No comments about Songs, merry and sad.

No comments about Studies in the book of Genesis: in the context of ancient and modern Jewish Bible commentary.

5 comments about They Must Go.

1. Rabbi Kahane shows the greatest and most realistic understand of the question about the arabs who live in Israel, as citizens.He explanates the impossibility of jewish-arab togetherness in Israel and the threat which is Arabs living in Israel.Quoting several researches, journal articles, Torah(bible)passages and historical facts, Rabbi Kahane clearly reveals the blindness and fear of Israel's government about the question, making critics on both left and right wing parties.But he doesn't stop on the critics; he goes further and proposes a solution which, in my point of view, is very reasonable and logic. Anyone looking for an unbiased and realistic thought over the Israeli arab question must read this awesome book.



2. Kahane's politics, while controversial and highly criticized, are made clear and concise in this work. Once having read this book, the reader has no doubt as to Kahane's philosophy and ideology on the matter of the Arabs in Israel. He uses logic and clarity in the presentation of his politics and does an incredible service to his readers with the use of historical precedent.



3. I must admit I was a little bit skeptical opening this book, due to its reputation for intolerance. But the very first page will make you realize just how important it is. This is a plea, a loud call to save Israel before it is to late. It is not the much maligned ignorant intolerant ranting that it is accused of. Rather this enlightening work, written by hand and smuggled out of a Ramle prison, calls for the separation of the Arabs and Israelis as the only hope to a true and lasting peace. Anyone who has been to Israel will understand that this is necessary. But for those still taken in by what Kahane called the `myth' of coexistence this book will explain in excruciating, terrifying detail the truth behind the coexistence of the 1920s and 30s, the endless riots and assaults on Jewish refugees and Jewish villages. Separate chapters detail the transfer of Germans from Poland and Czechslovakia after World War Two, as well as enlightening paragraphs on the India-Pakistan transfers of 1948 and the transfer in Cyprus in 1974 and even among the Turks and Greeks in 1921. But this book also tells the dismal stories of places where transfer did not take place such as Sri Lanka or Burma, where strife, hatred, intolerance and racism have resulted.
   
   Of course it is easy to label this book hateful, for most of us raised in the West it will seem incredibly intolerant and primitive, but this book understands the truth about how things really are in 90% of the world. For anyone interested in the survival of Israel, for anyone wanting to understand the modern day Israeli right, and for anyone wanting a totally new view of the conflict this is a must buy.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman



4. What is the difference between the filth, bigotry and racism espoused by Meir Kahane in the 1980's, and the xenophobic, black-propaganda vaunted by Adolf Hitler himself in the 1930's?
   
   Apparently, not much...
   
   * Both sought to maintain the "sanctity" of their homeland, as well as the purity of their cultural/ethnic background.
   
   * Both sought the persecution and containment of legal citizens simply because they were NOT of the "right" ethnicity.
   
   * Both seem to have offered a "final solution" to their respective "dilemmas" (However, Kahane's version is a much more 'politically-correct' genocide, wherein the euphemism "transfer" is utilized [Thank you, to the Propaganda Department]...)
   
   * And last, but certainly not least, both - tragically - had enough seemingly joyous and supportive fellow citizens (of their own ethnicity of course) to have them elected to the parliament of their respective countries.
   
   In fact I can sum this book up in two words (of which, many others will agree, I'm sure):
   
   Heil Kahane!
   
   Oh wait, in fact, that's what they called his biography, isn't it...
   
   The co-incidences and similarities between Kahanes ideology, and that of Hitler's is a tragic, and absurd irony (especially in light of the recent 60th anniversary of the holocaust.)
   
   After reading this Jewish Supremacist diatribe, the reader will quickly realise that the famous term, "Never Again!" - at least in Rabbi Meir Kahane's mind - actually means, "Never again [to the Jews]"...
   
   Exclusivity is from the realm of tyrants & dictators; when will we learn?
   ___________
   [...]



5. I wanted to read what this Rabbi Kahane fellow written on this subject after hearing his very articulate, informative and detailed debates with such individuals as Alan Dershowitz, Dennis Prager and many others. I was amazed at this inspiring and courageous man's perceptions and solutions for the problems that contaminate Israel and subsequently every other Liberal/Socialist democracy in their continual drift into immorality. Twenty years later, with the immense political scandals, corruption and the realities of Islamic/Communist terrorism, Kahane was right. This work was written when Rabbi Kahane had been imprisoned without legal reason nor trial. He was the only Israeli leader to attack their major problem head on: The Arabs. Islam, if one takes the time to read the Islamic holy books, is against anything non-Islam. Islamic Law is directly against the Jewish State, the rise in Islamic terrorism and rise of a terrorist organization to bring about a solely Arab/Islamic "State of Palestine" speak truth for Rabbi Kahane's views, even 20 years after his murder. The fact of the matter is that the Quraan as well the Communist Manifesto legitimate and advocate terrorism weather it be religious terrorism or political terrorism the result is the rule by one imperialist genocidal religion or one expansionist yet murderous ideology. "From Time Immemorial" - J.Peters, "The High Cost of Peace" - Y. Bodansky and "To Eliminate The Opiate" - Rabbi M. S. Antelman and lastly Www.JTF.Org for reality based information on Israel and America. Great read highly recommended.

No comments about Zionist Idea, The: A Historical Analysis and Reader.

No comments about David Ben-Gurion: Politics and Leadership in Israel.

1 comments about Roots of the Future.

1. Not only a fascinating read, but a real page turner. Rabbi Friedman was at the center of every major historic jewish event since WWII. An amazing story about an amazing man. Very well written.

No comments about The Vatican and Zionism: Conflict in the Holy Land, 1895-1925 (Studies in Jewish History).

5 comments about The Zionist Connection: What Price Peace?.

1. Alfred Lilienthal, a prominent Jewish critic of Zionism, has remarkably presented a candid picture of the dangers of equating Judaism, the world's oldest monotheistic faith, with Zionism, an essentially political movement emanating from largely socialist, secular European Jews in the nineteenth century. This work is well researched and documented to prevent any misunderstanding or misinterpretation of his thesis that the obstacles to a just solution to the Middle East conflict between Israelis and Palestinians arise from what he feels are the "racist" origins of Zionism and a consistent misuse of the word "anti'-Semitism " to stifle legitimate criticism of Israeli miltary actions against Palestinian civilians.

   The text is not inflammatory or denunciatory towards any ethnic community, contrary to what the title may imply. Lilienthal reiterates throughout the text that his sole purpose is to make an attempt for Westerners to understand, so that current and future generations may contribute positively towards a just settlement of the Middle East conflict, a conflict that has shed the blood of thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives over the past fifty years. I highly recommend this scholarly work to anyone interested in understanding the nature of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict and the obstacles that are preventing a peaceful settlement.




2. This book, out of all books on the Middle-East conflict goes beyond the Orient and examines the Zionist Web that has Entangled the American beauracracy, Media, etc.. Lilienthal proves a very significant fact, and that is the Holocaust is being exploited for political purposes, being used as a justification for the existence of Israel. when its clear, as he points out, that Zionists did nothing to help their fellow Jews in the genocide. This and other significant issues are discussed in detail in this most comprehensive book. It is strongly recommended for evereyone with a keen interest in the Mid-East conflict and even in U.S. politics and the Israeli lobby group. I'am grateful for Mr Alfred Lilienthal, that as a Jew, he had the courage to expose the reality that has been hidden to Westerners away from them. Blinded by the Holocaust from seeing that a traditionaly persecuted people (ie the Jews) are capable of becoming the chief persecutors...



3. This book is of immense importance. Only a Jewish critic of Zionism could tell the terrible truth about America's blind support for Israel. It is astonishing, especially in the wake of the atrocity of September 11th, to find this book so hard to get hold of. The University of Oxford, with its great libraries, does not have a copy, so I was grateful to Amazon for enabling me to buy one for myself. A look at the copyright page suggests the explanation. Four editions were published by a small U.S. publisher, which went under in 1989. To produce an international paperback edition, Lilienthal had to go to publishers and printers based in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Even that failed to achieve a wide readership and, given the Zionists' capacity for suppressing the truth, as revealed by Lilienthal, I suspect that many copies were bought by them to be destroyed.
   The fear of being labelled 'anti-Semite' is the main weapon used by Zionists to silence their critics, and many of the non-Jewish supporters of Israel are racists who want 'to send the Jews back where they belong'. I should therefore make it plain that, although not Jewish, I consider Judaism in many respects superior to Christianity. The greatest danger to the future of this venerable religion comes from Zionism, whose aim is the purely secular one of 'ingathering' a supposed 'homeless nation' on land seized from a defenceless people, who had always lived at peace with their Jewish neighbours. Everyone should learn to distinguish, with Lilienthal, between practising Jews, people with some Jewish ancestry (which probably includes most Palestinians), Israeli citizens (three million of whom are Arabic-speaking, and one million of them Muslims and Christians), Israeli governments and Zionists.



4. _The Zionist Connection_ is written from the perspective of an antiZionist Jew. The author takes a look at the situation in the Middle East, the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli Jews, and places the blame on the state of Israel. The book basically tries to show that support for Israel is contrary to America's best interest (as they were defined in 1978 when the book was written) and is also morally suspect. The author contends that a single special interest group, the Zionists, have wrapped America and its leaders in a stranglehold in their attempt to maintain an "Israel First" foreign policy. The author distinguishes Zionism from Judaism, and he views Zionism as an idolatrous usurper. By appealing to emotion and memories of the Holocaust and cries of "antiSemitism" this single group of Jews has basically forced the United States into this position. The author contends that much of the press is Zionist controlled and that it is by appealing to "Christian guilt" that these Jews have gained their position of prominence. The book concludes with a section on the wars between Israel and the Arabs, as well as a discussion of such events as the U.S.S. Liberty attack.

   ... The gory details of the brutal killing of a Palestinian child are spelled out in the chapter "Terror: The Double Standard", but the details of Palestinian terrorism are totally suppressed by the author. Nevertheless, the book is highly interesting and worth reading for the author's perspective on the Middle East, even if it is far too idealistic.




5. One of the prize possessions of this reviewer is an autographaed copy of Alfred M. Lilienthal's THE ZIONIST CONNECTION. Alfred M. Lilienthal has shown courage and toughness in refuting myths regarding the creation of the State of Israel and status of U.S.-Israeli relations beginning in 1948.
   
   THE ZIONIST CONNECTION can be considered the final book of a trilogy that Lilienthal wrote. The other two books are titled THERE GOES THE MIDDLE EAST and ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN which are also instructive of events in Israel and Palestine.
   
   Lilienthal begins THE ZIONIST CONNECTION by reciting some forgotten problems and history of zionism. He details the planned atrocities of some of the zionist units especially those of the Irgun and the Stern Gang. For example, Lilienthal cites the Deir Yessin Massacre in April in which old men, women, and children were massacred by Begin's "soliders" who wiped out the inhabitents. Lilienthal cites sources that the people of this village had just repulsed a Palestinian attempt to enlist their support against the zionist forces, and these people just wanted to be left alone in the midst of the war taking place. Readers may be surprised at other zionist outrages which occured.
   
   Lilienthal also makes some procative remarks that some of the zionist leaders collaberated with some of the German authorities during World War. Lilienthal details the Kastner Affair whereby Kastner made deals with Adolf Eichmann in 1944 to leave poor Hungarian Jews their fate when they only had to walk three miles from Hungary to Soviet occupied Romania to avoid concentration camps. Kaster refused to alert these poor souls and left them to their fate by prior arrangement with Eichmann. When Kastner tried to file criminal charges against an Israeli journalist for making these allegations against Kastner, an Israeli exonerated the journalist, and Kastner was assassinate because of the political embarrassment this could cause. As an aside, Hannah Arendt has a good section of this event in her book titled EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM.
   
   Lilienthal also refutes the nonsense that the "wicked Arabs" started the Six Day War in 1967. Lilienthal cites public sources such as journals and newpaper articles whereby Israeli generals and military advisors bluntly admitted that the Israelis started the Six Day and provoked the hostilities. There is nothing arcane in Lilienthal's report of this war.
   
   Lilienthal indicates why many Americans are kept ignorant of events in the Middle East. Lilienthal cites the cowardly media types who are too timid or two biased to give an accurate assessement of events in Israel and Palestine. Yet, what disturbs these media cowards is the fact that some folks are not easily impressed with lying media accounts and have made significant contributions which have been embarrassing to political "experts" and media gurus who are easily refuted by honest research and writing.
   
   Lilienthal does not have any political partisan ax to grind. He faults both Democrats and Republicans for their bad policies and timid responses to events involving Israel and Palestine. Lilienthal also offers scathing denounciations of the entertainment business for thier false protrayal of these tragic events.
   
   Lilienthal's book may appear dated, but the book is still important. Lilienthal's THE ZIONIST CONNECTION lets the readers know how severely flawed American foreign policy has added to exponentially to the tragedies in the Middle East. Lilienthal writes well, and his research is solid. Readers should read THE ZIONIST CONNECTION and add Rabbi Elmer Berger's MEMOIRS OF AN ANTI-ZIONIST JEW to have a comprehensive view of events in the Middle East.

3 comments about A Dream of Zion: American Jews Reflect on Why Israel Matters to Them.

1. I had the great pleasure of reading Rabbi Salkin's newest book. He is one of the most thoughtful and creative rabbinic voices in America today. He has done the American Jewish community an invaluable service by collecting and editing this marvelous collection of articles--both old and new and previously unpublished--on why Israel matters to American Jews. Hopefully this invaluable book will stimulate conversation and will move a younger, often disconnected generation, closer to Israel. Thanks to Rabbi Salkin for beginning the conversation.



2. Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, one of the leading authors, thinkers and teachers on the scene of American Jewry today has captured, in his latest book "A Dream of Zion", a myriad of feeling about what Israel means to many Americans. He has approached the impossible goal of portraying the range of reasons about why Israel is important in the emotions and even the lives of so many Americans. Complete understanding of these reasons is impossible because he is asking a question," Why Israel matters to them", to which the answer is unknown to many of the respondents. And yet, it is obvious that it does. When one reads the range of responses that this small new country has been able to engender in American Jews, one can't escape asking why and how. While being able to cite their personal history and experiences, in some cases going back to before Israel existed, many respondents admit their inability to rationally present answers to Rabbi Salkin's question. The range of individuals, young and old, living and dead, teachers and students, professionals and lay people, business people involved in Israel, and tourists serve as a tribute to both Rabbi Salkin and the importance of the question. Even though most of the writers admit their inability to verbalize their feelings, there is no question about the value that is placed upon Israel and its continued existence. Even so, there is no one author who has been able to present an adequate amalgamation that might be seen as representative of the range of responses. Perhaps they can best be represented by someone who did not appear in the book, my wife Sandi. She says that her feet feel completely at home walking the streets of Jerusalem. Julius J. Nessel.



3. In this book, more than one hundred American Jews reflect on what Israel means to them. It's fascinating.
   
   I'll mention a very few of the points made by some of the contributors. Alvin Rosenfeld says that "six decades after the founding of their state, the Jews of Israel should not have to argue for their national existence. They are at home in their land by a long-established right, and they can take justifiable pride in their country's history and achievements." And he says that the least any decent person can do is join them in affirming this.
   
   Thane Rosenbaum mentions the fact that many people who have never been to Israel derive great pleasure from knowing that it exists. But, on the other hand, many people who have no intention of ever visiting Israel are extremely animated by "intense animus over its very existence," as if Israel were a nation on some sort of probation "awaiting final global approval that will never come."
   
   Danny Siegel writes poetically that he'd "rather drive a taxi in Jerusalem than be the King of all of South Dakota." Ariel Beery says that "we Jews are not just a spiritual community - we are a people, one that will only fulfill its collective potential with a state in which we can hammer out the details." Richard Friedman says that "Israel must be now what it has stood for from the very beginning: a people seeking to bring blessing to every family on earth."
   
   There are some historical perspectives as well. We see Stephen Wise, in 1948, say that "organized gifts to the Arabs" (meaning to those who fled their homes in 1947 and 1948) would seem to him to be "acknowledgement of wrong" when in fact it is the Jews who have been wronged. As he explains, "the Arab states took part in the Partition discussion for weeks and weeks preceding the Partition decision of November 29. Immediately thereafter, they began to war upon Israel." Albert Einstein wrote in 1919 that "one can be an internationalist without being indifferent to the members of one's tribe. The Zionist cause is very close to my heart.... I am glad that there should be a little patch of earth on which our kindred brethren are not considered aliens."
   
   Lillian Hellman is quoted as saying "historically, the Zionists turned out to be right. What are they saying? That Europe is doomed for the Jews. Liberal democracy won't save us. The Socialists won't save us. The Communists won't save us. Whatever else may be wrong with the Zionists, on that fundamental insight, they were absolutely right." And Marie Syrkin, in a 1983 interview said that "Jewish self-haters, without taking the trouble to look into Zionist history, subscribe to the most outrageous statements. I think this willful ignorance and the readiness to accept the worst interpretation - that Jews were the aggressors from the first moment, they kicked out all the Arabs, etc, etc. - the acceptance of the libels, the readiness to perceive the rights of every group except one's own, which is characteristic of a great many Jews, is a form of Jewish self-hatred."
   
   At the end of the book, we see a few pages constituting "Zionism, a Centenary Platform," which was adopted by the Central Conference of American Rabbis at its annual convention in 1997. It shows the Reform movement's "unquestioning and unfading commitment to Israel."
   
   I recommend this book.

1 comments about Parallels Meet: Religion and Nationalism in the Early Zionist Movement (1882-1904).

1. Luz' work is the best title available in English concerning the usually-neglected positions of Central- and Western-European RELIGIOUS Jews toward nascent Zionist thought. The writing is excellent, the documentation, taken from numerous languages, is extensive, the analysis sound and readily followed.