society nor of Islam but the massive evidence presented here and argued so persuasively suggests that she has truly hit the mark- and that Western Civilization must wake up to this new danger if it is to survive.

Reviews (1)

Well Researched Study Into The Age-Old Hatred Of The Jews.
I initially ordered this book with the understanding that it was essentially a study on the aspects of both passive and active anti-Semitism within some elements of the Church in relation to the Nazi Holocaust. Attitudes which, together with an alarming apathy, bore a considerable level of responsibility in relation to the persecution of the Jewish people at that time. Although the book provides a commendable investigation of these actual subjects, this work is far, far more extensive than what I had imagined. This scholarly, moving book seriously impressed me in both it's depth and scope.

It is extremely well researched and presents a wealth of evidence. The book is passionately written with a sincere yearning for a genuine repentance amongst the Christian Church towards the Jewish people who are described as being the root of their faith. A deep yearning for a healing of nineteen hundred years of Jewish-Christian relations which includes a recognition by the Church of the concrete realities pertaining to the Holocaust, the State of Israel, the role of Israel among the nations and its true place relating to Scripture. Indeed, this study extends very much into Church history to discover the disturbing roots of anti-Jewish hatred and expands to even cover modern day anti-Semitism and the present situation in the Middle East. The subject of Holocaust denial is also discussed. We are additionally presented with a section dealing with the history of the British Mandate in Palestine and yet another which deals with the Jews under Islam. The latter addressing the Dhimmi status of non-Moslems and Sharia law.

The ancient blood libels and many other issues underlying the virulent, vehement and fervid hatred of the Jewish people which culminated in so much persecution and slaughter, are provided with appropriate attention. Also addressed here is the arraignment against the Jews of Deicide. A concept frequently found in the writings of the Early Church Fathers and which was passed down through the ages. Something described as the ultimate manifestation and exercise of wickedness where the Jews are depicted as the murderers of the vehicle of their own Salvation, Jesus Christ. Yet another parallel indictment against the Jews, which originated from the very same sources as that of Deicide is that of the Jews being in league with the devil. These principles of shameless, racial hatred are discussed at length.

In relation to the Holocaust, the book points out that it may indeed come as a shock to many to discover that the Holocaust, (carried out in the middle of Christian Europe), was largely carried out by baptised Christians. (Adolf Hitler himself being described as a member of the Catholic Church.) Elements of the Nazi killing machine even being cited as being welcomed in many areas and being supplemented and supported by a number of local church leaders and their congregants. Whilst this may shock some readers, this subject deserves our attention irrespective of the individuals opinions pertaining to these revelations.

The book goes to great pains to illustrate that the Jewish people have been the focus of universal animosity throughout history and their Diaspora, even when they have been a minority race, largely dis-empowered, without political or national aspirations and until recently without a homeland. The book describing how the Jewish people have even adopted the societal norms, language, dress, culture and even religion of those amongst whom they have been scattered.Yet, despite this, the hatred of their race still could not be quelled.

This study also reveals how a particularly subtle form of anti-Semitism has insinuated its way into recent, modern thought. A hatred, whichincludes all of its ancient loathing, but is now to be found under the new labels of anti-Zionism or anti-Israelism. The study elaborating on this with due reference to context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the declared goals in the Arab world to eradicate the Jewish presence. Yasser Arafats own determined stance on the phased plan to destroy Israel receiving mention on page 103. The work of the new historians and their revisionist history are also cited. A timely reminder being quoted here that those who forget the past are condemned to relive it.

The book describes three phases within the operation of anti-Semitism. The first being cited as covert and which is exemplified by social exclusion together with the use of derogatory terminology. The second being overt which is exemplified by public announcement giving rise to sanctions and violence. The third being exterminatory and exemplified by genocide and ethnocide. These issues are themselves examined at length with due reference and example. The relevance of these principles in relation to the present day Middle East conflict emanates through the text.

The text also declares that the term anti-Semitism in the modern era is something of an anachronism as clearly some of the leading practitioners of active anti-Semitism are the Arab nations, who are of course Semites themselves. The book further elaborating that a more appropriate description of the hatred of the Jews would be the German term JUDENHASS, which essentially means the hatred of the Jews and all that they represent.

Reviews (5)

A slightly different approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict
This book is a collection of essays written about antizionist attacks on Jewish rights.Special attention is given to "some of the more brazen and flamboyant combatants" in what Alexander calls "the Jewish wars,"such as Ed Said, Pat Buchanan, and Alex Cockburn.The book takes issue with people from all parts of the political spectrum.

One test that Alexander applies to Jewish critics of Israel is this: do they refuse to demand for themselves the same rights that they demand for others? While I think that Alexander thus underestimates the value of the writings of David Grossman and Leonard Fein, I have to agree that it is significant that they do not pass this test.

Alexander reserves his sharpest criticism for those who are politically committed to deny human rights to Jews.While Alexander exposes many misstatements by antizionists, he does not lose focus on the goals of those who write them.His main criticism of Ed Said is not for Said's "longstanding habit of confidently reciting the most preposterous falsehoods" but for Said's demands for the "right" to murder "collaborators" with Israel.

This is not a typical discussion of the Arab war against Israel, but given the biases and weaknesses of most books on the topic that can be found on college campuses today, I think it is a welcome addition to the bookshelf.

A Courageous Book
Edward Alexander is a professor at the University of Washington and a respected commentator on Jewish affairs. His book is a devastating study of the vast underworld of bigots and charlatans for whom the title "critic of Israel" is a warrant for slander.

The best-known essay in this collection is the explosive "Professor of Terror," an indictment of the late Edward Said. A former member of the PLO's ruling council, Said openly endorsed the massacre of Arab dissidents and informants during the first intifada, claiming that "the UN Charter and every other known document or protocol" entitles people under "occupation" to "deal severely with collaborators [sic]" (Critical Inquiry, Spring 1989). Alexander replies that he has searched without success for the unnamed "document or protocol" which would have entitled fascist disciples of Tojo or Hitler to slaughter Japanese and Germans who co-operated with the American occupation forces after the Second World War. Moreover, if Said's PLO colleagues think they have a UN mandate to slaughter their fellow Arabs, what can they have in mind for the Jews?

Alexander has many other targets: left-wing journalist Alexander Cockburn, who accuses the media of "obediently catering to Zionist fantasies" (New Statesman, August 27, 1982); Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who declares that Jews "thought they had a monopoly on God," so "Jesus was angry that they could shut out other human beings" (Hartford Courant, October 29, 1984); Nelson Mandela, who lauds Cuba and Libya as paragons of liberty while smearing Israel as "a unique form of colonialism" (New York Times, February 28, 1990). On the right, he exposes Patrick Buchanan, who has discovered a "Holocaust survivor syndrome" involving "group fantasies of martyrdom," adding the claim that gas chambers do not kill (New York Post, March 17, 1990). As Alexander points out, Buchanan's best-known attacks on the Jewish community appeared on Jewish holy days - a rather astonishing coincidence.

No less compelling are the chapters on Jewish self-hatred. In a powerful essay, "Antisemitism, Israeli-Style," Alexander argues that this disease has infected much of Israel's radical left. He recounts the daubing of swastikas on synagogues and the desecration of holy books - crimes committed, not in Austria or in Egypt, but in Israel. He exposes the use of Jewish suffering as a weapon against its victims - manifest in the constant equation of Israelis with Nazis and Arabs with Jews. He quotes Amos Elon, who warns of Israeli "concentration camps"; Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who calls his country "Judeo-Nazi"; Yehoshua Sobol, for whom "Judaism is an abyss in the Jewish soul"; and Ran Cohen, who refers to the "pogroms of the occupation."

Such libels are also found in America. Hence the views of Michael Lerner, founder of Tikkun Magazine, guru to Hillary Clinton and inventor of the infamous "politics of meaning," which reduces Biblical ethics to the banality of a New Age cult. Lerner denounced the American Jewish community as a racist, corrupt band of apologists for capitalism and imperialism; he described black antisemitism as "a tremendous disgrace to Jews" and warned that "the synagogue as currently established will have to be smashed" (Judaism, Fall 1969). As Alexander points out, these ravings conceal a disturbing agenda: the project of transforming Jewish tradition into a manifesto for the ephemeral concerns of the American left.

No discussion would be complete without mention of Noam Chomsky and his apologetics for Holocaust denial, conducted under the pretext of defending free speech. As Alexander notes, Chomsky began by describing the denier Robert Faurisson as "a relatively apolitical liberal of some sort" ("Some Elementary Comments on the Rights of Freedom of Expression," October 11, 1980, online). Then he feigned ignorance: "I don't know enough about [Faurisson's] work to determine if what he is claiming is accurate or not" (Liberation, France, December 23, 1980). Finally he became an agnostic: "we don't want people to have religious or dogmatic beliefs about the existence of the Holocaust" (Le Matin, France, January 19, 1981). Alexander's criticism provoked a scurrilous libel from Chomsky. In a perfect example of tu quoque, Chomsky accused him of denying Nazi genocide against Gypsies. Alexander refutes this smear, pointing out that he had merely reiterated the standard view among Holocaust historians - that the destruction of the Jews was sui generis.

In a prescient final chapter, Alexander turns to Israel's peace agreement with the PLO, accurately predicting the inevitable disaster. His critique is important, not only for its wisdom, but also for its moral sensitivity. Why, he asks, did the Israeli government choose retrospectively to condone the hundreds of unspeakable terrorist atrocities against Jews, not only in Israel - recall the schoolchildren of Ma'alot, the mothers and infants of Kiryat Shemona, the women of Kibbutz Shamir - but all over the world, in synagogues in Istanbul, Paris, Vienna, Antwerp, Copenhagen and Rome, at the Munich Olympics, at restaurants in Paris, airports in Germany and Italy, airplanes everywhere? The answer is all too familiar: the loss of confidence among Israel's ruling elite, caused by decades of Arab hostility. Will Israel be saved in time? Only if we hear the message which Alexander proclaims with such courage and integrity.

Reviews (10)

Encyclopedic, almost too much so
This book offers an incredible window into the history of the most infamous piece of antisemitic propaganda set to paper.The survey goes from their origin to the sixties.Cohn breaks this up into sections organized chronologically and geographically.At times one can get very bogged down in the mass of information and keeping names straight can be a huge headache.I had problems with it at times despite having a general knowledge of the history, so be forewarned if you don't have background knowledge you might have a lot of trouble.The mass of information is incredibly useful, the absorption of it was certainly the major difficulty for me.The appendices at the end were somewhat helpful for adding a perspective to what is contained in the book.

All in all this book is very informative but I think its weakness is in getting slogged down in details which, though necessary, could be presented in a more readable way.

Compare with Lies, lies, and damnable lies...
There is a book that purports to expose an exposé of the anti-gentile Babylonian Talmud by fabricating quotes from it and calling them lies.It is an amazing book of propoganda, effectively used for many years to hide the truth about the Babylonian Talmud.This book reminds me of that one.

Reviews (5)

Not what I was looking for
I read this book wanting to comprehend how anti-Semitism first originated, flourished, and then culminated in the Holocaust with Christianity as part and parcel of the whole process. Instead, I got countless examples of this ancient hatred and how it manifested itself in the past and present time. I guess this approach was fine for someone who needed to be convinced of the existence of anti-Semitism. But, this approach didn't really help me to better understand the cause and reason behind the subject matter.

The tragic story of the Church and the Jewish people.
This excellent book, which desperately needed to be written, is devoted primarily to the tragic relationship between the Christian Church and the Jewish people.

The writer strives to impart to Christians the recognition of their legacy & heritage from the Jews that indeed existed in the early days of the Church whose members were nearly all Jews themselves.

The author also studies the 'Israel bashing' in today's press/media together with the anti-Israel bias of the UN in relation to the Middle East situation. This plus the 'Christian' persecution of the Jews through the ages and even anti-Semtism preached through some channels of the 'Church' today.

Included foremost is the flawed doctrine taught in some areas of 'replacement theology', which teaches that the 'Church' has 'replaced' Israel in all of God's promises. Despite these Divine promises being made directly to and in relation to the people and nation of Israel, and where those promises were unequivocally & unconditionally everlasting !

Further to this the author actually examines & emphasises many of these Divine promises to Israel & the Jewish people in Scripture, past, present and future (Old & New Testaments).

This superb book stresses in no uncertain terms that Christians need to understand the pain and suffering that countless 'pseudo-Christians' have brought upon the Jewish people over the years and the increasing necessity now for a healing and reconciliation of some magnitude.

The writer illustrates that without an understanding of Scripture, many readers will fail to understand or in any way comprehend, the hatred and vilification towards the Jews throughout history & even the present day. The author reveals the force/person behind the massacres, the holocausts, the attempted genocide of the Jews and the attempts to destroy the State of Israel.

That force being the Devil/Satan, whose passionate hatred and despising of the Jews is a reflection of his hatred of God outlined in the Bible. The same God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob and their descendants, the Jewish people. The people through whom God has chosen to reveal his plan of Salvation, His prophetic plan to return the Jewish people to their Land in the latter days and His prophetic plans for the nation surrounding where the Messiah will return.

By destroying the Jewish people & their state, it is highly likely that Satan will be trying to fulfill his own probable intent of destroying God's prophetic plans in relation to His People and Land, of proving God's promises to be false and subsequently to have thwarted God's plans. Plans revealed that have promised that the Jewish people and Israel will never cease to exist and that God's promises will indeed be fulfilled.

To those dubious amongst you I can only recommend that you get a copy of this book, read it for yourself and actually put everything to an intense personal scrutiny...irrespective of which faith, if any that you profess. This is a message and a book that should not, indeed cannot, be ignored.

Excellent Book
Worth every penny and more, this book tells it like it was and is. Covers from the first Christian persecution of the Jews to the Holocaust through today. No-one could ever be the same towards the Jewish people after reading this book!

Reviews (17)

Confusing Today's Strength With Yesterday's Weakness
My title is precisely the point.

Goldhagen assumes that the supposed power the Catholic Church possesses today over much of the world's culture, politics, and media is as it was in the early part of the twentieth century. It, most decidedly, was not.

The Church, in those days, was viewed in many parts of the West -especially in more economically and militarily powerful Protestant America and Europe - as a cultural hangnail from the Middle Ages: archaic, decaying, lifeless, semi-literate, and rife with crippling, sickly superstition. The overwhelming bulk of its' parishoners were little more than simple-minded peasants and the lowest members of the working class: penniless, starving, illterate (mostly), and quick to hop the next boat to North America in search of a better life. Catholic education was an oxymoron. In short, despite the revisionist histories of some modern Catholic historians and thinkers who portray the Church as eternally powerful, early twentieth century European Catholicism was recidivist and on the brink of utter disintegration, overrun by communism and socialism. It most certainly was NOT a healthy organization.

That the Catholic Church could then have been some agent provacateur, metaphysical master planner, or "Ur-Author" of the Holocaust strikes me, to say the least, as a bit of a reach. Goldhagen seems to be hitting here because the Vatican either hasn't properly fessed up to it's "control freak" role or, more likely, it is an easy and inviting target because it is the last significant Christian institution left standing in Europe. In critical and strategic ways, the Protestant churches (i.e., the Anglican, German Evangelical(Lutheran), Dutch & Swiss Reformed, etc.) were far more powerful early in the last century and held considerably more sway over their wealthier and more influential congregants. Alas, they no longer stand dominant in multi-cultural Europe; ergo, Goldhagen doesn't go after them because no one gives a damn about their dwindling numbers. Besides, who goes to THEIR churches? No one who matters - media wise, that is. In truth, the world wars were far more Protestant (esp. Anglo-German)induced; early twentieth-century European Catholicism was far too introverted, weak, and Third Worldish to matter much.

The Vatican, ironically, may have a hard time admitting any culpability not because Catholics did not participate, but because the Church in those days was too ineffectual to do anything about it. And in light of its new found late twentieth/early twenty-first century materialism, bejeweled ornamentation, lush bank accounts, and heightened world media position, that may be a reality more embarrassing to admit than anything to do with the Holocaust. After all, once one begins wearing items from the House Of Adolfo, it is hard to admit ever having been a client of the Salvation Army thrift shop.

This may be an alternative way of looking at this controversial matter, but I think it will help expose some of the pretensious, egotistical positions that Goldhagen and the Vatican possess and would rather not care to admit.

The second best book about european antisemitism
"A Moral Reckoning : The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair",
by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, is the second best book about european antisemitism history, of all times. To know it and to not forget the birth of european historical holocaust against Israel People. A book for Low and High Schools students, I hope, in Italy too, now, in these doom times.

Nicola Facciolini
Journalist
Teramo
Italy

Author is so anti-Catholic/Christian that he can't reason
The author does not understand Christianity/Catholicism.His theology interpretations are completely wrong and offensive.If it weren't so serious, it would be laughable.His transparent and ill-founded bias, viewed through a 21st Century lens, given away by a preachy and pretentious how-dare-they-believe-in-what-their-religion-teaches-if-it's-not-what-I-believe tone, undermines the entire work, such as it is.(Note extensive errors discussed by other reviewers.)

Goldhagen is stuck on the old ridiculous standby steretotypes that Christians/Catholics believe that the Jews killed Jesus, that all Jews are going straight to hell, etc.*He wants to edit the Bible to satisfy his personal sensibilities.Nevermind 2000 years of history or that he's not even Christian or that he doesn't understand what he would alter!

If Goldhagen had his way, Christians would have had to start the faith from scratch, nevermind that Christians did not start out a separate religion but as Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah.He claims New Testament scripture is antisemetic because it contains accounts criticizing early Messianic Jews for making mistakes in setting up churches and disciplining members.But the Bible criticizes Gentile start-ups the same.In 362 tedious pages, he somehow fails to mention that Christians/Catholics have every respect for Jews, God's chosen people, because Jesus himself was Jewish, along with the Virgin Mary, early apostles, etc.Christians use the Hebrew scriptures; calling them the "Old Testament" isn't antisemetic, contrary to Goldhagen's claims (p. 207), and actually Catholics have MORE Old Testament books than Protestants.

Goldhagen calls the biblical accounts "not a reliable rendition of facts and events, but legend." (p. 264)Unbelievably, Goldhagen wants Christians to remove portions of the bible Goldhagen considers offensive and antisemetic (p. 273).Hm, how ironic.You'd think, given the subject matter, that this is EXACTLY the kind of hate-filled stereotyping and micromanagement that persecuted minority groups (e.g., Catholics in the U.S.) should fear.

The author's motive is finally revealed in the conclusion:FINANCIAL RESTITUTION!

What a whiny, mean spirited waste of paper this book is.Glad I just got it from the library for free and didn't support this "scholar" for his next work:maybe a revamping of the Islamic KORAN!Or eliminating Old Testament accounts of the Hebrew God wiping out evil nations of non-Jewish infidels and sinners.Where to draw the line?

Reviews (7)

Living with terror
This is an interesting personal account of what it is like to live in Jerusalem.Written by a Jewish resident.And while the meat of this book is the tale of how Jebusites are dealing with the risks and tragedies, I was most intrigued by the reactions to historical events.

We get to see, on Balint's diary entry for October 6, 2000, that a "sea change" had taken place in Israeli attitudes about the prospects of peace in less than a month.The Israeli public had known that incendiary material fed to Arab schoolchildren was bound to result in violence.But it was surprised to discover the extent to which Arab citizens of Israel supported the same annihilationist goals as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

And we get to see the lack of surprise when the Associated Press routinely reports Israeli self-defence as though it were unprovoked malice.

We also get to see her view of Sharon's defeat of Barak in the 2000 Israeli elections.Sharon won by a landslide, and Balint points out that Barak misread the willingness of the Israeli public to cede parts of Jerusalem.She doesn't even mention the problem of negotiating under fire with a party that will break any agreement anyway and then blame you for it.

Perhaps the most telling remarks the author makes are about the counterproductive manner in which European nations are interfering in the fighting.She explains that European nations fund the textbooks used in the West Bank "that promote hatred of Jews and intolerance of Israel's right to exist."And she shows how Europe donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to marginal Israeli political groups on the extreme left, in hopes of undermining Israeli democracy.

Seeing the realities in Israel the media largely ignores
This work is a valuable document. It speaks to truths which the international media systematically ignore, the truths of the sufferings of the Jews of Israel as a result of Arab terror and violence. It in considering what has happened in Israel from the years 1998-2001 Balint shows how the Israeli public is fundamentally a decent, peace- loving one however stigmatized by the world-media. Balint also shows through her encounters with various members of foreign media in Israel how events are distorted to slander Israel and favor the Arab side. In focusing on so much of the reality of Israel which others have ignored she does a real service to the people of Israel, and the cause of fairness and justice.

A book to make you cry
Judy Lash Balint leaves nothing unsaid.Her diary tells us everything Judy Lash Belint sees just by living in Jerusalem: from the daily terrorist attacks to the water being turned off when she gets back from yet another grueling day of work (in Jerusalem water is rationed and every apartment complex votes on when they will have no water but Judy Lash Balint was not there for the meeting and so did not vote and did not know...) and yet being so tired, no exhausted that never mind she can collapse and sleep without water or a bath or a drink.

And from her we hear what it is like to visit a family right after a horror attack.Vadim was murdered and a Palestinian soaked his hands in his blood and held them up for the cameras of the world to see.Irina his pregnant wife was watching television and saw it all on TV... and when Judy Lash Belint pays a condolence call and Irina says nothing because what is there to say?

And Judy Lash Belint tells us also of the Ethiopian Jews' custom of going up to the Western Wall to celebrate their gratitude for the Torah and she tells us of drinking coffee in a Starbucks and of the regular election debates.

Reviews (7)

An important book to read
This book is had a profound impact on me.This book contains much historical information concerning the rise of the Third Reich and the political, economic and spritual situation leading to its rise.In addition, Lutzer gives us valuable insight into how the church reacted (and didn't react) to the sweeping political changes of Nazi Germany.Highly recommended.

Historical interpretations by a calvinist
This book does a reasonably good job of showing how Hitler hijacked the church for his own purposes and the complicity of many in the church. Not that this was a total novelty in the history of organized religion mind you.
Lutzer really goes off the proverbial deep end when he attributes all of the horrors of that time period to God's will and as a means of "purifying" the church. Tens of millions of people (mostly innocents) die because this "God" of Lutzer wants to get the church back on the "straight and narrow"?My what a wicked God this God of Lutzer is.
Furthermore Lutzer's attemps to find parallells between Nazi Germany and present day America is fundamentalist fear mongering par excellence.
I will help this book be recycled into a new and more useful paper article.

Hitler's Cross
Erwin Lutzer gives a harrowing description of the third riech. When hitler came to power Germany was in economic chaos and the people in despair. HItler promised to restore Germany to it's former greatness.

When Hitler came to power he began to dismantle the Christian church and replace it with the nationalistic German church. The cross was replaced by the swatiska and the bible was replaced by Hitler's Mien Kampf. The German church preached complete obedience to the national leadership. Hitler then started his policy of "racial purity" Believed Germany will return to its greatness if it return to its Aryan roots. This was the begining of the extermination of the Jews.

There were Christians that did stand up to Hitler. Two of these was Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller. They formed the resistence church called the cofession church. They preached that the cross must be supreme and be above all symbols.

Lutzer explains that the hollicaust was God's opportunity to strengthen and purify his church. In the presents of this great evil many christians willingly laid down their lives to oppose Hitler and to save the Jews. Lutzer explains that when the cross is removed the full force of human evil is released. I believe the hollicaust shows that when God is removed there is nothing to stop evil. Many secular humanists believe that good can come from man and we do not need God. The events of WWII prove otherwise. Lutzer explains that the removal of christ with nationalism dates back to 19th century German philosophy. Georg Hegal taught that the national state must be supreme and Fredrick Nietzche taught that Christianity was weak and that God was dead.

Erwin Lutzer makes strong parellels to this country. He compares the plight of the Jews during the hollicaust to the plight of unborn babies under abortion. He states that the secular world is trying to purge Christianity from the public sector. Today people are getting into trouble in work and school for professing their beliefs. This book was written before the tragedy of Columbine. I feel that a lot of the school violence is due to the fact that Jesus was removed from our public schools. Lutzer states thate The United States is marching down the same road that that NAZI germany did by having the voice of the church supressed by the national government. But, on the other hand Christian fundamentalists are using the same tactics. They are trying to force the country to follow their brand of Christianity and their own personal political agenda. Homosexuals and anyone else who is contrary to the Christian right are being treated the same way that Hitler treated the Jews. I have no problem with Homosexuals adopting children. It is better that a child be in a loving environment then be in an abussive environment. I believe in personal acountability. I am only accountable to God for my self not anybody else. When I hear "so called" Christians saying "God hates homosexuals and that its a sign of Gods perfect hate" I have a hard time
following the conservative christian position on Homosexuality.

Editorial Review

Reviews (19)

Should Be Required Reading
This book should be required reading in our universities, which are becoming a hotbed for the knee-jerk antisemitism of the left. And I say that as a true-blue liberal.

This is an exceptionally well-written book and a joy to read, that expertly takes on the Jew-hatred of anti-Zionism and the apologists for terrorists. Yes, terrorists, not freedom fighters. Freedom fighters don't target children, while terrorists make a moral choice to choose evil. This he clearly shows.

A very good book by a very thoughtful man
I am not a Jew myself, nor a particularly religious person.I come from an Iranian Muslim family.This fact, in and of itself, would ordinarily be irrelevant were it not for the depressing reality that Muslim attitudes toward Israel are drearily predictable in their mendacity and barbarically ignorant racism.Having already absorbed more than a few helpings of Islamofascist and radical leftist sewage on the subject of Israel, I found this book an immensely refreshing contrast.Lozowick is not a "right wing" Israeli of the kind committed to the settlements (though even if he were, that in and of itself would not make him a bad person, especially given that even the most militant Jewish settlers still seem quite civilized when compared to the Palestinian thugs who would like nothing better than to "finish the job Hitler started.")He is often critical of Israeli policies, and is willing to acknowledge the basic justice of the Palestinians' desire for political independence.That being said, he does a wonderful job of exposing the REALLY loathsome and grotesque hypocrisy inherent in the way pompous and self-righteous leftists, not only here, but especially in Europe, present the Israeli-Palestinian struggle (and I will bet good money that every "one-star" reviewer of this book is either a neo-Nazi, an Islamic fascist, or a leftist, the differences between these groups being largely cosmetic). Apparently, for some people, Jew-hatred is acceptable if it can be tarted up as multiculturalist concern for some "poor, oppressed people of color" du jour.The fact that the "people of color" we are dealing with here are the Palestinians makes the hypocrisy of the Israel-haters even more nauseating, for if there was ever a people who have contributed mightily to their own misery it is the Palestinians.When you BEGIN with the premise that the other guys, namely the Israelis, don't even have a right to exist; when your principal negotiating tactic is essentially reducible to the formula of "give us whatever we want or we'll suicide-bomb you into submission," then it is clear that your oppression is more self-inflicted than imposed from without.

Anti-Israel belligerents like to propagate the sophistry that Israel is the aggressor because she is militarily more powerful than the Palestinians.But as any student of history can see, aggression is not a function of how many weapons you have.It flows from hatred and the desire to do violence in the human heart.When the Nazis marched into the Rhineland in 1936, they were in no military position to withstand the 100 French divisions on their border had the French chosen to respond militarily.Militarily the Nazis were considerably weaker than the French in 1936; yet no one disputes that they were the aggressors.So too in the Middle East, it is the militarily weaker Palestinians who are the aggressors, for they are the ones who teach their children racial hatred of Jews; they are the ones who glorify acts of terrorist murder.For their part, if the Israelis want anything, it is to be left alone, and most of them would gladly give up the West bank if the Palestinians ever became sincere about wanting only a compromise.Indeed, the very fact that the Palestinians are constantly resorting to terrorism to pick a fight with the militarily superior Israelis is an ironic admission that the Israelis, for all their flaws, are immensely superior to the Palestinians morally as well as militarily.If Israel's behavior even remotely resembled that of the typical Arab state, the Palestinians wouldn't dare provoke them in so barbaric a fashion, for to do so would be tantamount to inviting their own annihilation.

All of this is demonstrated very effectively by Lozowick, a man who nevertheless comes across as having more genuine sympathy for the Palestinians than in my opinion the latter have ever merited. Even if you are a critic of Israel, if you have even a marginal capacity for fair-mindedness, read this book.It will challenge your assumptions.

Reviews (2)

The United Nations as a terrorist support group
This is an amazingly detailed study of how the United Nations has submitted to terror, allowing diplomacy to become, in a horrifying reversal of what Clausewitz said, war by other means.

The book shows the adoration the United Nations has had for Arafat, which has included allowing him to address that organization in 1974 and even applauding him.It left me wondering what kind of species could do such a thing to itself. And it convinced me that the United Nations is not merely useless, but is an extremely counterproductive organization.

But this book does not stop there.It continues for well over 500 pages to describe United Nations legitimization of terror.It describes the UN view of the terrorist as a martyr, and how it ruled against taking action against Ziad Abu Ain, who murdered two boys and injured 36 other people with a bomb.

Schoenberg then shows how the terrorists have co-opted many UN elements and forums: the General Assembly, the Security Council, Secretariat, the specialized agencies, the peacekeeping agencies.Here we see the extent to which anti-Israeli slanders have dominated the UN agenda, crowding out many real issues the UN ought to attend to.

The author shows the flip side of the coin: in addition to lionizing terror, the UN undermines, delegitimizes, and defames both Israel and Jews in general.

Still, there is an obvious question: what sort of precedent is this support for terror?Is it part of a larger problem?Here, the author discusses the concept of a "national liberation movement" (NLM).He asks what an NLM is, and whether the anti-Israeli terrorists actually constitute one (they don't).And he mentions the implications for supporting anything that calls itself an NLM.

Schoenberg then discusses the history of the political left with Arab terrorism.After all, until the mid-1960s, Arab antisemitic terror had been politically aligned with fascism.That had been true of Mufti Amin al-Husayni.And Israeli relations with Cuba had been good.But in the late 1960s, the Soviet Union pressured Castro into siding against Israel.This was a key step in obtaining support for genocidal antisemitism from the Left.

I think the most interesting part of the book were the descriptions of how the UN supports and disseminates terrorist propaganda.And how it gets some otherwise intelligent people to feel that negotiating with terrorist groups and supporting at least some of their warlike demands is a means to achieve peace.

Schoenberg concludes by explaining that if the United Nations were to represent the decent opinion of Mankind, the smaller and weaker nations of the world would have a genuine forum.However, it doesn't do that, and thus these smaller nations are losing an opportunity to have their views listened to seriously.

This book was written 15 years ago, but it ought to be reprinted.What it says is at least as valid today as it was then.

A Warrant For The Pursuit Of Jewish Genocide.
Read how the exploitation and manipulation of the UN by the PLO and it's Arab colleagues has lead to the UN's moral decline and allegations of being nothing more than a �sister organisation' to the Arab League.

A shocking but true account of how the UN has itself strayed from it's original mandate and how an organisation of terror has subverted the high ideals of the UN by fanning the flames of anti-Semitism and legitimising terrorism against the Jewish state of Israel.

This is a penetrating study of what goes on behind the scenes of the UN and reveals scandalous procedures which most of the public have no awareness of.

Without the documentation of the author, it is difficult to fathom the depths of hatred and hypocrisy emanating from the UN towards the Jewish state of Israel.

Since joining the UN in 1949, Israel has been largely ostracized at the forum. It is too often the object of condemnatory resolutions, usually sponsored by an overwhelmingly Arab-based majority that, together with an ever present army of supporting nations, is nearly always successful in passing any and all resolutions that vilify or condemn Israel.

Israel is the ONLY nation still not allowed to belong to one of the five regional groups in which much of the closed-door realpoliticking takes place. Admission to any group requires unanimous consent of the group's member nations and to date Israel has not been able to obtain this despite it's 53 year long membership of the UN.

Membership of the UN Security Council has ALWAYS been denied to Israel, yet Arab nations frequently sit upon the Council, often two Arab nations at a time. Syria recently being the head of the UN Security Council, despite being a sponsor of state terrorism, the base of countless terrorist organisations and publicly sworn to the eradication of the state of Israel !

Again, UN Security Council resolutions are always swayed against Israel before voting even begins. Without the occasional US veto, virtually any anti-Israeli resolution would be passed.

The UN's predecessor, the League of Nations failed to prevent the rise of Hitler, the outbreak of World War II, of policies of genocide that slaughtered six million Jews. Revelations here show the same impotence in the face of the same racial hatred which could again see the same policies resurrected.

This book has received rave reviews from those who are knowledgeable about the UN and I would highly recommend that this book be re-printed and amended to include recent events, corroborating the revelations of the author, which are occurring at an alarming rate.

It can be seen from the facts outlined here that compliance with any UN Resolutions pertaining to the Arab-Israeli issue was of absolutely no concern whatsoever to the Arab world when it sought the genocide of the Jewish people/state from their midst in 1948, 1967 and 1973. Yet, having been successful in now obtaining UN Security Council Resolutions against Israel through the manipulation so well outlined herein, the Arab world is now beginning to demand military and political implementation of these UN Resolutions very much on a par with the attitude now being shown against Iraq.

Without books such as these and the courage of the authors to make the truth known, we risk being swept away on a new tide of anti-Semitic fervour, whose end does not bear thinking about.

Reviews (2)

A scholarly study of Anti- Semitism
This is a very learned and convincing study of the history of Anti- Semitism. It is especially illuminating in its understanding of the new anti- Semitism which has come to the Islamic world. The bulk of the book however is devoted to European anti-Semitism and its disastrous culmination in Nazism. Wistrich is a very thorough and broad- ranging scholar and he writes with brilliance about one of the most recurrent evils in the life of mankind.

A Hatred Still Very Much Alive & Well On Planet Earth.
This is an excellent study based on extensive, thorough research of both ancient and modern-day anti-Semitism that destroys any myth that anti-Semitism is now on the decline.

Introducing the definition of anti-Semitism as the hatred of Jews & Judaism (and not Semites in general), the writer displays a commendable knowledge of the subject while devoting a sizeable section of this book to revealing and analysing the re-emergence & immediacy of the virulent, racial hatred revived by the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

Many readers will find this book both painful and shocking. The writer approaching the many aspects of anti-Semitism through the ages, not least of which being those originating through some aspects of 'Christianity', which were subsequently adopted by Nazism, Bolshevism and Islam. Certain revealed myths shown to provide the seedbed on which Nazi and other racialist doctrines/prejudices could flourish, dehumanising Jews & subsequently removing all/any moral restraints that opposed a persecution or genocide of the Jewish people.

The book examines the erroneous, malignant myths like 'The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion', (of which the Arab world is now the largest supplier), and how these have now taken root in the Middle East as another Islamic weapon against the Jewish State.

The writer declaring that, despite being an absolute tissue of malicious lies, wherever there is a 'will' to believe such aberrations, events can always be made to fit the paranoid visions & homicidal hatred of a Jewish 'world conspiracy'.

A whole section of the book is devoted to Jews living in Islamic lands & the question of 'Palestine'. Of particular note here is the revelation that the enforced wearing of the 'Yellow Badge' by Jews actually originated in Baghdad and not Europe. The 'dhimmi' status of Jews under Islamic rule is also studied, together with the post 1948 enforced expulsion of the Jewish populations from these Arab lands, together with the confiscation of all Jewish property.

The author also describes how in recent years a vast anti-Jewish literature has appeared in Islamic/Arab countries, using theological, racial and 'demonological' motifs to vilify the Jews, including the revival of the 'blood libel' and the promotion of an image portraying Israel as a ruthless, oppressive nation . (Aryeh Stav's book "Peace; The Arabian Caricature" admirably covers this subject.). Anti-Jewish ideologies constantly being disseminated through books, newspapers, caricatures, radio and television, subsequently reaching mass audiences with this indoctrination.

The complicity of the Arab world and the Mufti in Hitler's Holocaust is also discussed along with the Palestinian National Covenant. The latter, which has still not been rescinded, containing a basic premise which demands within nearly half of it's 33 articles, that the State of Israel must cease to exist.

The present situation in the Middle East relating to the 'peace process' is also expounded with reference to the anti-Semitic diatribes within the International arena and the UN. In view of the study here, I cannot help but recall the statement of previous UN Secretary General Boutros-Gali which showed the real position of the UN;- "The Jews must give up their status as a nation and Israel as a state, and assimilate as a community in the Arab world."

Indeed, this essential study reveals that there is an underlying, universal precept at work pertaining to the Jews and the Middle East itself. I do not believe it is a desire for peace, but it is the distaste for the Jewish state. No other nation in the World is or has been treated in this way.

I concur with what the author I believe is trying to convey within his discourse about the Islamic/Arab towards Israel, in that the issue here is not 'land for peace'! It is the very existence of the Jewish state in the land of 'Islam' in the Middle East that is the issue. An existence that will never be accepted by the Moslem world, irrespective of any boundaries.

Reviews (5)

How hatred of the Jews is used as a political weapon.
Although the definition of anti-Semitism has been subjected to some mis-interpretation, it's original and true context is that of anti-Jewishness or anti-Judaism.

YossefBodansky, in another of his fine works examines the significance to the ongoing, intensifying hatred and vilification towards the Jews throughout the Moslem/Arab world.

Bodansky investigates how this anti-Semitism, today more than ever, constitutes an enormous political instrument, being so venomously applied by both regional and international Islamic terrorist organisations and also Moslem/Arab governments.

The author delves into how these same entities, government & terrorist leaders, use anti-Semitism/anti-Israeli incitement as such extremely effective weapons of populist agitation in order to achieve the desired political and public results on the ground and amongst their populations.

Bodansky extends his analysis to the consequences that thisincitement of hatred have in mobilising Arab/Moslem public opinion against Israel and the popular intent of destroying the Jewish state, irrespective of any diplomatic or political initiatives/peace-process during what can only be seen as an interim period within that same agenda or purpose.

In under 200 pages, Bodansky provides a worthy reference towards this timely subject. Further recommended reading is Bodansky's most recent work, "The High Cost of Peace: How Washington's Middle East Policy Left America Vulnerable to Terrorism".

A Good Analysis of the Arab Propaganda Machine
I cannot recommend a better book that shows the true face of the Arab world.Their ideology is built on hatred and propaganda which is used against Christians and Jews. It shows the reasons why totalitarian governments(which are the only kind of governments in the Arab world)use this kind of propaganda to promote their politics, especially in the Arab world and suppress democracy.

Interesting for what it is, but too short
" Yossef Bondansky's scholarship is generally of considerable value, though his writing style is often dry.Here, in a work that is far too short, he seeks to examine the anti-Semitism that is rampant in the Muslim world and its roots. (Please note, I like Professor Bodansky am aware that Arabs are Semites, however, the term, originating with 19th century racists and in use to the present day, then and now refers only to hatred of Jews).Bodansky does a fair job of tracing how these European concepts entered the Arab world view, beginning with the famous Damascus blood liable, but does not give the topic the attention it deserves.

Some reviewers have argued that Bodansky overstates the pervasiveness of anti-Semitic content in Arabic papers.Clearly, they are ignorant of the facts.As Bodansky documents, major mainstream Arab papers such as the semi official press organ of the supposedly moderate Egyptian government (whose editor and chief is hand chosen by the President) has continually reported such stories.Examples of what can be found in theses papers pages on any given day include:

*Jews are responsible for the September 11th attack in order to defame Islam (included in the charge is that no Jews died in the WTC, even though Jewish casualties numbered over 1,000).

*Jews engineered AIDS and spread it among Arab youths.

*Jews have infected Arab women with a virus that loosens their morals.

*Jews kill Arab children for sport and use their blood to make Matzo.

*Bill Clinton, George Bush and Colin Powell are all really Jewish.

*Jews tricked Saddam into invading Kuwait.

*Jews have a secret plan to castrate all Muslim men.

The list goes on.Where Bodansky's work shines is in showing how propagating these lies helps prop up the brutal autocratic regimes of the Arab world.By creating an all powerful entirely evil foreign enemy, these nations can attempt to excuse their own barbaric and repressive tactics that include some of the world's worst human rights abusers in places like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and others (all of which always rank worse then Israel on lists of human rights abusers).The book also includes several excellent examples of anti-Semitic cartoons.