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My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel Hardcover – November 19, 2013
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Winner of the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
An authoritative and deeply personal narrative history of the State of Israel, by one of the most influential journalists writing about the Middle East today
Not since Thomas L. Friedman’s groundbreaking From Beirut to Jerusalem has a book captured the essence and the beating heart of the Middle East as keenly and dynamically as My Promised Land. Facing unprecedented internal and external pressures, Israel today is at a moment of existential crisis. Ari Shavit draws on interviews, historical documents, private diaries, and letters, as well as his own family’s story, illuminating the pivotal moments of the Zionist century to tell a riveting narrative that is larger than the sum of its parts: both personal and national, both deeply human and of profound historical dimension.
We meet Shavit’s great-grandfather, a British Zionist who in 1897 visited the Holy Land on a Thomas Cook tour and understood that it was the way of the future for his people; the idealist young farmer who bought land from his Arab neighbor in the 1920s to grow the Jaffa oranges that would create Palestine’s booming economy; the visionary youth group leader who, in the 1940s, transformed Masada from the neglected ruins of an extremist sect into a powerful symbol for Zionism; the Palestinian who as a young man in 1948 was driven with his family from his home during the expulsion from Lydda; the immigrant orphans of Europe’s Holocaust, who took on menial work and focused on raising their children to become the leaders of the new state; the pragmatic engineer who was instrumental in developing Israel’s nuclear program in the 1960s, in the only interview he ever gave; the zealous religious Zionists who started the settler movement in the 1970s; the dot-com entrepreneurs and young men and women behind Tel-Aviv’s booming club scene; and today’s architects of Israel’s foreign policy with Iran, whose nuclear threat looms ominously over the tiny country.
As it examines the complexities and contradictions of the Israeli condition, My Promised Land asks difficult but important questions: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? Can Israel survive? Culminating with an analysis of the issues and threats that Israel is currently facing, My Promised Land uses the defining events of the past to shed new light on the present. The result is a landmark portrait of a small, vibrant country living on the edge, whose identity and presence play a crucial role in today’s global political landscape.
Praise for My Promised Land
“This book will sweep you up in its narrative force and not let go of you until it is done. [Shavit’s] accomplishment is so unlikely, so total . . . that it makes you believe anything is possible, even, God help us, peace in the Middle East.”—Simon Schama, Financial Times
“[A] must-read book.”—Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times
“Important and powerful . . . the least tendentious book about Israel I have ever read.”—Leon Wieseltier, The New York Times Book Review
“Spellbinding . . . Shavit’s prophetic voice carries lessons that all sides need to hear.”—The Economist
“One of the most nuanced and challenging books written on Israel in years.”—The Wall Street Journal
- Print length464 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRandom House
- Publication dateNovember 19, 2013
- Dimensions6.34 x 1.29 x 9.55 inches
- ISBN-100385521707
- ISBN-13978-0385521703
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Review
“[A] must-read book . . . Shavit celebrates the Zionist man-made miracle—from its start-ups to its gay bars—while remaining affectionate, critical, realistic and morally anchored. . . . His book is a real contribution to changing the conversation about Israel and building a healthier relationship with it. Before their next ninety-minute phone call, both Barack and Bibi should read it.”—Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times
“[An] important and powerful book . . . [Shavit] has an undoctrinaire mind. He comes not to praise or to blame, though along the way he does both, with erudition and with eloquence; he comes instead to observe and to reflect. This is the least tendentious book about Israel I have ever read. It is a Zionist book unblinkered by Zionism. It is about the entirety of the Israeli experience. Shavit is immersed in all of the history of his country. While some of it offends him, none of it is alien to him. . . . The author of My Promised Land is a dreamer with an addiction to reality. He holds out for affirmation without illusion. Shavit’s book is an extended test of his own capacity to maintain his principles in full view of the brutality that surrounds them.”—Leon Wieseltier, The New York Times Book Review
“Spellbinding . . . In this divided, fought-over shard of land splintered from the Middle East barely seventy years ago, Mr. Shavit’s prophetic voice carries lessons that all sides need to hear.”—The Economist
“One of the most nuanced and challenging books written on Israel in years . . . [The] book’s real power: On an issue so prone to polemic, Mr. Shavit offers candor.”—The Wall Street Journal
“A tour de force.”—Jewish Journal
“Reads like a love story and a thriller at once.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
“[A] searingly honest, descriptively lush, painful and riveting story of the creation of Zionism in Israel and [Shavit’s] own personal voyage.”—The Washington Post
“Shavit is a master storyteller. [His] retelling of history jars us out of our familiar retrospections, reminds us (and we do need reminders) that there are historical reasons why Israel is a country on the edge. . . . Required reading for both the left and the right.”—The Jewish Week
“The most extraordinary book that I’ve read on [Israel] since Amos Elon’s book called The Israelis, and that was published in the late sixties.”—David Remnick, on Charlie Rose
“My Promised Land is an Israeli book like no other. Not since Amos Elon’s The Israelis, Amos Oz’s In the Land of Israel, and Thomas Friedman’s From Beirut to Jerusalem has there been such a powerful and comprehensive book written about the Jewish State and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ari Shavit is one of Israel’s leading columnists and writers, and the story he tells describes with great empathy the Palestinian tragedy and the century-long struggle between Jews and Arabs over the Holy Land. While Shavit is being brutally honest regarding the Zionist enterprise, he is also insightful, sensitive, and attentive to the dramatic life-stories of his fascinating heroes and heroines. The result is a unique nonfiction book that has the qualities of fine literature. It brings to life epic history without being a conventional history book. It deepens contemporary political understanding without being a one-sided political polemic. It is painful and provocative, yet colorful, emotional, life-loving, and inspiring. My Promised Land is the ultimate personal odyssey of a humanist exploring the startling biography of his tormented homeland, which is at the very center of global interest.”—Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister and Defense Minister of Israel
“With deeply engaging personal narratives and morally nuanced portraits, Ari Shavit takes us way beneath the headlines to the very heart of Israel’s dilemmas in his brilliant new work. His expertise as a reporter comes through in the interviews, while his lyricism brings the writing—and the people—to life. Shavit also challenges Israelis and Diaspora Jewry to be bold in imagining the next chapter for Israel, a challenge that will no doubt be informed by this important book.”—Rick Jacobs, president, Union for Reform Judaism
“This is the epic history that Israel deserves—beautifully written, dramatically rendered, full of moral complexity. Ari Shavit has made a storied career of explaining Israel to Israelis; now he shares his mind-blowing, trustworthy insights with the rest of us. It is the best book on the subject to arrive in many years.”—Franklin Foer, editor, The New Republic
“A beautiful, mesmerizing, morally serious, and vexing book. I’ve been waiting most of my adult life for an Israeli to plumb the deepest mysteries of his country’s existence and share his discoveries, and Ari Shavit does so brilliantly, writing simultaneously like a poet and a prophet. My Promised Land is a remarkable achievement.”—Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent, The Atlantic
“Ari Shavit’s My Promised Land is without question one of the most important books about Israel and Zionism that I have ever read. Both movingly inspiring and at times heartbreakingly painful, My Promised Land tells the story of the Jewish state as it has never been told before, capturing both the triumph and the torment of Israel’s experience and soul. This is the book that has the capacity to reinvent and reshape the long-overdue conversation about how Israel’s complex past ought to shape its still-uncertain future.”—Daniel Gordis, author of Saving Israel and Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College, Jerusalem
“This book is vital reading for Americans who care about the future, not only of the United States but of the world.”—Jon Meacham, author of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
At First Sight, 1897
On the night of April 15, 1897, a small, elegant steamer is en route from Egypt’s Port Said to Jaffa. Thirty passengers are on board, twenty-one of them Zionist pilgrims who have come from London via Paris, Marseille, and Alexandria. Leading the pilgrims is the Rt. Honorable Herbert Bentwich, my great-grandfather.
Bentwich is an unusual Zionist. At the end of the nineteenth century, most Zionists are Eastern European; Bentwich is a British subject. Most Zionists are poor; he is a gentleman of independent means. Most Zionists are secular, whereas he is a believer. For most Zionists of this time, Zionism is the only choice, but my great-grandfather chooses Zionism of his own free will. In the early 1890s, Herbert Bentwich makes up his mind that the Jews must settle again in their ancient homeland, Judea.
This pilgrimage is unusual, too. It is the first such journey of upper-middle-class British Jews to the Land of Israel. This is why the founder of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, attributes such importance to these twenty-one travelers. He expects Bentwich and his colleagues to write a comprehensive report about the Land. Herzl is especially interested in the inhabitants of Palestine and the prospects for colonizing it. He expects the report to be presented at the end of the summer to the first Zionist Congress that is to be held in Basel. But my great-grandfather is somewhat less ambitious. His Zionism, which preceded Herzl’s, is essentially romantic. Yet he, too, was carried away by the English translation of Herzl’s prophetic manifesto Der Judenstaat, or The State of the Jews. He personally invited Herzl to appear at his prestigious London club, and he was bowled over by the charisma of the visionary leader. Like Herzl, he believes that Jews must return to Palestine. But as the flat-bottomed steamer Oxus carves the black water of the Mediterranean, Bentwich is still an innocent. My great-grandfather does not wish to take a country and to establish a state; he wishes to face God.
I remain on deck for a moment. I want to understand why the Oxus is making its way across the sea. Who exactly is this ancestor of mine, and why has he come here?
As the twentieth century is about to begin there are more than 11 million Jews in the world, of whom nearly 7 million live in Eastern Europe, 2 million live in Central and Western Europe, and 1.5 million live in North America. Asian, North African, and Middle Eastern Jewry total less than one million.
Only in North America and Western Europe are Jews emancipated. In Russia they are persecuted. In Poland they are discriminated against. In Islamic countries they are a “protected people” living as second-class citizens. Even in the United States, France, and Britain, emancipation is merely a legality. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. In 1897, Christendom is not yet at peace with its ultimate other. Many find it difficult to address Jews as free, proud, and equal.
In the eastern parts of Europe, Jewish distress is acute. A new breed of ethnic-based anti-Semitism is superseding the old religious-based anti-Semitism. Waves of pogroms befall Jewish towns and townships in Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Romania, and Poland. Most shtetl Jews realize that there is no future for the shtetl. Hundreds of thousands sail to Ellis Island. The Jewish Diaspora experiences once again the cataclysmic phenomenon of mass migration.
Worse than the past is what the future holds. In the next half century, a third of all Jews will be murdered. Two-thirds of European Jewry will be wiped out. The worst catastrophe in the history of the Jewish people is about to occur. So as the Oxus approaches the shores of the Holy Land, the need to give Palestine to the Jews feels almost palpable. If the Jews won’t disembark here, they will have no future. This emerging coastline may be their only salvation.
There is another need. In the millennium preceding 1897, Jewish survival was guaranteed by the two great g’s: God and ghetto. What enabled Jews to maintain their identity and their civilization was their closeness to God and their detachment from the surrounding non-Jewish world. Jews had no territory and no kingdom. They had no liberty and no sovereignty. What held them together as a people were religious belief, religious practice, and a powerful religious narrative, as well as the high walls of isolation built around them by gentiles. But in the hundred years prior to 1897, God drifted away and the ghetto walls collapsed. Secularization and emancipation—limited as they were—eroded the old formula of Jewish survival. There was nothing to maintain the Jewish people as a people living among others. Even if Jews were not to be slaughtered by Russian Cossacks or to be persecuted by French anti-Semites, they were faced with collective mortal danger. Their ability to maintain a non-Orthodox Jewish civilization in the Diaspora was now in question.
There was a need for revolution. If it was to survive, the Jewish people had to be transformed from a people of the Diaspora to a people of sovereignty. In this sense the Zionism that emerges in 1897 is a stroke of genius. Its founders, led by Dr. Herzl, are both prophetic and heroic. All in all, the nineteenth century was the golden age of Western Europe’s Jewry. Yet the Herzl Zionists see what is coming. True, they do not know that the twentieth century will conjure up such places as Auschwitz and Treblinka. But in their own way they act in the 1890s in order to preempt the 1940s. They realize they are faced with a radical problem: the coming extinction of the Jews. And they realize that a radical problem calls for a radical solution: the transformation of the Jews, a transformation that can take place only in Palestine, the Jews’ ancient homeland.
Herbert Bentwich does not see things as lucidly as Theodor Herzl does. He doesn’t know that the century about to begin will be the most dramatic in Jewish history. But his intuition tells him that it’s time for radical action. He knows that the distress in Eastern Europe is intolerable and that in the West, assimilation is unavoidable; in the East, Jews are in danger, while in the West, Judaism is in trouble. My great-grandfather understands that the Jewish people desperately need a new place, a new beginning, a new mode of existence. If they are to survive, the Jewish people need the Holy Land.
Bentwich was born in 1856 in the Whitechapel district of London. His father was a Russian-Jewish immigrant who made his living as a traveling salesman, peddling jewelry in Birmingham and Cambridge. But the salesman wanted more for his beloved son. He sent Herbert to fine grammar schools where the boy did well. Knowing that all his parents’ hopes were invested in him, the disciplined youngster worked hard to prove himself. In his thirties he was already a successful solicitor living in St. John’s Wood.
Before traveling to Palestine, my great-grandfather was a leading figure in the Anglo-Jewish community. His professional expertise was copyright law. In his social life he was one of the founders of the prominent dining and debating Maccabean Club. In his private life he was married to a beautiful, artistic wife who was raising nine children in their magisterial Avenue Road home. Another two would be born in the coming years.
A self-made man, Herbert Bentwich is rigid and pedantic. His dominant traits are arrogance, determination, self-assurance, self-reliance, and nonconformity. Yet he is very much a romantic, with a soft spot for mysticism. Bentwich is a Victorian. He feels deeply indebted to the British Empire for opening its gates to the immigrant’s son he once was. When Bentwich was two years old, the first Jew was elected to British Parliament. When he was fifteen, the first Jew was admitted to Oxford. When he turned twenty-nine, the first Jew entered the House of Lords. For Bentwich these milestones are wonders. He does not look upon emancipation as a belated fulfillment of a natural right but as an act of grace carried out by Queen Victoria’s Great Britain.
In his physical appearance Bentwich resembles the Prince of Wales. He has steely blue eyes, a full, well-trimmed beard, a strong jaw. His manner is also that of a nobleman. Although poor at birth, Herbert Bentwich vigorously embraced the values and customs of the empire that ruled the seas. Like a true gentleman he loves travel, poetry, and theater. He knows his Shakespeare and he is at home in the Lake District. Yet he does not compromise his Judaism. With his wife, Susan, he nurtures a family home that is all Anglo-Jewish harmony: morning prayers and chamber music, Tennyson and Maimonides, Shabbat rituals and an Oxbridge education. Bentwich believes that just as imperial Britain has a mission in this world, so do the Jewish people. He feels it is the duty of the emancipated Jews of the West to look after the persecuted Jews of the East. My great-grandfather is absolutely certain that just as the British Empire saved him, it will save his brethren. His loyalty to the Crown and his loyalty to the Jewish vocation are intertwined. They push him toward Palestine. They lead him to head this unique Anglo-Jewish delegation traveling to the shores of the Holy Land.
Had I met Herbert Bentwich, I probably wouldn’t have liked him. If I were his son, I am sure I would have rebelled against him. His world—royalist, religious, patriarchal, and imperial—is eras away from my world. But as I study him from a distance—more than a century of distance—I cannot deny the similarities between us. I am surprised to find how much I identify with my eccentric great-grandfather.
So I ask again: Why is he here? Why does he find himself on this steamer? He is in no personal danger. His life in London is prosperous, fulfilling. Why sail all the way to Jaffa?
One answer is romanticism. In 1897, Palestine is not yet British, but it is on the British horizon. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the yearning for Zion is as English as it is Jewish. George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda has paved the way; Laurence Oliphant has taken it further. The fascination with Zion is now at the heart of the English Romanticism of the colonial era. For my great-grandfather, a romantic, a Jew, and a Victorian gentleman, the temptation is irresistible. The yearning for Zion has become an integral part of his constitution. It defines his identity.
The second answer is more important and more relevant. Herbert Bentwich is way ahead of his time. The journey he took from Whitechapel to St. John’s Wood in the late nineteenth century is analogous to the journey taken by many Jews from the Lower East Side to the Upper West Side in the twentieth century. As 1900 approaches, my great-grandfather is faced with the challenge that will face American Jewry in the twenty-first century: how to maintain a Jewish identity in an open world, how to preserve a Judaism not shielded by the walls of a ghetto, how to prevent the dispersion of the Jews into the liberty and prosperity of the modern West.
Yes, Herbert Bentwich takes the trip from Charing Cross to Jaffa because he is committed to ending Jewish misery in the East, but his main reason for taking this journey is his understanding of the futility of Jewish life in the West. Because he was blessed with a privileged life, he already sees the challenge that will follow the challenge of anti-Semitism. He sees the calamity that will follow the Holocaust. He realizes that his own world of Anglo-Jewish harmony is a world in eclipse. That’s why he crosses the Mediterranean.
He arrives on April 16 at the mouth of the ancient port of Jaffa. I watch him as he awakens at 5:00 a.m. in his first-class compartment. I watch him as he walks up the stairs to the Oxus’s wooden deck in a light suit and a cork hat. I watch him as he looks from the deck. The sun is about to rise over the archways and turrets of Jaffa. And the land my great-grandfather sees is just as he hoped it would appear: illuminated by the gentle dawn and shrouded by the frail light of promise.
Do I want him to disembark? I don’t yet know.
I have an obsession with all things British. Like Bentwich, I love Land’s End and Snowdown and the Lake District. I love the English cottage and the English pub and the English countryside. I love the breakfast ritual and the tea ritual and Devon’s clotted cream. I am mesmerized by the Hebrides and the Scottish Highlands and the soft green hills of Dorset. I admire the deep certainty of English identity. I am drawn to the quiet of an island that has not been conquered for eight hundred years, to the continuity of its way of life. To the civilized manner in which it conducts its affairs.
If Herbert Bentwich disembarks, he will bid farewell to all that. He will uproot himself and his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren from the deep English green in order to settle us all—for generations—in the wild Middle East. Isn’t it foolish to do so? Isn’t it mad?
But it’s not that simple. The British Isles are not really ours. We are only passersby, for the road we travel is much longer and far more tormented. The English green provided us with only an elegant and temporary refuge, a respite along the way. The demography tells a clear story: In the second half of the twentieth century, which Herbert Bentwich will not live to see, the Anglo-Jewish community will shrink by a third. Between 1950 and 2000 the number of Jews in the British Isles will drop from over 400,000 to less than 300,000. Jewish schools and synagogues will close. The communities of such cities as Brighton and Bournemouth will dwindle. The rate of intermarriage will increase to well over 50 percent. Young non-Orthodox Jews will wonder why they should be Jewish. What’s the point?
A similar process will take place in other Western European countries. The non-Orthodox Jewish communities of Denmark, Holland, and Belgium will almost disappear. After playing a crucial role in the shaping of modern Europe for more than two hundred years—think of Mendelssohn, Marx, Freud, Mahler, Kafka, Einstein—Jews will gradually leave center stage. The golden era of European Jewry will be over. The very existence of a viable, vital, and creative European Jewry will be questioned. What was shall not be again.
Fifty years later, this same malaise will hit even the powerful and prosperous American Jewish community. The ratio of Jews to non-Jews in American society will shrink dramatically. Intermarriage will be rampant. The old Jewish establishment will fossilize, and fewer non-Orthodox Jews will be affiliated or active in Jewish life. American Jewry will still be far more vibrant than Europe’s. But looking across the ocean at their European and British cousins, American Jews will be able to see what the twenty-first century holds, and it is not a pretty sight.
So should my great-grandfather disembark? If he doesn’t, my personal life in England will be rich and rewarding. I won’t have to do military services. I’ll face no immediate danger and no gnawing moral dilemmas. Weekends will be spent at the family’s thatched-roof cottage in Dorset, summers in the Scottish Highlands.
Yet if my great-grandfather does not disembark, chances are that my children will be only half Jewish. Perhaps they will not be Jewish at all. Britain will muffle our Jewish identity. In the green meadows of Old England, and in the thick woods of New England, secular Jewish civilization might evaporate. On both coasts of the Atlantic, the non-Orthodox Jewish people might gradually disappear.
So smooth is the Mediterranean as the Bentwich delegation disembarks that it appears to be a lake. Arab stevedores ferry the Oxus passengers ashore in rough wooden boats. The Jaffa port proves to be less traumatic than expected. But in the city of Jaffa it is market day. Some of the European travelers are shocked by the hanging animal carcasses, the smelly fish, the rotting vegetables. They notice the infected eyes of the village women, the scrawny children. And the hustling, the noise, the filth. The sixteen gentlemen, four ladies, and one maid make their way to the downtown hotel, and the elegant Thomas Cook carriages arrive promptly. As soon as they are out of the chaos of Arab Jaffa, the Europeans are in good spirits once again. They smell the sweet scent of the April orange groves and are uplifted by the sight of the blazing red and timid purple fields of wildflowers.
The twenty-one travelers are greeted by my other great-grandfather, Dr. Hillel Yoffe, who makes a positive impression on them. In the six years since he, too, disembarked at the Jaffa port, carried ashore by the very same Arab stevedores, he has accomplished a great deal. His medical work—trying to eradicate malaria—is now well known. His public work—as chairman of the Zionist Committee in Palestine—is outstanding. Like the British pilgrims, he is committed to the idea that the privileged Jews of the West must assist the impoverished Jews of the East. It’s not only a matter of saving them from benighted Cossacks but a moral duty to introduce them to science and the Enlightenment. In the harsh conditions of this remote Ottoman province, Dr. Yoffe is the champion of progress. His mission is to heal both his patients and his people.
Led by Dr. Yoffe, the Bentwich convoy reaches the French agricultural school of Mikveh Yisrael. The students are away for the Passover holiday, but the teachers and staff are impressive. Mikveh Yisrael is an oasis of progress. Its fine staff trains the young Jews of Palestine to toil the land in modern ways; its mission is to produce the agronomists and vine growers of the next century. The French-style agriculture it teaches will eventually spread throughout Palestine and make its deserts bloom. The visitors are ecstatic. They feel they are watching the seeds of the future sprouting. And it is indeed the very future they want to see.
From the Mikveh Yisrael school they travel to the colony of Rishon LeZion. Baron Edmond de Rothschild is the colony’s sponsor and benefactor. The local governor, representing the baron, hosts the esteemed pilgrims in his colonial home. The Brits take to the Frenchman. They are relieved to find such architecture and such a household and such fine food in this backwater. Yet what delights the European travelers most is the formidable, advanced winery established by the baron at the center of the fifteen-year-old colony. They are amazed at the notion of turning Palestine into the Provence of the Orient. They can hardly believe the sight of the red-roofed colonial houses, the deep-green vineyards, or the heady smell of the first Hebrew wine in the Jewish homeland after eighteen hundred years.
Product details
- Publisher : Random House; First Edition (November 19, 2013)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 464 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0385521707
- ISBN-13 : 978-0385521703
- Item Weight : 1.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.34 x 1.29 x 9.55 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #653,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #894 in Israel & Palestine History (Books)
- #14,782 in Military History (Books)
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About the author
Ari Shavit is a leading Israeli columnist and writer. Born in Rehovot, Israel, Shavit served as a paratrooper in the IDF and studied philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jersualem. In the 1980s he wrote for the progressive weekly Koteret Rashit, in the early 1990s he was chairperson of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and in 1995 he joined Haaretz, where he serves on the editorial board. Shavit is also a leading commentator on Israeli public television. He is married, has a daughter and two sons, and lives in Kfar Shmariahu.
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Customers find this book informative and well-researched, exploring the history of Israel in detail. They praise the writing quality as absorbing and literary, bringing to life the people who played roles. Many readers describe it as an engaging read that covers a wide range of Israeli history. The author is described as honest and sincere, addressing undeniable truths.
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Customers find the book informative and well-researched. They appreciate the author's deep insights and novel approach to describing Israel. The book provides powerful images and food for thought, broaching significant issues readers had no idea about. It also lays out challenges ahead and gives readers a better appreciation for why so many pogroms occurred.
"...must-read book, which I hope will provide me with insights and better appreciation for why so many pogroms befell upon Jewish towns, neighborhoods,..." Read more
"Shavit is a great writer with deep insight. Most of this book is informative and seems non-biased...." Read more
"...since anything you might say about the book – sensitive or callous, insightful or obtuse, humane or brutal – you can find support or refutation for..." Read more
"...different countries. This is certainly the most instructive and provocative book I have read this year." Read more
Customers find the book's history of Israel interesting and informative. They appreciate the author's ability to find human interest stories that underlie the broader narrative. The book provides multiple perspectives on Israel and its problems, making it thought-provoking and a quality piece of work.
"...I now better appreciate and understand the State of Israel and its people, including religious and secular Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardic Jews, Oriental..." Read more
"...Mr. Shavit explores the history of Israel in detail and offers his interpretations on a variety of subjects...." Read more
"...The one constant is the author’s commitment to tribal identity, what Martin Buber called “blood” (“the deepest, most potent stratum of our being”)..." Read more
"My Promised Land is an excellent history of the modern state of Israel...." Read more
Customers find the writing style engaging and well-crafted. They appreciate the author's skill in bringing people to life through vivid reporting. The book is easy to understand and provides multiple perspectives. Readers also mention that each chapter is written in the present tense, which enhances the reader's experience. Overall, customers describe the book as an excellent modern national epic.
"With his fantastic, balanced and absorbing writing, Mr. Ari Shavit places me in every historically significant event that has created and shaped the..." Read more
"Shavit is a great writer with deep insight. Most of this book is informative and seems non-biased...." Read more
"...But in another way, it is a wonderful book, giving us a vivid look into the morally and intellectually tortured world of liberal, secular Zionism,..." Read more
"...What makes My Promised Land come to life is the personal manner in which the history is told...." Read more
Customers find the book an engaging and valuable read about Israel's history. They praise the writing as fantastic, balanced, and absorbing. Readers describe it as the best single book ever written about the country.
"With his fantastic, balanced and absorbing writing, Mr. Ari Shavit places me in every historically significant event that has created and shaped the..." Read more
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Customers find the book informative and engaging. They say it provides a realistic education on Palestine. The author, an accomplished journalist from the Israeli New York Times and Ha'aretz daily newspapers, covers a wide range of Israeli history, including the Zionist project and building the state of Israel. Readers appreciate the interviews with prominent Arabs and Palestinians. Overall, they describe the book as a well-written and thought-provoking account of Israel's history.
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Customers appreciate the author's honesty and candid reporting on the rebirth of a nation. They find the prose thoughtful, sincere, and even-handed. The book provides superb personal details to explain both the triumph and the hidden truths. Readers appreciate the author's commitment to full disclosure of hidden truths and his transparency about the reasons for each action and their consequences.
"...He faces reality on the grounds with brave honesty and objectivity...." Read more
"...Most of this book is informative and seems non-biased...." Read more
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Customers appreciate the balanced perspective in the book. They find it interesting and insightful, providing a clear overview of Israel's strengths and weaknesses. The book provides an honest and thoughtful view of Zionism that is fair and reasonable.
"With his fantastic, balanced and absorbing writing, Mr. Ari Shavit places me in every historically significant event that has created and shaped the..." Read more
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Customers have different views on the pacing of the book. Some find it engaging, with a rich weave of achievements, expectations, and triumphs. They describe it as a thought-provoking, quality piece of work. Others feel the personal monologues are repetitive and tiresome, with too much stress. The book is self-centered and offers a disheartening outlook.
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2013With his fantastic, balanced and absorbing writing, Mr. Ari Shavit places me in every historically significant event that has created and shaped the State of Israel that I have come to know from various media outlets that have portrayed and "reported on" the profound daily life and death struggles between the Israeli-Jews and Israeli-Palestinians.
I heard a radio interview of Mr. Shavit by Terry Gross on her Fresh Air show and was mesmerized by what Mr. Shavit was saying, prompting me to buy this book from Amazon to read.
I also hope to better understand why Professor Ze'ev Sternhell, "a lauded political activist against Israeli fascism, told Mr. Shavit: "To be a Jew was to have to run away all the time."
While Mr. Shavit's book is captivating, the subjects and topics he elaborates upon are so infinitely complex (yet need to be understood by everyone who cares about humanity) that I will write my review of this book piecemeal -- so that I can accurately capture the moral, human and historical lessons Mr. Shavit imparts upon me, as I embark on my own personal journey through his beautifully written book, filled with profoundly honest personal reflections by this author.
I will engage in a running review of this must-read book, which I hope will provide me with insights and better appreciation for why so many pogroms befell upon Jewish towns, neighborhoods, businesses and homes throughout Europe and Russian in living memory.
The founding of the State of Israel is testament to the extraordinary resiliency, tenacity, devotion, courage and creativity of the Jewish people. Mr. Shavit writes: "Israel is a harsh, hot land; ice cream is cold and comforting. So Israelis consumes much more ice cream than North Americans and Western Europeans. [I]sreal is a bitter land; dairy desserts are sweet and soothing. So Israelis love dairy desserts. [I]srael is an exciting and excitable country,so Israelis need ever-increasing excitement. [T]here [are] no nuances for Israel; everything [has] to be fierce and aggressive, to hit the palate with flavor. [I]srael has extraordinary people. [A]n astonishing geyser of innovation erupted out of this barren land."
My own understanding, prior to reading this book and hearing what Mr. Shavit said to Terry Gross on NPR, comports with the thesis Mr. Shavit's embraces: the Israeli-Palestinian "conflict" has been hoisted up by two pillars that have been present in the State of Israel -- "intimidation and occupation".
A "two-state solution," which I too believe is what might bring lasting peaceful co-existence between the Israelis and the Palestinians, is also fraught with existential threats to both peoples, especially since both people are living relatively close to one another in the same modern State of Israel.
The British Empire proposed a two nation-states when Palestine was still one of its colonies. In July 1937, Lord Peel's Royal Commission recommended to the British government to partition Palestine into "two nation-states, Jewish and Arab." Easier said than done!
Mr. Amos Oz, whom the author describes as "Israel's most distinguished author," "the peace prophet," "the guru of the peace movement and the chief rabbi of Israel's peace congregation," also believes "both morals and realism dictate[] only one solution, the two-state solution."
Mr. Shavit acknowledges: On July 25, 1938, Jewish extremists "murdered more than thirty-five Arabs by exploding a highly powerful bomb in the crowded Haifa market." Predictably, "[i]n the dance of blood, the atrocities that Arabs visited upon the Jews and the atrocities that Jews visited upon the Arabs grew even more grisly." As Max Boot recounted in his Herculean book entitled "Invisible Armies . . .," every underdog has used terror against its mightier opponent. Mr. Shavit acknowledges that the birth of the State of Israel witnessed the use of terror by all sides.
A very intriguing thesis was noted in a CNN program I was watching last night -- December 22, 2013 -- entitled "Back to the Beginning" by Christiane Amanpour made by ABC and first broadcast in 2012 -- what if the Israeli and Palestinian came from the same ancient tribe and they were in fact ancient brothers, sisters and/or cousins. What if the results of a well devised and administered, in statistically terms, DNA tests reveal this to be the case. What then? History has shown time and again that family feuds have lead to self-destruction of the family members, usually outside third-parties benefited greatly (unscathed).
I'm pleased that Mr. Shavit introduced us to his great-grandfather Herbert Bentwich,an upper-middle-class British Jew who went on a pilgrimage as a Zionist to Jaffa in 1897 and about Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism.
It is so heartening and inspiring to read about the youngsters who founded Ein Harod in the 1920's and their first arrival there in September 1921. It is refreshing for a person of Mr. Shavit great stature to observe: "Some will argue that choosing socialism at this critical stage (the founding of Ein Harod) is Zionism's cunning way of conquering the land (ancient land of Israel). [Y]et all this idealistic socialism is just subterfuge, future critics will claim. It is the moral camouflage of an aggressive national movement whose purpose is to obscure its colonialist, expansionist nature." The reality, of course, is not the simplistic black/white paradigm, as horrifically demonstrated by the 20th century Holocaust against millions and millions of Jews by the Nazis.
The late Shmaryahu Gutman's, whom Mr. Shavit interviewed for this book, arduous journey to Masada with forty-six disciples in early 1942 provides insights to the backbones that created and are upholding the modern state of Israel. Mr. Gutman "believes that the essence of Zionism is momentum -- never to retreat, never to rest, always to push forward. The new Hebrews must push the limits of what the Jews can do, of what any people can do. They must defy fate." Hence, Mr. Shavit notes: "The only way to maintain life is resistance." This ethos of resistance, as embodied by Gutman's Masada, enable me to better understand Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose charisma and orations captured my imagination when he began appearing on PBS's NewsHour and Charlie Rose.
While history cannot be undone, Mr. Shavit acknowledges "Lydda is our black box. In it lies the dark secret of Zionism." He exposes the raw truth about the "massacre" the new State of Israel, founded in May 14, 1948 after the British Empire relinquished Palestine and the UN General Assembly then endorsed partitioning it into a Jewish state and an Arab state, carried out against the Arabs -- Christian and Muslim families -- in Lydda in July 1948.
Mr. Shavit recounts a letter written by a Jewish lady during those early days.
"I cannot recognize the guys anymore. All of them are drunk with victory and driven by the lust for loot. Each one of them took all that he could and in the joy of triumph they broke loose, expressing feelings of hatred and revenge, turning into real animals. They smashed, destroyed, and killed anything in their path".
However, Mr. Shavit acknowledges: "If it wasn't for them, I would not have been born. They did the dirty, filthy work that enables my people, myself, my daughter, and my sons to live." Indeed, unhealed wounds abound, hindering peace from flourishing among Jews and Palestinians.
Mr. Shavit engages in a frank introspective about the first ten years of the State of Jewish-Israel, where and when he was born. He sheds instructive light on the Bizaron housing estate (shikun), which provided a new life for Pole, Russian, Hungarian, German, Iraqi, Ukraine and Czech Jewish refugees who escaped and survived the anti-Semitic genocides, Hitler's Holocaust and Mengeles' evil experiments.
Mr. Shavit argues that the existential need for Jewish-Israel to accommodate nearly one million immigrants engendered "four forces of amnesia": (a) "the denial of the Palestinian past," (b) "the denial of the Palestinian disaster," (c) "the denial of the Jewish past," and (d) "the denial of the Jewish catastrophe."
Mr. Shavit raises a profound (and likely controversial) thesis: "In the first decade, the unique endeavor of nation building consumes all of the young state's physical and mental resources. There is no time and no place for guilt or compassion. The number of Jewish refugees that Israel absorbs surpasses the number of Palestinian refugees it expelled. And all the while, the vast Arab nation doesn't life a finger to help its Palestinian brothers and sisters."
In the illuminating chapter about Dimona, Israel's (open) secret successful nuclear energy and defense programs, Mr. Shavit notes: "Even those among them who were not Jewish believed that Israel represented a historical act of justice and regarded it as a Western bulwark in the East."
Despite the decades of normalcy and deterrence Dimona has provided Israel, the author warns that "Israel's nuclear hegemony in the Middle East is probably coming to a close. Sooner or later, the Israeli monopoly will be broken. First one hostile state will go nuclear, then a second hostile state, then a third. In the first half of the twenty-first century, the Middle East is bound to be nuclearized."
Lasting resolution of the prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires equitable resolution of the settlements. Mr. Shavit, a self-professed "left-wing journalist," concedes that "[w]ith horror I realize that the DNA of [Yehuda Etzion's -- a founder of the Ofra settlement, which is "the mother of all settlements"] Zionism and the DNA of my Zionism share a few genes." The author states that people cannot understand the settlements without first understanding the searing consequences upon the psyche of Israelis caused by the Six Day War in May 1967 and the Yom Kippur War that began on October 6, 1973.
While Mr. Shavit provides the reader with a succinct, yet profound understanding of the settlements, this issue seems even more daunting and intractable and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians seems even more unattainable.
This apparent hopelessness is colored by Mr. Shavit's harsh criticism of two founders, Pinchas Wallerstein and Yehuda Etzion, of Ofra: "The reality created by Wallerstein and Etzion and their friends has entangled Israel in a predicament that cannot be untangled. The settlements have placed Israel's neck in a noose. They created an untenable demographic, political, moral, and judicial reality. But now Ofra's illegitimacy taints Israel itself. Like a cancer, it spreads from one organ to another, endangering the entire body. Ofra's colonialism makes the world perceive Israel as a colonialist entity."
But, as of Chapter Eight, Mr. Shavit had yet to offer any vision of how the 21st Century State of Israel could endeavor to achieve lasting peace among Israelis and Palestinians. In Chapter Ten, entitled "Peace, 1993," suggests anti-war protests and demonstrations for peace without "action" will render the State of Israel "a rudderless nation, lost at sea with no captain and no compass and no sense of direction."
In recounting a recent face-to-face discussion he had with Yossi Sarid, whom Mr. Shavit describes as "the undisputed hero of the Israeli peace movement" in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had demonstrated against wars in the 1970s and 1980s, the author seems to criticize his own inaction in the peace process. The author admits: "The hours I spent with him leave me bewildered and disheartened."
Mr. Shavit writes what he told Mr. Sarid: "Both you and the peace movement were always against. Against Meir, against Begin, against occupation. [Y]our failing was you were always about negation. Protests. Demonstrations. [Y]ou never built anything. You never put up a home or planted a tree. And you never accepted the heavy responsibility of dealing with the complexity of Israeli reality. [P]olitically and emotionally it was unproductive and barren, even corrosive. [A]nd there was too much judgment. [Y]ou did not nurture, did not inspire, you did not lead." Mr. Shavit's harsh criticism against Mr. Sarid seems also to be aimed against himself. The author seems to be projecting here; perhaps this is his own mea culpa, of sorts.
Mr. Amos Oz, the peace prophet, tells the author: "I made one big mistake. I underestimated the importance of fear. The Right's strongest argument is fear. [I]t's a legitimate argument. I, too, am afraid of the Arabs. So if I were to start the peace movement all over again, that's the one change I would make. I would address our fear of the Arabs. I would have a genuine dialogue about the Israeli fear of extinction."
The take-away from this book thus far is that Israelis, like residents and citizens throughout the world, are not monolithic about how best to resolve the seemingly never ending tragedy that grips the modern State of Israel -- the settlements. Mr. Shavit notes "Israel is at odds with itself."
His longtime colleague and friend, Israel Harel, reminds him: "The people of Tel Aviv will understand how hollow their existence is, that without us they have no roots, no depth, and no life. [W]hat began in Ofra will make Israel Jewish and Zionist again."
Another take-away from this profoundly insightful book is that Israelis and Palestinians in the current State of Israel have a connected destiny, wherein both peoples must succeed. The author yearns: "Like most Israelis, we'd prefer our Israel to be a sort of California. . . ." Having lived in California for decades, as a reader, I know our streets are not paved with gold. But wouldn't it be wonderful if in our lifetime all of the mountains and streets in the State of Israel and a new State of Palestine were lined with Jaffa orange groves and everyone enjoying the fruits of peace and prosperity.
Mr. Shavit espouses a hopeful vision. "One day, when Free Palestine is established, its government will surely lease this piece of land to some international entrepreneur who will build the Gaza Beach Club Med. One day, when there is peace, Israelis will come out here for a short holiday break abroad. By these blue-green waters, they will drink whine and dance the samba. On their way home they will buy embroidered black Palestinian dresses in the air-conditioned duty-free shop of the international terminal separating prosperous Israel from peaceful Palestine."
But still the author is resigned to the harsh realities on the grounds: "What is needed to make peace between the two peoples of this land is probably more than humans can summon." He notes: "Hulda says peace shall not be." He says the Valley of Hulda is a "cursed" land, which now has "an upper-middle-class community of Israel's new bourgeoisie" and boasts six varies of grapes, including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.
Early Jewish pioneers had purchased barren land from Arabs in Hulda and toiled to establish a thriving kibbutz. But in April 1948, a Jewish army invaded the Arab villages in Hulda and chased away the Arabs and pillaged their homes and farms. Mr. Shavit laments: "Hulda is the crux of the matter. Hulda is what the conflict is really about. And Hulda has no solution. Hulda is our fate."
The author notes a historical irony and makes a tragically dire prediction: "After eighteen hundred years of powerless existence, Jewish soldiers employed a large, organized force to take another people's land and to conquer dozens of villages -- of which Hulda was one of the first. Here, by the old well of Hulda, we moved from one phase of our history to another, from one sphere of morality to another. So all that has haunted us ever since is right here. All that will go on haunting us is right here. Generation after generation. War after war."
To his great credit, Mr. Shavit gives voice to the displaced Palestinian refugees. The author writes that in April 1993, he searched for and found a seventy-year-old Jamal Munheir, a Palestinian refugee in the West Bank, and then went with him to his ancestral land in Hulda.
Mr. Shavit poignantly reminds us how many of the Palestinians became refugees:
"You were a rich man," I said. Immediately, I realized I have made a terrible mistake. Jamal [Munheir] erupted, "My heart burns when I come here. I go crazy when I come here. We were respected people. Englishmen and Jews and Arabs listened to us. Our words carried weight. But today, who are we, what are we? Beggars. No one respects us. We, who owned all this land, don't even have one grain of wheat. Only a UNRWA refugee certificate."
"He went silent. Under the old pine trees the only sound was that of my small tape recorder recording the silence. Until Jamal turned to me again, crying, saying that from the beginning of time his forefathers lived here and died here and were buried here. They plowed this plot of land for hundreds of years. From this old well they drew water for generations. Until the Jews came to Hulda and wiped out the Munheir family. Until the Jews conquered and pillaged Hulda. "Where is Rasheed?" Jamal cried. "And where is Mahmoud, and where are all the village people? Where is our Hulda?"
The author recounts a 2003 "road-trip" to Galilee he took with Mr. Mohammed Dahla, the prominent Palestinian-Israeli attorney who was born and have deep roots in the Galilee village of Turan, whom Mr. Shavit considers an Israeli brethren and close friend.
Mr. Dahla reveals that he participated in the peace process through back-channels in the late 1990, wherein "the Palestinians demanded repatriations for their suffering and asked that these reparations be paid by Israel to the future Palestinian state so it would utilize them just as the reparations paid by Germany to Israel were utilized for national projects."
Mr. Dahla explains: "At the outset, the Jews had no legal, historical, or religious rights to the land. The only right they had was the right born of persecution, but that right cannot justify taking 78 percent of a land that is not theirs. It cannot justify the fact that the guests went on to become the masters. [W]e are not like you. We are not strangers ow wanderers or emigrants. For centuries we have lived upon this land and we multiplied. No one can uproot us. No one can separate us from the land. Not even you."
The author writes: "He [Mr. Dahla] tells me that the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948 was not exactly like the Holocaust, but that he is not willing to accept the Jewish monopoly on the term 'Holocaust.' 'It's true that here, there were no concentration camps,' Dahla says. 'But on the other hand, unlike the Holocaust, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948 is still going on. And while the Holocaust was the holocaust of man, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948 was a holocaust of man and land. The destruction of our people,' he says, 'was also the destruction of our homeland.'"
In my humble opinion, the world owes a tremendous amount of gratitude to Mr. Avi Shavit for writing this eloquent, balanced and profoundly insightful book. He faces reality on the grounds with brave honesty and objectivity. I now better appreciate and understand the State of Israel and its people, including religious and secular Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardic Jews, Oriental Jews and Sunni and Christian Arabs. The chapter about Mr. Aryeh Machluf Deri, the (controversial) Moroccan-born Oriental ultra-Orthodox Jewish leader, added a nuanced and deep dimension to my understanding of the State of Israel.
But, after reading this marvelous book, I am less pessimistic than Mr. Shavit about the peace process. I'm cautiously optimistic that the current peace process, being partly spearheaded by the US Secretary of State John F. Kerry, could product a true peace accord that would preserve the State of Israel and create the State of Palestine. A perfect storm is sweeping through the Middle East -- Iraq is plunging into a failed state, especially with the recent fall of Fallujah to Al-Qaeda, Egypt has descended into military rule, Syria is being torn asunder by raging wars and internal fighting fueled by Al-Qaeda militants, Lebanon has erupted yet again into violence, Jordan is being crushed by the deluge of Syrian refugees that continue to multiply and pour in, and Al-Qaeda franchises are metastasizing throughout the Middle East.
My current optimism is supported by Charlie Rose's interview of Mr. Riyad H. Mansour, the current Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN, that aired on US PBS TV stations on January 7, 2014. It sounds like Mr. Kerry has been able to help the parties reach advance negotiations. Mr. Mansour praised Mr. Kerry as tenaciously and passionately committed to this round of peace process, as evinced by his frequent face-to-face meetings with the parties. A peaceful and safe State of Israel is needed in the region more than ever. A peaceful, prosperous and safe State of Palestine will likely serve to help stabilize the chaotic Middle East.
The deep, simmering ethnic tensions between the Ashkenazi Jews (the European Jewry) and Oriental Jews (the Levant or Arabic Jewry) is yet another reality that compels the young State of Israel to achieve peace (with guaranteed security) with the Palestinians, sooner rather than later.
Mr. Shavit writes movingly and honestly about the plight of the Oriental Jewry, whose population may one day eclipse that of other ethnic Jews in the State of Israel. By 1990, Oriental Jews purportedly exceeded 50 percent of Jewish Israelis.
Ms. Gal Gabai, a journalist and the anchor of a popular political talk show, explains to the author, who is also her friend and colleague, why she is drawn to Mr. Dari: "Until Dari came and proved that we could stand tall and proud -- walk among the Ashkenazim as equals. Deri brought North African Jewish tradition to center stage. [H]e gave even Oriental yuppies like me the ability to be at peace with ourselves and feel worthy."
The author notes: "Between the mid-nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century, Arab world Jewry experienced a relative golden age. As it was close to French and British colonial rulers, it enjoyed their patronage. It won rights it had never enjoyed before. Many Jews in North Africa and the Middle East benefited from all that Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, Cairo, Alexandria, Tunis and Casablanca had to offer. But by the 1940s and 1950s the magic of the Orient had evaporated. Colonialism retreated, Arab nationalism was on the rise, and Zionism was triumphant. Within a few years a civilization collapsed. Thousand-year-old communities disintegrated within months. With one swing of history's sword the soft underbelly of the old Levant was sliced open. The enchanting, pluralist Orient was gone. A million Jewish Arabs were uprooted, their world destroyed, their culture decimated, their homes lost."
Ms. Gabai theorizes that "[i]n Israel, belonging is bought with blood. We Oriental Jews didn't bleed enough into the river of belonging. We were not murdered in the Holocaust. We did not get killed in the War of Independence. [W]e were imported only because European Jewry was exterminated and there was no other way to grow the state. [W]estern Zionism feared us. It feared the Arabism we brought with us: the Arab music, the smells and tastes of Arab cuisines, Arab mannerisms. [F]rom the outset we were under suspicion. So we were culturally castrated. [W]e had to prove daily that we were not Arabs. [W]e do not accept ourselves and we do not love ourselves. [A]nd we are always asked to present proof. We have to prove we are not inferior and not flawed. [A]lthough my three kids are half-Ashkenazi, Ashkenazi Israel does not accept me as I am [a Moroccan-born Jew]. Israel still suspects me."
The history of every nation, including and especially the United State of America, is tainted by racism to varying degrees. The healing process can seem to take an eternity.
Courageously, Mr. Shavit discusses the tough issue of racism in this book. Equally important to ponder is the following: "Yet there is another way to look at this. There is a politically incorrect truth here that is not easy to express. And this truth is this truth is that Israel did a favor to those it extracted from the Orient. The Jews there had no real future in the new Baghdad, the new Beirut, the new Cairo, or the new Meknes. Had they stayed, they would have been annihilated."
In describing the Israeli "condition" on its fifth-decade of statehood, which coincided with the second millennium, Mr. Shavit notes that "there is a huge divide here." He states "You can see it at Allenby 58, young people saying, 'Enough, it's time for fun.' There is a new generation in Israel and it's demanding happiness."
By 2006, after the Second Lebanon War, the euphoria that ushered in the new millennium for the State of Israel had evaporated. The author notes: "By now Allenby 58 is closed, but Jerusalem's Hauman 17 has turned a huge garage in southern Tel Aviv into the new mecca of dance, drugs and casual encounters." As part of his research, Mr. Shavit meets a twenty-five-year-old blond psychology student at a new hip underground club in Tel Aviv, who laments: "Ecstasy was love-sex, coke is alienation-sex. [I]t's hard-core, in your face, but there's no love, no affection. No hope whatsoever."
Mr. Shavit characterizes the State of Israel as schizophrenic and laments that today "[t]here is no Israeli togetherness." He explains that the year 1973 was the "most decisive" pivotal year in Israel's history: "The trauma of the Yom Kippur War terminated the reign of Israel's ancient regime. It promulgated a deep distrust of the state, its government, and its leadership. It empowered the individual and weakened the collective. It crushed Ben Gurion's legacy and his concrete state."
The author contends: "The mass Russian immigration of 1989-1991 added to the chaos. The one million immigrants . . . invigorated [Israel's] economy and shared its Jewish majority but added to the lack of cohesion. [T]he well-educated newcomers [many of whom are engineers, technicians, programmers] felt they were superior to the ones absorbing them. Hence, they did not shed their old identity and endorse an Israeli identity as previous immigrants had done. They maintained their Russian values and their Russian way of life and they largely lived in Russian enclaves."
Mr. Shavit concedes: "Yes, occupation is killing us morally and politically, but occupation is not only the cause of the malaise but its outcome. [T]he immediate challenge is the challenge of regaining national potency. An impotent Israel cannot make peace or wage war -- or end occupation. The 2006 trauma provided Israelis with an accurate picture of the overall condition of their political body: an enfeebled national leadership, a barely functional government, a public sector in decay, an army consumed with rot, and a startling disconnect between metropolis and periphery."
The author adds: "But the 2006 experience also provides a detailed panoramic picture of the world Israel lives in: Iran on the rise, Hezbollah building up in the north, Hamas building up in the south. [F]aced with renewed existential danger, Israel has no relevant national strategy. It is confused and paralyzed."
It is highly encouraging that the Israeli youths awoke and took to the streets peacefully in the summer of 2011, occupying the posh Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard, which may even have served as partial inspiration for Occupy Wall Street to mobilize later in the same year. The author writes: "Moderate and nonviolent, it succeeded in wining the support of 80 percent of Israelis. For one summer, it unites Israelis again by giving them a sense of hope."
"On July 23, [2011,] 30,000 youths march in the streets of Tel Aviv, chanting a new-old slogan: 'The people demand social justice.' On July 30, they are 130,000 strong, on August 6, they are 300,000 strong. On September 3, 450,000 people take to the streets -- 6 percent of Israel's population. [Itzik] Shmuli is the keynote speaker at the rally held in Tel Aviv's Nation Square. 'We are the new Israelis,' he calls out to the 330,000 cheering demonstrations. 'We love our country and we are willing to die for our country. Let us live in the country we love.'"
Mr. Shumli tells the author: "We do not see ourselves anymore as cynical hedonists. Now our life as Israelis has meaning. This new sense of meaning is the great achievement of 2011. We love Israel again and believes in Israel and we are determined to reform it."
Like the Republic of Korea ("South Korea"), the State of Israel became an economic Hebrew Tiger! Mr. Shavit explains that Israel's economy is "one of the most nimble economies in the West." Mr. Stanley Fischer, who served as the governor of the Bank of Israel from 2005 to 2013, notes "Israel has more companies traded on the NASDAQ than Canada or Japan. No wonder that venture capital investments in Israel are larger than in Germany or France. [T]he high-tech revolution combined with a prudent macroeconomic policy has made Israel a hub of prosperity."
Mr. Michael Strauss, the Israeli business magnate, tells the author: "Israelis are exceptionally quick, creative, and audacious. They are sexy even in the way they work. They are hardworking and tireless. They are endowed with a competitive spirit -- with the need to be the first at the finish line. And they are willing to do whatever it takes to be the first at the finish line. They never take no for an answer. They never accept failure or acknowledge defeat."
- Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2014Shavit is a great writer with deep insight. Most of this book is informative and seems non-biased. Mr. Shavit explores the history of Israel in detail and offers his interpretations on a variety of subjects. The vast majority of the time, his assessments are enlightening and appear reasonable. In a situation this complex, readers will not agree with all of his analyses. Is it better to occasionally disagree with the author's opinions or should an author be less opinionated? I'll take the opinions every time if they seem reasonable and are the best attempt at finding the truth. Some readers may disagree, preferring less opinion.
The section on Lydda explores several atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers. According to Shavit, war crimes took place in the area around the time of the 1948 war. He investigates the expulsion (or fleeing) of the Arabs from that area and concludes that the actions taken by Israel in Lydda were unjust. It seems quite possible that Shavit's reporting about Lydda is factual. If the details are true, the implication is that even Israel had some immoral characters in its forces. What Shavit doesn't say is whether the evil acts committed by a minority of soldiers or leaders should be considered evidence that the majority of the population supported such atrocities. Did this same sequence of events happen elsewhere? Shavit does not answer. I've read other accounts of the subject of Arabs fleeing the country in 1948 explaining that many feared being caught up in the middle of a war and fled on their own accord for what they expected would be a short time until the neighboring Arab countries overran Israel. Was the Lydda expulsion typical or an anomaly? Shavit does not answer this question.
Shavit doesn't elaborate on several additional issues. First, the lack of character shown by the residents of Gaza for electing Hamas in 2006, even though they were card carrying racists. He points at the election relating to the ineptness and corruption of the PA but my feeling is that it is morally wrong for a population to vote for its pocketbooks while failing to consider that their party of choice has "kill Jews" in its charter. A second issue not explored enough: Why do Palestinians languish in refugee camps to this day within the neighboring Arab countries? They speak the same language as the residents of those countries and practice the same religion. It is unclear why they are still stuck in refugee camps. Should the blame be apportioned to Israel or its neighbors? Since Shavit is writing about injustices done to the Palestinians, this is a big issue deserving more detailed exploration.
I especially enjoyed the interviews of such diverse representatives of Israel as business magnates, Palestinian activists and politicians, Isreali political leaders (Aryeh Deri stands out), and the new generation of Israeli youth that seems more interested in partying than in politics. Shavit's back and forth dialogue is interesting; his confrontational style with the interviewees forces them to defend their positions.
Another interesting issue I discovered that Shavit makes more understandable to me is the effect of religious Jews on Israel. It is a sad fact that such a large percentage of the children entering schools in Israel are on track to learn orthodox Judaism rather than math or science. My conclusion--not Shavit's--is that this time bomb could eventually result in a brain drain and emigration by the best and brightest because they might not enjoy paying gigantic tax bills where much of the money goes to supporting religious folks on the dole.
Shavit also explores the motivations of Palestinians. However, compared to the Jewish subjects in interviews, there are fewer Palestinian voices. I wish Shavit would have elaborated on whether the Palestinians are really driven by that 10% of the West Bank that Israel has settled, or, are they interested in taking over the entire country of Israel? What percentage support ISIS or al Qaeda and just hate Jews? [Since I first published this review, I saw one poll showing that 25% of Palestinians support ISIS, the highest such polling numbers in the Middle East]. What is the meaning of numerous polls showing that a majority of Palestinians support suicide bombings? These seemingly essential questions are not covered.
Is Israel dealing with a foe that embraces racism on the level of Germans in the 1940s? I'm not suggesting that Hamas have committed the level of atrocities of the Nazis. But would they if they could? Based on the polls above, many Israelis have concluded that the Palestinian population itself has no problem with electing racists who state they would like to annihilate the Jews. Is the Israeli right wing assessment that Arabs in general are not very nice to minorities--Christians are killed regularly in surrounding countries--a valid reason to be hesitant about unenforceable peace treaties? What percentage of the Palestinians living in the West Bank have a positive view of Hamas in spite of its racism and TV programming aimed at teaching its children to hate Jews? Such questions are not answered in Shavit's treatise. They seem important in terms of conclusions. Shavit taught me a lot but left me wondering about a lot more.
Top reviews from other countries
- preeta chagReviewed in India on December 20, 2023
4.0 out of 5 stars The author's journey into the land’s birth, occupation, existence and survival. A good read
“We dwell under the looming shadow of a smoking volcano.”
Written in 2013, the words of this book hold true even today for Israel, a land that is so permanently on-the-edge.
‘A Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel’ by Ari Shavit is a personal introspection of the author into the land’s birth, occupation, existence and survival. As he writes in the beginning, “This book is the personal odyssey of one Israeli who is bewildered by the historic drama engulfing his homeland.”
The author is a proud Israeli, but with no blinkers on. He knows the nation is born from blood and intimidation. He condemns the brutality inflicted on the Palestinians, but he also professes the need of survival. Ari Shavit lays bare the duality of each chapter of the country’s existence.
Terror perpetrated. Terror suffered. Occupation. Intimidation. Tales of brutality. Tales of prevailing. A nation whose origin and living is enshrined in blood and violence.
‘My Promised Land’ begins with a journey of the group of early Zionists who travelled from London to Jaffa led by Rt Honorable Herbert Bentwich, the author’s great grandfather.
The book is divided into 17 chapters, each chapter dealing with the journey of the country and its evolution with tales of horror and dread, along with fortitude and courage.
In Chapter 2, Into the Valley, the author Ari Shavit describes dramatically, the entry into the Valley of Harod. The seeds of Israel are sown. And comes into existence a state whose sustenance will always be defined by the intimidation it is surrounded with and the cruelty it inflicts.
Israel is a nation born from a steely determination. Chapter 4 Masada is spine-chilling in its intensity of courage and commitment. Shmaryahu Gutman was the chief person instrumental in turning Masada from a symbol of defeat, death, and destruction to an ethos of unification of Hebrew youth. A formative set of New Zionism. The first journey in January 1942 was the beginning of a movement. A cacophony of strong resolution and fervent energy.
But Israel is also a land born from spilled blood, coercion, and forced occupation. Chapter 5, Lydda. The dark chapter of expulsion and destruction. “If Zionism was to be, Lydda could not be.” The chapter is a gory reminder of the law of the jungle-the survival of the fittest.
A nation of conflicting stories and identities, Chapter 6, Housing Estate are stories of endurance. The stories of the four fatal survivors are stories of despair, torment, loneliness, and finally, survival.
Professor Sternhell. “From the age of seven, I had no one to talk to. …..I erased everything.”
Aharon Applefield. “From village to village, from forest to forest. I survived like a field animal.”
Aharon Barak. “My mother and I lived in the one and a half meters between the walls for six months.”
Louis Aynachi. “The world had shifted from its natural course. The impossible had happened.”
Ari Shavat has narrated four of the stories of around 7,50,000 Jewish refugees who arrived in Israel between 1945 and 1951. Stark. Brutal. Incisive. Compassionate. This influx of refugees necessitated the national projects of the 1950’s of Housing, Agricultural settlement, and Industrialisation setting in motion the establishment of the state of Israel.
Chapter 11, J’Accuse deals with the integration of Oriental Jews into the mainstream Israel. The whole chapter dwells on the tortured soul of citizens yet finding ways to belong. Way to integrate. Way to be one. Way to be Israeli.
The author has, in the end, defined seven circles of threat to the country: Islamic, Arabic, Palestinian, internal, mental, moral, and identity-based. And his biggest question is: the survival of Israel.
“Our cities seemed to be built on shifting sand. Our houses never seemed quite stable.”
The book is a reflection: questions seeking answers, the right questioning the wrong, and the light wanting to embrace the dark.
“Both occupation and intimidation make the Israeli condition unique. Intimidation and occupation have become the two pillars of our condition.”
Ari Shavat is self-questioning, self-explaining. The book seems a catharsis of his inner conflict, his dilemma, his country’s dilemma, and his adversaries’ dilemma.
“We dwell under the looming shadow of a smoking volcano.”
- Brendan RyanReviewed in Spain on May 23, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars a profound and nuanced exploration
"My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel" by Ari Shavit offers a profound and nuanced exploration of the historical, political, and societal complexities that have shaped the state of Israel. Shavit presents a deeply personal and introspective account, blending meticulous research, interviews, and personal anecdotes to shed light on Israel's past, present, and future.
What makes this book truly captivating is Shavit's ability to navigate the multifaceted nature of Israel's story. He delves into the triumphs, examining Israel's remarkable achievements in various fields, such as science, technology, and agriculture. Through vibrant storytelling, Shavit conveys the spirit of determination, innovation, and resilience that has characterized the nation.
However, alongside the triumphs, Shavit confronts the tragic aspects and moral dilemmas that have plagued Israel throughout its existence. He explores the conflicting narratives, complex relationships with neighboring countries, and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The author does not shy away from addressing the difficult questions and the moral challenges faced by Israel as it strives to reconcile its ideals with the realities of its existence.
Shavit's writing style is eloquent, evocative, and introspective, immersing readers in the rich tapestry of Israel's history. He brings the people and places to life, allowing readers to feel a personal connection to the stories he shares. From the early Zionist pioneers to the struggles of different communities within Israel, Shavit captures the essence of the diverse voices that make up the nation.
While the book provides an insightful analysis of Israel, it is worth noting that Shavit's perspective leans towards a more liberal Zionist viewpoint. Some readers might appreciate his candidness and self-reflection, while others may desire a more balanced examination of the issues presented.
"My Promised Land" is a thought-provoking and comprehensive account of Israel's journey, offering readers a deeper understanding of the complexities, contradictions, and aspirations that shape the nation. It is a valuable resource for anyone seeking to explore the intricate layers of Israeli society, history, and identity.
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Josefine SchrauberReviewed in Germany on January 2, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars Zeitreise
Sehr interessantes Buch, eine Perspektive in jüngere Geschichte und gesellschaftliche Veränderungen eines heutzutage medial so präsenten Gebietes. Es liest sich in etwa wie eine Zeitreise, v.a. durch's 20. Jhd. Ich will noch mehr VON Leuten der Region lesen, als häufig nur ÜBER sie.
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Gerardo MirandaReviewed in Mexico on December 31, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Buen libro
Excelente libro para leerlo, recomendado.
Es la versión en inglés pero puedes obtener la versión en español si buscas un poco.
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WilliamReviewed in Brazil on February 5, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Necessário
Excelente texto escrito por Ari Shavit. Não importa se você é de esquerda, centro ou direita, um livro necessário para tentar entender com mais profundidade as raízes do conflito árabe-israelense.