Publius

LOL well I didnt because this book is german propaganda blaming the Jews for all the worlds problems. Although Ralph Schoenman is not a jew, Robert Friedman is, or should I say was, he died late last year. The distinction that you missed and that should be made here is between Jews and Zealots. While the Zealots in Isreal make up only about 20% of the population and they play a very significant role in Israeli policy especially towards Palestine. As much as we might like to think otherwise, the problems between Israel, Palestine, and the rest of the middle east are largely part of a religious war between the various fundimentalists groups in the religions sects in this region, ie Jews, Christians, Muslims and others. To compare this situation with racial discrimination is an injustice because it over simplifies the problem. Yes, I am saying that racial discrimination is simplistic compared to the religious make-up in this region. Additionally, I would like to clairify a term that is often used incorrectly. Semite refers to the people who live in the middle east and share a common language. Jews as well as most Arabs are Semites, so to call someone an anti-semite means that they hate both Jews and Arabs. So it is unlikely that either a Jew or an Arab would be an Anti-Semite themselves.

Let me further state that I am in no way attempting to justify or condone the actions of the Palestinian terror groups. But by the same token I do not support the way in which Israel has treated its Arab neighbors. Both sides are equally guilty of horrible crimes, but unfortunatly here in the US we usually only hear about the crimes commited by the Palestinian terrorist because the media largly ignores the actions of the Zionist terrorists. I recommended these two books because they show the other side of the story, the side we don't hear unless we go looking for it. Both of these books try to be objective about the situation, but you must keep in mind that this is next to impossible. One's own oppinions will always have an impact on one's writtings no matter how objective one thinks themself to be. (myself included)

As I stated previously, I used both of these books as sources for a term project for one of my middle eastern studies classes. (note. because I am new I suppose I should explain that I am a dual major in political science and philosophy) The purpose of the paper was to choose books about the particular problems in the middle east and then critically analize the information contained there in. Although there are some obvious political leanings in both books, the factual evidence stated therein is all true and can be verified with minimal effort both in Israeli and US media. (again, Im a college student so minimal is best cause Im lazy) So, as I previously stated I recommend that everyone who is interested in the subject read these books, critically, and check out the sources for your self. You will be surprised by what you learn.