Knowing Too Much: Why the American Jewish Romance with Israel is Coming to an End

Description

Traditionally, American Jews have been broadly liberal in their political outlook; indeed African-Americans are the only ethnic group more likely to vote Democratic in US elections. Over the past half century, however, attitudes on one topic have stood in sharp contrast to this group's generally progressive stance: support for Israel. Despite Israel's record of militarism, illegal settlements and human rights violations, American Jews have, stretching back to the 1960s, remained largely steadfast supporters of the Jewish "homeland." But, as Norman Finkelstein explains in an elegantly-argued and richly-textured new book, this is now beginning to change. Reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the United Nations, and books by commentators as prominent as President Jimmy Carter and as well-respected in the scholarly community as Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer and Peter Beinart, have increasingly pinpointed the fundamental illiberalism of the Israeli state. In the light of these exposes, the support of America Jews for Israel has begun to fray. This erosion has been particularly marked among younger members of the community. A 2010 Brandeis University poll found that only about one quarter of Jews aged under 40 today feel "very much" connected to Israel. In successive chapters that combine Finkelstein's customary meticulous research with polemical brio, Knowing Too Much sets the work of defenders of Israel such as Jeffrey Goldberg, Michael Oren, Dennis Ross and Benny Morris against the historical record, showing their claims to be increasingly tendentious. As growing numbers of American Jews come to see the speciousness of the arguments behind such apologias and recognize Israel's record as simply indefensible, Finkelstein points to the opening of new possibilities for political advancement in a region that for decades has been stuck fast in a gridlock of injustice and suffering.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Similar books

• 

  Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age

  By Ann M. Blair

  In fact, says Ann M. Blair in this intriguing book, the invention of the printing press and the ensuing abundance of books provoked sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European scholars to register complaints very similar to our own.

• 

  Too Much Information: Understanding What You Don’t Want to Know

  By Cass R. Sunstein

  Can we do anything useful with next week's weather forecast for Paris if we are not in Paris? In Too Much Information, Cass Sunstein examines the effects of information on our lives.

• 

  If You Feel Too Much: Thoughts on Things Found and Lost and Hoped For

  By Jamie Tworkowski

  From personal stories of struggling on days most people celebrate to words of strength and encouragement in moments of loss, the essays in this book invite readers to believe that it’s okay to admit to pain and okay to ask for help.

• 

  Infoglut: How Too Much Information Is Changing the Way We Think and Know

  By Mark Andrejevic

  This is the import of Adorno's theory of “mimesis”: that reason can be turned back upon itself not in order to liquidate itself (or to relegate itself to a realm of secondary importance, an after-the-fact rationalization), but to reveal ...

• 

  Too Much Stuff!

  By Robert N. Munsch

  Temina is excited about taking a trip on an airplane, and super-excited to include ALL of her toys and dolls on the trip as well.

• 

  Your Rainforest Mind: A Guide to the Well-Being of Gifted Adults and Youth

  By Paula Prober

  And, like the rain forest, have you met too many chainsaws?Enter Paula Prober, M.S., M.Ed., who understands the diversity and complexity of minds like yours.

• 

  And I Know Too Much to Pretend: A Memoir

  By Lorraine M. Duvall

  Ms. Duvall retired to a place she loves--the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, where she is active in advocating for the environmental protection of a unique park of public and private land.

• 

  Too Much Glue

  By Jason Lefebvre

  With vibrant language and artwork and a wild, silly plot, Too Much Glue is sure to appeal to all children who love to get messy.

• 

  The Dog Who Knew Too Much

  By Carol Lea Benjamin

  The Dog Who Knew Too Muchis the 2nd book in the Rachel Alexander and Dash Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

• 

  The Car That Knew Too Much: Can a Machine Be Moral?

  By Jean-François Bonnefon

  But what should that be? This book investigates how people want driverless cars to decide matters of life and death.