Knowing Too Much
by Norman G Finkelstein /
2012 / English / EPUB
681.3 KB Download
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.
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.