Israel: Politics, Myths and Identity Crisis

By Akiva Orr

'Orr's great clarity in forming and forwarding his ideas and ideological critique of nationalism, statehood, socialism and Zionism over four decades makes this book an important and timely... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0745307671
• ISBN13: 9780745307671
• Release Date: June 1994
• Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Perfect

The only thing to say about this collection of insightful essays is that it is perfect. Nowhere else can one find such succinct, incisive writing about a topic so deliberately obfuscated as the Middle East. In one essay, Orr writes an exact history of Israel in nine pages. Major news media organisations, such as TIME and NEWSWEEK, would do well to follow. Their pages-long analyses of Israel and the Palestinians lack the focus and commitment to honesty that Orr exudes on every page.Orr's credentials are rock-solid, too: he is a citizen of Israel and a former member of the Israeli Defence Forces, so he knows that nation from the inside. While he believed at first in the righteousness of Israel's cause, as a soldier and member of civilian society he came to see the true, criminal nature of the state. He compares its siege mentality to that of the Nazis, a comparison only a Jew can make.If you haven't time to digest great tomes on Israel and the Middle East, sift through this one-hundred page beauty and emerge a more enlightened man.

A Hidden Treasure

This slim volume is like a slender candle that sheds much light over a topic that seems so confusing. Until you read this book, you may never understand why the Mid-East "Peace Process" was still-born. Orr weaves together short essays that leave an indelible impression on the tangled origins and uncertain future of America's closest ally in the Mid-East, Israel.