Israel (Modern Nations of the World)

Rating:
Summary: Not recommended
Review: This unattractive children's book about Israel presents some peculiar ideas. On the first page the author declares that "some" people "question Israel's right to exist." That same first page claims that Zionists wanted Israel "to belong to the Jews alone," and are to blame for current political conflicts. The second page says that "a bloody War of Independence over control of the region took place upon the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948," not seeing fit to reveal that the only reason there was a "bloody war" is that the Arabs would not accept a Jewish state and invaded. Two pages later, the author states that even though Israel has "democratic institutions," it is not really a democracy, since allegedly "religious law, as interpreted by very strict Orthodox rabbis from biblical texts, takes precedence" over laws passed by Israel's Parliament. These "Jewish ways," declares the author, are just "a bit old-fashioned and out of touch." Not only is the author's depiction of modern Israeli history skewed, her description of Jewish life in the diaspora is peculiar: "Because they continued to follow Jewish laws regarding what they ate" as well as "who they would and would not marry, they tended to stick out wherever they went." Moreover, because their "different practices often made interaction [with Gentiles] difficult," Jews "often did not object to being isolated in their own neighborhoods." In other words, Jews were herded into ghettos in Europe really by their very own choice. There are many better choices available for children's books on this subject; this one is not recommended.