[PDF] The Founding Myths Of Israel eBook

Author : Zeev Sternhell
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 24,34 MB
Release : 2009-10-07
Category : History
ISBN : 140082236X

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The well-known historian and political scientist Zeev Sternhell here advances a radically new interpretation of the founding of modern Israel. The founders claimed that they intended to create both a landed state for the Jewish people and a socialist society. However, according to Sternhell, socialism served the leaders of the influential labor movement more as a rhetorical resource for the legitimation of the national project of establishing a Jewish state than as a blueprint for a just society. In this thought-provoking book, Sternhell demonstrates how socialist principles were consistently subverted in practice by the nationalist goals to which socialist Zionism was committed. Sternhell explains how the avowedly socialist leaders of the dominant labor party, Mapai, especially David Ben Gurion and Berl Katznelson, never really believed in the prospects of realizing the "dream" of a new society, even though many of their working-class supporters were self-identified socialists. The founders of the state understood, from the very beginning, that not only socialism but also other universalistic ideologies like liberalism, were incompatible with cultural, historical, and territorial nationalism. Because nationalism took precedence over universal values, argues Sternhell, Israel has not evolved a constitution or a Bill of Rights, has not moved to separate state and religion, has failed to develop a liberal concept of citizenship, and, until the Oslo accords of 1993, did not recognize the rights of the Palestinians to independence. This is a controversial and timely book, which not only provides useful historical background to Israel's ongoing struggle to mobilize its citizenry to support a shared vision of nationhood, but also raises a question of general significance: is a national movement whose aim is a political and cultural revolution capable of coexisting with the universal values of secularism, individualism, and social justice? This bold critical reevaluation will unsettle long-standing myths as it contributes to a fresh new historiography of Zionism and Israel. At the same time, while it examines the past, The Founding Myths of Israel reflects profoundly on the future of the Jewish State.

Author : Zeev Sternhell
Publisher :
Page : 419 pages
File Size : 31,53 MB
Release : 1998-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780691016948

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Renowned historian and political scientist Zeev Sternhell advances a radically new interpretation of the founding of modern Israel. Sternhell suggests that obsessive focus on nationalism has taken precedence over universal values, resulting in failure to evolve a governmental system appropriate for today's world. This controversial and timely study reflects profoundly on the future of the Jewish state.

Author : Roger Garaudy
Publisher :
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 38,49 MB
Release : 2019-03-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9781913057138

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A reading of this work on "The founding myths of the policy of Israel" must not engender any religious or political confusion. Criticism of the Zionist interpretation of the Torah and of the "historical books" (especially those of Joshua, Samuel and Kings) in no way implies an underestimation of the Bible or what it too has revealed of man's human and divine epic. Abraham's sacrifice is the eternal model of how a man can go beyond temporary morality and the fragile logic on which it is based, in the name of unconditional values that make morality a relative value. In the same way, the Exodus remains a symbol of a people's quest for freedom, wresting itself from bondage in its quest for God and the Spirit. What we reject is Zionism's tribalistic and nationalistic interpretation of those texts, the reduction of a great idea - an Alliance between God and all of mankind, His presence within each human being - to the most nefarious concept of all: that of a "chosen" people, elected by a partial god, a notion which justifies in advance every kind of domination, colonization and massacre. This work is based entirely on factual sources; its aim is not to preach the destruction of the State of Israel, but simply to desacralize the underlying concept: the land in question was never promised but conquered, just like that of France, Germany or the United States, according to the prevailing balance of power at the time. So I ask you: who is guilty? Who commits the crime or who denounces it? The one who seeks the truth or the one who seeks to silence it?

Author : Ilan Pappe
Publisher : Verso Books
Page : 215 pages
File Size : 29,39 MB
Release : 2017-04-04
Category : History
ISBN : 1786630206

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In this groundbreaking book, the outspoken and radical Israeli historian Ilan Pappe examines the most contested ideas concerning the origins and identity of the contemporary state of Israel. This has been updated with a new afterword on the 2023 invasion of Gaza. 1. Palestine was an Empty Land 2. The Jews were a people with out a land 3. Zionism is Judaism 4. Zionism is not Colonialism 5. The Palestinians Voluntarily Left their Homelands in 1948 6. The June 1967 War was a war of 'No Choice' 7. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East 8. The Myths about the Oslo Agreement 9. The Lies we tell about Gaza 10. The two state solution is the only way forward

Author : Mitchell Geoffrey Bard
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 21,75 MB
Release : 2016-12-12
Category : Arab-Israeli conflict
ISBN : 9781537152721

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In the last sixty years, Israel has faced seven different wars. During that time, the country has been under immense scrutiny and been the recipient of false accusations. This leaves the public with many questions: Does Israel want peace with the Arab nations? How do Islamic views affect Israel? Using a number of sources, Mitchell G. Bard uncovers Israel's true history. His book includes the following: � A discussion of various wars involving Israel (including the war of 1948) � Multiple maps that help the reader visualize the wars � An analysis of terrorism directed at Israel � An alphabetical index � A discussion of the media's role in how it portrays Israel � A review of successful and unsuccessful peace efforts � An overview of US-Israel relations Bard also offers a synopsis of Israel's roots, beginning with the great myth: that the Jews have no claim to their own land. Bard focuses on Israel's relationships with neighboring countries, but he also includes suggested readings for those interested in further research. You'll learn about the Jewish Virtual Library, an online source that's constantly updated and offers reliable options for study. Dive into this versatile read as Bard investigates common myths about Israel and reveals the truth.

Author : Shlomo Sand
Publisher : Verso Books
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 10,6 MB
Release : 2012-11-20
Category : History
ISBN : 1844679462

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What is a homeland and when does it become a national territory? Why have so many people been willing to die for such places throughout the twentieth century? What is the essence of the Promised Land? Following the acclaimed and controversial The Invention of the Jewish People, Shlomo Sand examines the mysterious sacred land that has become the site of the longest-running national struggle of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Invention of the Land of Israel deconstructs the age-old legends surrounding the Holy Land and the prejudices that continue to suffocate it. Sand’s account dissects the concept of “historical right” and tracks the creation of the modern concept of the “Land of Israel” by nineteenth-century Evangelical Protestants and Jewish Zionists. This invention, he argues, not only facilitated the colonization of the Middle East and the establishment of the State of Israel; it is also threatening the existence of the Jewish state today.

Author : Andrew Tobolowsky
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 29,69 MB
Release : 2022-03-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1009089137

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The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel is the first study to treat the history of claims to an Israelite identity as an ongoing historical phenomenon from biblical times to the present. By treating the Hebrew Bible's accounts of Israel as one of many efforts to construct an Israelite history, rather than source material for later legends, Andrew Tobolowsky brings a long-term comparative approach to biblical and nonbiblical “Israelite” histories. In the process, he sheds new light on how the structure of the twelve tribes tradition enables the creation of so many different visions of Israel, and generates new questions: How can we explain the enduring power of the myth of the twelve tribes of Israel? How does “becoming Israel” work, why has it proven so popular, and how did it change over time? Finally, what can the changing shape of Israel itself reveal about those who claimed it?

Author : Tom Segev
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 13,86 MB
Release : 2018-08-14
Category : History
ISBN : 1982102071

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Renowned historian Tom Segev strips away national myths to present a critical and clear-eyed chronicle of the year immediately following Israel’s foundation. “Required reading for all who want to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict…the best analysis…of the problems of trying to integrate so many people from such diverse cultures into one political body” (The New York Times Book Review). Historian and journalist Tom Segev stirred up controversy in Israel upon the first publication of 1949. It was a landmark book that told a different story of the country’s early years, one that wasn’t taught in schools or shown in popular culture. Rather than painting the idealized picture of the Israel’s founding in 1948, after the wreckage of the Holocaust, Segev reveals gritty underside behind the early years. The new country of Israel faced challenges on all sides. Day-to-day life was severe, marked by austerity and food shortages; Israeli society was fractured between traditional and secular camps; Jewish immigrants from Middle-Eastern countries faced discrimination and second-class treatment; and clashes between settlers and the Arabs would set the tone for relations for the following decades, hardening attitudes and creating a violent cycle of retaliation. Drawing on journal entries, letters, declassified government documents, and more, 1949 is a richly detailed look at the friction between the idealism of the Zionist movement and the cold realities of history. Decades after its publication in the United States, Segev’s groundbreaking book is still required reading for anyone who wants to understand Israel’s past and future.