Resource: Reading List
There is a proliferation of mis and dis-information on the world wide web these days. There is also a clear trend of dumbing one-self down, whether consciously or as a limbic reaction to social coercion it matters not. Then there is the more unconscionable behaviour, and I am not sure just yet that it is a forgivable act, despite your inability to control it. The getting-off and getting your fix of stress/pleasure-hormone-cocktail from your (I’m assuming, I know, naughty me) addiction to the trauma cycle.
While this has been going on via the media for decades, the latest iteration of it, the 15 (or is it 5?)-min check in to voyeur on dead babies and limbless children (but only of a certain kind, because of course not all the dead and harmed children get this not coveted opportunity), one that is paying attention, cannot help but wonder what kind of sick are we dealing with here.
The most powerful way to combat an addiction, and many a sickness for that matter, is going into nature and breathing. And then repeat. Yes, repeat. So you can start there.
The next best thing is feeding yourself with the nourishment your psyche is craving. Going cold turkey will likely not work, but slowly pushing in the good stuff will eventually crowd out most of the sewg or Cholera (the Hebrew Choleh-Ra, as in bad sick). Start with Community care, and wipe your eyes with books.
“his majesty's government has come to the conclusion that conflict in the land is irreconcilable”
-Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Minister February 1947 (prior to the establishment of the modern State of Israel). Ernest also said that “His Majesty's Government have thus been faced with an irreconcilable conflict of principles. There are in Palestine about 1,200,000 Arabs and 600,000 Jews. For the Jews the essential point of principle is the creation of a sovereign Jewish State. For the Arabs, the essential point of principle is to resist to the last the establishment of Jewish sovereignty in any part of Palestine.”
So, here’s a little book list for you. Let’s start with the official recommendations of late.
Battle of the books: The five books of Michael explores a few important and relevant books for the now in you.
My Promised Land by Ari Shavit
Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby
Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn by Daniel Gordis
Letters to my Palestinian Neighbour by Yossi Klein Halevi
My Life as A Jew by Michael Gawenda
You can read about Michael Gawenda’s thoughts in choosing these books in this article from The Jewish Independent.
Now, to a long-list. You know, the kind that makes you either delight in, or run for your phone (please, run through a forest on your way there if you don’t mind). And for those here, so we begin.
In the wake of October 7th
>> Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict by award-winning journalist Yardena Schwartz
>> Freedman, R., Hirsh D. (2024) Responses to 7 October. 3-volume set. This three-volume anthology by Rosa Freedman and David Hirsh comprises diverse intellectual responses to the Hamas-organised day of murder, sexual violence and kidnapping":
Responses to 7 October: Antisemitic Discourse. London: Routledge
Responses to 7 October: Law and Society. London: Routledge
Responses to 7 October: Universities. London: Routledge
>> O’Neill, B. (2024) After the Pogrom. 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilization. London: Spiked Ltd.
>> Download the Essential Guidebook to October 7 and its Aftermath (Sunday July 14, 2024). This guidebook that seeks to help Jews and non-Jews, in Israel and worldwide, understand the events that have unfolded since October 7 in historical and ideological context.
Regarding Antisemitism
>> Baddiel, E. (2021) Jews Don’t Count. Great Britain, 4th Estate. (Also available as a documentary containing interviews with an assortment of Jews).
>> Dershowitz, A. (2023) War against the Jews. How to end Hamas Barbarism. New York, Hot Books.
>> Gawenda, M. (2023) My life as a Jew. Australia: Scribe Publications.
>> Goldhagen, D. J., (1996) Hitler’s Willing Executioners. Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. London: Abacus.
>> Herf, J. (2024) Three Faces of Antisemitism. Right, Left and Islamist. London: Routledge.
>> Hirsh, D. (Ed.) (2024) The Rebirth of Antisemitism in the 21st Century. From the Academic Boycott Campaign into the Mainstream. London: Routledge.
>> Horn, D. (2022) People Love Dead Jews. Reports from a Haunted Present. WW Norton & Co.
>> Kalev, Gol. (2024) The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West. New York, Post Hill Press.
>> Küntzel, M. (2024) Nazis, Islamic Antisemitism and the Middle East. The 1948 Arab War against Israel and the Aftershocks of World War II. London: Routledge.
>> Lipstadt, D. (2019) Antisemitism: Here and Now. Scribe Publications.
>> Lozowick, Y. (2004) Right to exist. A moral defence of Israel’s wars. New York: Anchor Books. This book is by German-born Israeli historian Yaacov Lozowick, the director of archives at the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
>> Nirenberg, D. (2013) Anti-Judaism. The History of a Way of thinking. W.W. Norton & Company. A deep dive into the 3000-year history of antisemitism and the many way that dozens of cultures have created a world in which everything that's wrong can be blamed on Jews, Judaism, or Israel
>> Rich, D. (2023) Everyday Hate. How Antisemitism is built Into Our World - And How You Can Change It. United Kingdom: Biteback Publishing.
>> Carmichael, C., & Maguire, R.R. (2015) The Routledge History Of Genocide. London: Routledge.
>> Ryvchin, A. (2023) The 7 Deadly Myths. Antisemitism from the time of Christ to Kanye West. Boston: Cherry Orchard Books.
>> Weiss, B. (2019) How to fight Anti-Semitism. New York: Crown.
>> Wiesel, E. (1996/2011) The Jews of Silence. A Personal Report on Soviet Jewry. New York: Shocken Books.
>> Wistreich, R. S. (1991) Antisemitism. The Longest Hatred. London: Thames Mandarin.
>> Yousef, M. H. (2011) Son of Hamas. A gripping account of terror, betrayal, political intrigue, and unthinkable choices. Tyndale Momentum.
>> WeitzmanM., Williams, R. J., Wald, J. (Eds.) (2023) The Routledge History of Antisemitism. London: Routledge.
Israel and its history
>> Gilbert, M. (2024, 9th Ed.) The Routledge Atlas of Jewish History. London: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. (A comprehensive book of maps illustrating Jewish migration and settlement, from 2000 BC to 1945).
>> Klompas, A. & Ginsburg, D. (2024) Stand-Up Nation. Israeli Resilience in the Wake of Disaster. Simon and Schuster.
>> Levy, B-H. (2024) Israel Alone. Wicked Son, Simon and Schuster.
>> Magness, J. (2024) Jerusalem through the Ages. From its beginnings to the Crusades. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
>> Sebag Montefiore, S. (2024) Jerusalem: The Biography. A History of the Middle East. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
>> Schwartz, A., & Wilf, E. (2020) The War of Return War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace. New York: St Martin’s Press.
>> Shavit, A. (2014) My Promised Land. Melbourne: Scribe Publications
>> Senor, D., Singer, S. (2017) Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle.
>> Tishby, Noa (2021) Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth. London: The Free Press.
Zionism and Anti-Zionism
>> Ryvchin, A. (2019). Zionism: the concise history. Brisbane: Connor Court Publishing
>> Andrew, C., and Mitrokhin, V. (2006) The World was going our way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World. United Kingdom: Basic Books.
>> Hazan, B. (1982) A Soviet Propaganda: A Case Study of the Middle East conflict. Ardis Publishing.
>> Daniel Gordis, I. (2018) Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn. USA Harper Collins.
Reaching across borders
>> Halevi, Y. K. (2018) Letters to my Palestinian Neighbour. Harper Collins.
>> Sacks, J. (2003) The Dignity of Difference. How to avoid the clash of Civilizations. London: Bloomsbury.
>> Washington, D. (2021) (2nd Ed). Zionism and the Black Church: Why Standing with Israel will be a defining Issue for Christians of Colour in the 21st Century. Umdeni Press.
