“This book is required reading for every serious student of Jewish history and concerned layman alike.”--Rabbi Daniel Greer, Dean, Yeshiva of New Haven

“By daring to question Zionism, Rabkin squarely poses the question of the future of Jewish life. This question will form the struggle of Jewish identity in the 21st century.”--Dr. Marc H. Ellis, Professor of American and Jewish Studies, Baylor University

'This book sheds light on religious anti-Zionism, which, demographically and ideologically, represents the most serious threat to Israel as a State and as a collective identity"-- Joseph Hodara, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

'I can only welcome the publication of this unconventional book based on often ignored historical facts. It is up to us to draw lessons from it.' - Rabbi Moshe Gérard Ackermann, Neve Yerushalayim Jewish Education Network, Jerusalem

'Yakov Rabkin has produced an altogether remarkable book that tells the story and analyses the ideas of the Orthodox Jewish movement opposed to Zionism and the State of Israel. I am enormously impressed by the author's historical scholarship, by his brilliant analysis of a complex literature and by the lucidity of his prose. This is an extraordinary book.' - Dr Gregory Baum, Professor of Theology, McGill University

'This book is fascinating. it presents a range of anti-Zionist arguments developed in Jewish religious circles that are practically unknown to the public. It is a solid contribution to scholarship.' - Dr Alain Bouchard, Professor of Theology, Laval University

'This is a capital book that comes at the very time that "the eternal Middle East question" demands new approaches that may defuse the crisis. This is why this book must be read without delay that the greatest number of people possible.' - Dr Charles Rhéaume, historian, Department of National Defense, Ottawa

'As an Israeli patriot and as a philosopher, I consider it essential to integrate the discourse of Judaic anti-Zionism into the badly needed public debate about our past, present and future.' - Dr Joseph Agassi, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; Tel-Aviv University and York University, Toronto

"This book helps defuse anti-Jewish violence" --Cardianl Godfried Danneels, Primate of Belgium - more..

The Hidden History of Zionism
By Ralph Schoenman, Veritas Press, Santa Barbara (Calif.) 1988

From a review by Francois Forgue:
...In his "Hidden History of Zionism," Ralph Schoenman demonstrates meticulously what he calls the four "founding myths" of the state of Israel. The first myth is that of "a land without a people for a people without a land." The second is the myth of "Israeli democracy." The third myth is that of "security" as the motor force of Israeli foreign policy. And the fourth myth is that of "Zionism as the moral legatee of the victims of the Holocaust."

In relation to all these fraudulent claims, Ralph Schoenman reestablishes the true history of the Zionist movement, of its ideology and its practice. It is not our intent to take up in this short introduction a comprehensive study of the Jewish problem throughout history. We do, however, wish to point out that during the period of ascending capitalism, this problem tended to resolve itself through the growing integration of Jews in the advanced capitalist countries. But imperialism today, in the epoch of its growing decay, has placed the Jewish question on the front burner once again, this time with even greater acuity.

"Socialism or barbarism" -- that is the alternative facing all of humanity. It is an alternative that had an immediate significance for the Jewish population, particularly those in Eastern Europe, in the years preceding World War II. All possible solutions, all doors toward integration or emigration, had been closed to the Jews at the very same time that the most heinous forms of anti-Semitism were being unleashed across Europe. This is what led Leon Trotsky to insist that the resolution of the "Jewish question was inextricably bound up with the full emancipation of humanity as a whole."

But the starting point of the Zionist ideology, as Schoenman points out, was diametrically opposed to such a resolution. On the contrary, the Zionists sought to separate and counterpose the "Jews" to all the social and political forces involved in every country in the struggle against exploitation and oppression, particularly the workers' organizations. more..

"Why not call it by its real name?!!", asks Norman Finkelstein in this cartoon by Carlos Latuff of Brazil.

On Norman Finkelstein's 'Beyond Chutzpah'
By Ilan Pappe, Palestine Chronicle, February 15, 2006

In 'Beyond Chutzpah', Finkelstein goes after bigger targets and challenges some of the most sacred taboos in the American public arena regarding Zionism and Israel.

Why is the history of modern Palestine such a matter of debate? Why is it still regarded as a complex, indeed obscure, chapter in contemporary history that cannot be easily deciphered? Any abecedarian student of its past who comes to it with clean hands would immediately recognize that in fact its story is very simple. For that matter it is not vastly different from other colonialist instances or tales of national liberation.

It of course has its distinctive features, but in the grand scheme of things it is the chronicle of a group of people who left their homelands because they were persecuted and went to a new land that they claimed as their own and did everything in their power to drive out the indigenous people who lived there. Like any historical narrative, this skeleton of a story can be, and has been, told in many different ways. However, the naked truth about how outsiders coveted someone else's country is not sui generis, and the means they used to obtain their newfound land have been successfully employed in other cases of colonization and dispossession throughout history.

Generations of Israeli and pro-Israeli scholars, very much like their state's diplomats, have hidden behind the cloak of complexity in order to fend off any criticism of their quite obviously brutal treatment of the Palestinians in 1948 and since. They were aided, and still are, by an impressive array of personalities, especially in the United States. Nobel Prize winners, members of the literati, and high-profile lawyers, not to mention virtually everyone in Hollywood, from filmmakers to actor, have repeated the Israeli message. more..

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