PLACE AMONG THE NATIONS, A

Rating:
Summary: A Place Among the Nations: Israel and the World
Review: FINALLY A BOOK ON THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT WHICH IS BASED ON FACTS AND NOT MYTHS . A REAL EYE OPENER . TO THOSE WHO WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE MIDDLE EAST ITS A MUST READ .

Rating:
Summary: A PLACE AMONG THE NATIONS: ISRAEL & THE WORLD
Review: FINALLY A BOOK ON THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT WHICH IS BASED ON FACTS AND NOT MYTHS . A REAL EYE OPENER . TO THOSE WHO WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE MIDDLE EAST ITS A MUST READ .

Rating:
Summary: A Place Among the Nations: Israel and the World
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Netanyahu's review of Israeli history. He started with God's promise to Abraham and ended with the Persian Gulf War. I appreciated a native Israeli's perspective and insight instead of biased Western press. I'd like everyone in the White House to read it, hopefully it would change some policies!

Rating:
Summary: Walking the Walk: Israel in the Middle East
Review: In the wake of the 9-11 attacks, it's clear that the Western democracies have something to fear from Middle Eastern terrorism. Unfortunately, the democracies were content to ignore indications elsewhere in the world that the century-old policy of being nice to terrorists would fail. In this book, Benjamin Netanyau uses his powers of persuasion to insure that the Western world understands Israel's position with regard to the Arab countries and its often misunderstood position among the Western alliances. The former prime minister pulls no punches in tracing the history of Israel and the Arab countries. The result is fascinating, fact-filled reading, removed from the litany of clichés generally employed in describing tensions in the region.
Israel never was much appreciated in "Palestine", not since the Romans crushed and expelled them in the year 73 BCE. It was the Romans, says the author, who gave the name 'Palestine' to the areas inhabited by Jew and Arab in the ancient world. The name was a corruption of the word 'Philistine', and was stamped upon the Jews after they were vanquished to extinguish their Hebrew identity. The vanquished Jews, dispersed to the ends of the earth and persecuted to near extinction, yearned always for a return to their ancient homeland. When the Zionist movement accelerated in the early part of the 20th century, the Arabs began a reign of terror which extends into the present and can be witnessed on the nightly news with the bombing of pizza parlors, bat mitzvahs, public markets , shopping malls, and other civilian targets. Yet in one of the most surprising reversals in history, it is the Arabs who are the subject of the world's sympathy. It is the success of the Arab propaganda campaign that Netanyahu attempts to counter in this hard-hitting book.
The PLO can hijack and bomb airliners (Entebbe, an unsuccessful high jacking where the author's brother was killed) and even whole countries (Lebanon) and yet the world continues to speak in cliché of "Israeli aggression" , the "occupied territories", and the "brutality of the Israeli military". The Israelis were widely condemned for "aggression" against Iraq when they bombed and destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor in 1981, well before Saddam invaded Kuwait and engaged in war against the US In spite of current US worries, no retractions have yet been issued for these condemnations, though all the Western world breathes a sigh of relief until the next time Saddam has nuclear resources at his disposal, probably soon. The sum total of the "brutal Israeli bombing attack" on Saddam's reactor? One dead. Sum total of lives that might have been saved by destroying Iraq's reactor? Unknown, but Saddam used poison gas against the Kurds so go figure. After the US rescued Kuwait, that country expelled thousands of Palestinian Arabs who were living there. Did anyone complain of "Kuwaiti brutality" or speak of a separate Palestinian state in Kuwait for those Palestinians? For that matter, Palestinian-Arabs already have their own country: Jordan. The PLO actually is asking for two Palestinian states, says Netanyahu.
The book is full of facts which the West doesn't bother about in exerting pressure upon Israel. Offered a separate Palestinian state in 1948, the Palestinian Arabs said "no" just as Arafat and the PLO said "no" to a recent generous Israeli offer which would have gotten 95 percent of the West Bank and Gaza for a Palestinian-Arab state.
Does it bother anyone that several Arab nations were established by the same United Nations which assisted Israel? Does it bother anyone that the Arabs would not fight for their own liberation during the first world war and left all the fighting and dying to the Jews, the British and the US? Does it bother anyone that the Arab Grand Mufti of Jerusalem went to Hitler and Goebbels offering assistance in destroying the Jews? That even while Jews were being systematically murdered in Europe, the Arabs terrorized the British and other powers in the region in the hope of stopping Jews from saving themselves by retreating to the Jewish National Homeland?
And what about the tiny country itself? With only five million Israelis, approximately one million of whom are Arabs with Israeli citizenship, why does the very existence of this country threaten its gargantuan Arab neighbors? And while Israel confers citizenship on its Arab population, why is it against the law for Jews to live in Arabia, or Jordan? And why does the West condemn apartheid unless it occurs in the Middle East? Apparently there is very little to bother anyone, unless it involves the Jews acting in their own defense in the present struggle to survive three wars, continuous aggressions, terror bombings, and though Netanyahu scarcely mentions it, anti-Semitism.
Yet for all that, Netanyahu understands how intricately the dream of Israel is tied into the fortunes of the western democracies and moderate Arabs. Israel itself is the only democracy in the region, surrounded by an Arab world of autocrats, dictators, despots, and terrorists. Netanyahu praises Arab moderates and statesmen throughout the book and urges further resistance to the destructive undertow of Islamic fundamentalism and terror. Sadat of Egypt saw the wisdom of peace with Israel. He was assassinated by Moslem extremists. The presidents of Lebanon, and the former ruler of Jordan were also assassinated. The chain of political murder and religious assassinations extends throughout the course of Arab history, from Muslim beginnings in the 7th century. Indeed, the Prophet Mohammed is said to have beheaded nine hundred Jewish males who resisted conversion to Islam.
This book is a challenge to one's thinking. It's voluminous and illuminating, one of the best things I've read about the region. Netanyahu is a brilliant historian and an informed political leader. This is an important book, a bright light in the dark night of terror descended upon the world.

Rating:
Summary: Walking the Walk: Israel in the Middle East
Review: In the wake of the 9-11 attacks, it's clear that the Western democracies have something to fear from Middle Eastern terrorism. Unfortunately, the democracies were content to ignore indications elsewhere in the world that the century-old policy of being nice to terrorists would fail. In this book, Benjamin Netanyau uses his powers of persuasion to insure that the Western world understands Israel's position with regard to the Arab countries and its often misunderstood position among the Western alliances. The former prime minister pulls no punches in tracing the history of Israel and the Arab countries. The result is fascinating, fact-filled reading, removed from the litany of clichés generally employed in describing tensions in the region.
Israel never was much appreciated in "Palestine", not since the Romans crushed and expelled them in the year 73 BCE. It was the Romans, says the author, who gave the name 'Palestine' to the areas inhabited by Jew and Arab in the ancient world. The name was a corruption of the word 'Philistine', and was stamped upon the Jews after they were vanquished to extinguish their Hebrew identity. The vanquished Jews, dispersed to the ends of the earth and persecuted to near extinction, yearned always for a return to their ancient homeland. When the Zionist movement accelerated in the early part of the 20th century, the Arabs began a reign of terror which extends into the present and can be witnessed on the nightly news with the bombing of pizza parlors, bat mitzvahs, public markets , shopping malls, and other civilian targets. Yet in one of the most surprising reversals in history, it is the Arabs who are the subject of the world's sympathy. It is the success of the Arab propaganda campaign that Netanyahu attempts to counter in this hard-hitting book.
The PLO can hijack and bomb airliners (Entebbe, an unsuccessful high jacking where the author's brother was killed) and even whole countries (Lebanon) and yet the world continues to speak in cliché of "Israeli aggression" , the "occupied territories", and the "brutality of the Israeli military". The Israelis were widely condemned for "aggression" against Iraq when they bombed and destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor in 1981, well before Saddam invaded Kuwait and engaged in war against the US In spite of current US worries, no retractions have yet been issued for these condemnations, though all the Western world breathes a sigh of relief until the next time Saddam has nuclear resources at his disposal, probably soon. The sum total of the "brutal Israeli bombing attack" on Saddam's reactor? One dead. Sum total of lives that might have been saved by destroying Iraq's reactor? Unknown, but Saddam used poison gas against the Kurds so go figure. After the US rescued Kuwait, that country expelled thousands of Palestinian Arabs who were living there. Did anyone complain of "Kuwaiti brutality" or speak of a separate Palestinian state in Kuwait for those Palestinians? For that matter, Palestinian-Arabs already have their own country: Jordan. The PLO actually is asking for two Palestinian states, says Netanyahu.
The book is full of facts which the West doesn't bother about in exerting pressure upon Israel. Offered a separate Palestinian state in 1948, the Palestinian Arabs said "no" just as Arafat and the PLO said "no" to a recent generous Israeli offer which would have gotten 95 percent of the West Bank and Gaza for a Palestinian-Arab state.
Does it bother anyone that several Arab nations were established by the same United Nations which assisted Israel? Does it bother anyone that the Arabs would not fight for their own liberation during the first world war and left all the fighting and dying to the Jews, the British and the US? Does it bother anyone that the Arab Grand Mufti of Jerusalem went to Hitler and Goebbels offering assistance in destroying the Jews? That even while Jews were being systematically murdered in Europe, the Arabs terrorized the British and other powers in the region in the hope of stopping Jews from saving themselves by retreating to the Jewish National Homeland?
And what about the tiny country itself? With only five million Israelis, approximately one million of whom are Arabs with Israeli citizenship, why does the very existence of this country threaten its gargantuan Arab neighbors? And while Israel confers citizenship on its Arab population, why is it against the law for Jews to live in Arabia, or Jordan? And why does the West condemn apartheid unless it occurs in the Middle East? Apparently there is very little to bother anyone, unless it involves the Jews acting in their own defense in the present struggle to survive three wars, continuous aggressions, terror bombings, and though Netanyahu scarcely mentions it, anti-Semitism.
Yet for all that, Netanyahu understands how intricately the dream of Israel is tied into the fortunes of the western democracies and moderate Arabs. Israel itself is the only democracy in the region, surrounded by an Arab world of autocrats, dictators, despots, and terrorists. Netanyahu praises Arab moderates and statesmen throughout the book and urges further resistance to the destructive undertow of Islamic fundamentalism and terror. Sadat of Egypt saw the wisdom of peace with Israel. He was assassinated by Moslem extremists. The presidents of Lebanon, and the former ruler of Jordan were also assassinated. The chain of political murder and religious assassinations extends throughout the course of Arab history, from Muslim beginnings in the 7th century. Indeed, the Prophet Mohammed is said to have beheaded nine hundred Jewish males who resisted conversion to Islam.
This book is a challenge to one's thinking. It's voluminous and illuminating, one of the best things I've read about the region. Netanyahu is a brilliant historian and an informed political leader. This is an important book, a bright light in the dark night of terror descended upon the world.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific book
Review: This is a brilliant book about the Arab-Israeli conflict. Had people heeded the simple facts it reminds us all of, perhaps the disastrous "Oslo" agreements (and even more disastrous insistence on enforcing only the demands upon Israel, not upon the Arabs) might have been avoided.

The author of this book became the Prime Minister of Israel, and thus the book shows that no one can stand up to the counterproductive pressure that is being applied to Israel. That's bad news for all sides in this dispute unless those of us who wish to resolve the conflict decide to value truth.

Netanyahu starts by reminding us of Israel's size. That's a major point. Given the number of Jews, it is sobering to realize just how little sovereign land they have, and just how little value that land has. It tells us quickly that if one side is being greedy in this conflict, it sure isn't Israel. Netanyhau also reminds us that the land promised to the Jews as a national homeland (not necessarily a state, just land on which Jews would have permanent rights, including rights of immigration) was five times as parge as present-day Israel. Again, exactly which side is being greedy?

The author then traces the history of Zionism, refuting a well-known lie by Arafat that the Zionists stole a verdant land from its age-old native Arab inhabitants. And he then gives a history of the British Mandate, which ended with the British openly supporting Arab opponents of Jewish rights.

Now we get to the meat of the book, namely a refutation of some truly absurd and arbitrary lies that many readers will find tough to believe were ever seriously proposed. The first is "the theory of Palestinian centrality." This is a claim that if one solves the problem of the Levantine Arabs, one can achieve peace in the Middle East! Netanyahu establishes that many people really say this, and he refutes them.

The next Big Lie is a "reversal of causality." It states that the problems of Levantine Arabs are a cause of the Arab attacks on Israel, not a result of them. The author disposes of this lie as well. Once again, the hard part is showing just how seriously some folks repeat this lie.

Next, Netanyahu discusses the problem of the PLO, a terrorist group that claims to be the sole representative of Levantine Arabs. He quite properly calls it a "Trojan horse." And he shows that establishing it as a state in the region is a counterproductive and immoral idea.

The author then addresses the question of how peace can be achieved. He says that for there to be peace, the Arab side must become convinced that aggression will have negative consequences. If most Arabs become convinced of that, they may decide that Israel has a right to exist after all, and that human rights for Jews are not an affront and a casus belli. From here, he argues that Israel needs some strategic depth, otherwise the temptation for Arabs to try to overwhelm it will be irresistable.

Netanyahu then discusses "the demographic demon." He makes some good points here. I think many people use demographics as a preposterous argument that runs something like this: Israel has a vast Empire of nearly 10,000 square miles. Obviously, that is way too big for a mere 11 million Jews, only 5 million of whom live in Israel. Yes, if nature takes its course, the tiny group of Jews will be overwhelmed in numbers by real people, who will outvote them. The tiny group of Jewish oppressors will get what they deserve. They will lose their vast Empire. They ought to quit now, and give away all but a truly tiny amount of land, an amount they can afford!

Of course, both 5 million and 11 million are large numbers, especially when compared to the number of Arabs per square mile of Arab land. It is worth reading what Netanyahu has to say about the argument that Jews aren't numerous enough to have as big a nation as Israel!

Netanyahu concludes that "peace must be built on foundations of security, justice, and above all, truth." He's right. Truth has indeed, as he says, been the first casualty of the Arab war on Israel. He points out that the problem is not territorial but existential. And that the story is of a people seeking to establish its rightful place among the nations. I agree. If our society can't accept the existence of this nation, no nation is safe, and any of them could be the next target.

Rating:
Summary: A Place Among the Nations: Israel and the World
Review: This is an excellent book. It presents both the Israeli side and the truthful side of the Arab-Israeli conflict. For those who doubts Netanyahu or thinks that he is lying, he provides some sources and footnotes that readers can compare and check for themselves. Required reading for those who want to know the truth about the Arab-Israeli conflict.