The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Case for Israel
Book Review: Israel/Palestinians 101, and mythbuster
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is great not only because of how well it is written, but this book busts all the common myths you've probably heard about Israel on the internet, and TV media, especially if you live outside the US, where misplaced post-colonial thought clouds the truth about Israel, and its aggressive neighbors and the terror citizens face each day simply for being Jewish, and not wanting to be part of a global caliphate or Pan-Arab empire too many would like. This book systematically smashes to pieces much of the hate against Israel you may have seen all over the internet blogosphere, or at one of the dozens of anti-Israel rallies you may see/experience in Europe, etc, using excellent sources and reaching the bases. For those new to the Middle East looking to delve in, this book is essential reading. No wonder why it was a top seller, and the Finkelsteins of the world tried in vain to libel the book and its prolific author, Alan Dershowitz.Book Review: Israel: The Only Minority In the Middle East
Summary: 4 Stars
You'd think such a leftist as Alan Dershowitz would get some credit from his compatriots. But ideology knows no friends, only co-conspirators.
From the end of the Romanovzs with the 10-day revolution to the internationalizing of fascist Nazism and communism, there has been a concerted effort to--mostly with great myopia and prejudicial blindness--romanticize the plight of any class of any people (minority) that are perceived to be without a lifeline, living in any region of the world. Unfortunately, for the most part, the romanticism only applies to the Palestinians in Israel and the working proletariat that are exploited by the capitalist "other" in various Western nations. Those in the West Bank and Gaza are no exception, but actually epitomize this concept in our modern world. The book's main theme is that though Israel is light years ahead of any Arabic country regarding tolerance, diversity, economics, and human rights, we expect absolute perfection and no mistakes whatsoever from them, creating perhaps the most monstrous double-standard in history.
The hypocracy of this is obvious as we gladly overlook the blackest of wholesale deeds from their neighbors, who actually implement upon coercion the negation and denial of even a fraction of the above-mentioned Western values. We've romanticized the Arabs and sympathize with them that the 1 and only minority in their vicinity is a lash against their pride. AFter all, before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Jews were always second-class citizens under their rule.
Mr. Dershowitz not only has researched, but has used liberal journalists and historians as his sources. The New York Times has been a large contributor to his text, as well as The Washington Post. Benny Morris, an erstwhile vehement critic of the state of Israel, is quoted and sourced many times. Prince Bindar of Saudia Arabia said to Arafat after the PA terror master rejected a state alongside Israel, "You have doomed the Palestinians." I don't see any Heritage Foundation, Brookings Institute, The Washington Times, The New York Post or other varied "right-wing" nouns being used in his book, only scantly.
Another myth is the ol' "inappropriate use of force" canard. I would like any person with a modicum of history-sense to tell me when nations who won overwhelming victories against aggressive nations surrounding them on all sides (The War of Independence, The Six Day War, The Yom Kipper War) sued for peace and held on olive branch, at a post-war U.N. summit, out to those who lost, pleading them to recognize their right to exist peacefully among them.
The Palestinians have been on the losing side of WWI, WWII (when al-Husseni collaborated with Hitler himself), The Six Day War, The Yom Kipper War, and the subsequent Intifadas launched after being offered statehood and division of Jerusalem. They have rejected statehood itself 3 times with the Partition Plan in 1917, The Peel Commission of 1937, and the Camp David/Taba negotiations in 2000. When Arafat denied the offer of statehood, he prounounced no counter-offer or any negotiative variable aside from 97 percent of the West Bank, Gaza, and billions in reparations for refugees caused largely by Jordan's belligerency.
The death count may be high, but there's accounting in the book (as well as a myriad of others) of different elements that have contributed to these deaths. One is a lack of efficient hospitals, even though the U.S. and the U.N. have given billions in aid to create more open markets and intstitutions critical to the basic survival of any group of people. Another is the suicide bombers that either succeeded in their missions or failed upon detonation. Many Palestinians denied the offer to be cared in Israeli hopistals, where medical care is almost second-to-none in the Western world. There are targeted uprootings of terrorists in residential housing that create the moral dilemma of either going after the terror leaders or not, and thereby waiting for more terror attacks upon civilian centers.
So it is that the UN overlooks real genocide in Africa and gross human rights violations (at least referring to internationally-recognized basic rights) in the greater Middle East, whose implentation of Sharia law (to varying degrees) negates women basic rights, Jews any rights possible from Israel, and religious and secular intolerance. It is overlooked because Israel has all these rights implemented--the protection of Arabic mosques, 1-plus million Arabs (relatives of those who engaged war against their host, or are decendants of them)residing in Israel, religious diversity, and intellectual diversity. Some of the harshest critics come from the Leftist circles in Israeli academia and journalists. But the only thing we can focus on is that Arabic citizens can only vote in municipal elections. But there are legal loopholes that can cut around this, and even recently an Arab was Acting Prime Minister for a week, and there are anti-Israeli Knesset members in that parliament who speak and vote against any military action or security.
If the war in Lebanon of 2006 were to be included, it would expose the deception of the Western and Arabic press (Reuters, Al Jezeera) and make a good contribution to the whole subject matter. If this book is denounced, then it is sad, but not an enormous loss. Just look at Joan Peters' exhaustingly-researched From Time Immemorial, or Myths and Facts, by Mitchell Bard, Phd, which is also very well researched. I would highly recommend all of them.
This book is a great primer for getting interested in the subject, and goes to show that there can be fairness from the left side of Harvard. The author has critizized Israel for many things, but has always reasserted what we all in the Western world should not have a problem doing (unless you're an unrepentant romantic) : Declaring the sovereign right of a democracy to survive who had to earn what they had, and fight hard for it almost every year of their now 59-year inception. It's just too bad so many of us don't have Prince Bindar's clear-eyed insight that the Arab world (largely Jordan and Syria) holds most of the blame for the plight of the Palestinians. But with the recent events in Gaza as of late, it goes to show that the inculcation of suicidal and hating education in the PA, and the refusal to consider anything other than tribal-warfare and Islamic-suppressional imperatives (backed and led, of course, by Iran and Syria), are the real harbingers to their people.
And, hey, to all anti-Israelites out there: I thought you were for minorities?? What would the creation of a Palestinian State be other than the 23rd Arabic totalitarian theocracy bent on reversing this last century's progress towards freedom and human rights? Hmmmm....let's do the "diversity" and "human rights" calculus: 22 total Arabic states, and 1 diverse, democratic Jewish state in the Middle East. I see an "inproportionate" number here--Pretty unfair! Any person with a singular standard on this issue would deduce that we need to create 21 more Jewish states to just even the minority-status odds!
Book Review: JUST THE BOOK I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!
Summary: 5 Stars
Alan Dershowitz's The Case For Israel is just the book I've been looking for! As a young democrat and Jewish American, I constantly find myself on the defense- at the nail salon, at parties, with dinner guests, in class- tiresomely justifying the actions of Israel and my support for them. I am not the least bit shocked, but saddened by the response I receive even from my peers at school when expressing such beliefs. Venting about my concern for Israel quickly turns into an exchange of personal and political attacks leaving me feeling helpless and very frustrated.
I live in Los Angeles- one of the most "we're-liberal-for-the-sake-of-being-trendy" cities in the country, and I've gotten a lot of flack for expressing my support for what is apparently a "Republican platform." But I know support for Israel has nothing to do with being a republican or a democrat, a Jew or a gentile, or even a Bush lover or Bush basher. Support for Israel is at the least about being an American and standing up for one of the few countries in the world whose moral and political foundation parallels ours.
Dershowitz's book is not only a beacon of hope and incredible tool for Zionists such as myself, but a fantastic resource for all cynics of Israel's past and future role in the Middle East, employing hard core facts, quotes, and thorough analysis to make his case.
Best of all, The Case For Israel is written in 32 distinct chapters regarding Israel, each clearly identifying a question, an accusation, an accuser(s), "the reality," and the proof- and it is this format that makes Dershowitz's case most accessible to every reader. The Case For Israel has allowed me to better articulate my thoughts and feelings and my own case for Israel. Truly a must read for anyone remotely concerned with world affairs.
Book Review: Keep reading, people
Summary: 1 Stars
That is the best advice I can give you: keep reading. Read everything you can get your hands on. This debate often tends toward the bitter and inflammatory, and one of the only ways to emerge from, and re-engage with, this vitriolic-mess-of-a-debate is to constantly reposition yourself within the discourse, to try to see this thing from as many points as possible. And the only way I know to do that is to keep reading. There are several good books out there by Israeli historians (who write out of Israel's own institutions) that go a long way toward debunking The Case For Israel, From Time Immemorial, and many other uncritical assessments of the Palestine/Israel issue. Here are some authors and books besides Finkelstein (who, despite whatever personal flaws people might find in him, consistently performs meticulous and brilliant scholarship): Ilan Pappe's A History of Modern Palestine, John J. Mearsheimer's The Israel Lobby, and Benny Morris's The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949.Book Review: Key to understanding (or arguing against) the pro-Israel lobby
Summary: 4 Stars
Whether you find yourself buying an airplane ticket to participate in Sar-El or volunteering on a Turkish humanitarian vessel on its way to Gaza this book should have a place on your shelf at home. The heart of effective debate is not just understanding why you believe what you do but understanding why others believe what they do. The Case for Israel is THE book that explains position of the pro-Israel lobby around the world and particularly in the United States.
All ideological angst found in these reviews aside this book clearly lays out in plain language the Israeli state of mind, their logic and their basis for the support of the perceived legitimacy of the state of Israel. Dershowitz does the reader a favor with an immensely accessible index and footnotes which, in the end, provide the starting point for almost any person who wishes to delve into the on-going dialogue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Because of the clearly ordered manner in which Dershowitz lays out his chapters the reader will quickly be able to reference arguments from both sides of specific policy issues and soon reach their own conclusions.
There has been some considerable debate and rather inflammatory accusations thrown at and by Dershowitz involving the scholarship of this book and the legitimacy of some of his sourcing. Dershowitz has had a long standing feud with both Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein which has, at times, have slid into a personal animosity. It would behoove the reader to research this very accessible debate as it adds to a greater understanding of the material. I found (as did those academics charged with investigating) the charges of plagiarism to be largely baseless but there has been notable concerns raised about Dershowitz's use of Joan Peters book "From Time Immemorial". I found these complaints to be a bit overblown but, as always, I'd suggest the reader do their own research into the matter so as to draw their own conclusions. Don't trust me, trust yourself.
The reason that I didn't give this incredibly useful book five stars is simple. Dershowitz's passionate defense of Israel borders on bigotry. This is very clearly not a balanced book and anyone looking to understand the conflict in its entirety and from the most important perspective, the human one, will probably find Dershwitz's dry, legal positions to be dispassionate to the point of cruelty. This dispassion is informative, compelling and I believe largely correct but it does not properly frame the human cost of Israel's grip on the Palestinian wolf's ears.