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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Nov 14, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><a name=3810484829799130714></a><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Max Blumenthal's Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel - reviews: liberal hypocrisy on Israel <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1OIzSJ8Ux4U/UoSaQh8OVPI/AAAAAAAAIIs/sxEqzN_RgyM/s1600/goliath.jpg"><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=492 height=514 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D0952E.FFCCA3E0" alt="Description: Max Blumenthal's new book"></span></a><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Blumenthal"><span style='color:blue'>Max Blumenthal</span></a>'s <i>Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel</i> is a remarkable and courageous book that reveals hard truths about Israel's dark side. What makes <i>Goliath </i>especially impressive is the amount of time Max Blumenthal spent in Israel and the occupied West Bank in order to gather information and get a first hand understanding. His research shows in the wealth of detail he brings to the book, including key historical information and interviews. <br><br>In a review of <i>Goliath</i> that appeared in Electronic Intifada, Rod Such opens with a few paragraphs that highlight key areas in Blumenthal's book:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>A specter is haunting Israel; it’s the specter of democracy. In Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, the American journalist Max Blumenthal holds up a mirror to Israeli society and reveals the specter of a failed democracy now hurtling toward fascism.<br><br>In 73 chapters and 410 pages, Blumenthal documents the racism that pervades Israeli society and institutions and traces its origins to the Zionist movement’s settler-colonial project to create an ethnocratic state bent on excluding and dispossessing the indigenous Palestinian population. Others have done this before, but several things make Blumenthal’s book unique.<br><br>Based on four years of research, much of it spent in Israel and the occupied West Bank, Goliath may be the most comprehensive survey yet of contemporary Israeli society and politics. At the same time its ability to link the past to the present shows a continuum of racism and authoritarianism throughout Israel’s history.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>Read the rest of the article on EI - <a href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/blumenthals-goliath-holds-mirror-israeli-society/12889"><span style='color:blue'>here</span></a>.<br><br>Predictably Blumenthal has come under attack for exposing the ugly truth behind the propaganda front Israel presents to the world. Some of the attacks have been personal and outright nasty. The detractors include the usual suspects such as Israel's uber-defender Alan Dershowitz who went so far as to call upon the author's Jewish father <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Blumenthal"><span style='color:blue'>Sid Blumenthal</span></a> - a one time aide to Bill Clinton - to disassociate himself from his son's "bigotry." Other detractors include Eric Alterman, a liberal Zionist, who writes for The Nation magazine.<br><br>More on the slings and arrows from Edward Teller at FDL - <a href="http://my.firedoglake.com/edwardteller/2013/11/10/attacks-on-max-blumenthals-goliath-escalate-veer-into-wingnut-land/#more-79917"><span style='color:blue'>here</span></a>.<br><br>There are also those who appreciate the real value of Blumenthal's book. Some of the most insightful commentary is offered by Chris Hedges in <i>The Imploding Myth of Israel</i>. <br><br>Here is an excerpt:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>Israel has been poisoned by the psychosis of permanent war. It has been morally bankrupted by the sanctification of victimhood, which it uses to justify an occupation that rivals the brutality and racism of apartheid South Africa. Its democracy—which was always exclusively for Jews—has been hijacked by extremists who are pushing the country toward fascism. Many of Israel’s most enlightened and educated citizens—1 million of them—have left the country. Its most courageous human rights campaigners, intellectuals and journalists—Israeli and Palestinian—are subject to constant state surveillance, arbitrary arrests and government-run smear campaigns. Its educational system, starting in primary school, has become an indoctrination machine for the military. And the greed and corruption of its venal political and economic elite have created vast income disparities, a mirror of the decay within America’s democracy. <br>--------<br>There are very few intellectuals or writers who have the tenacity and courage to confront this reality. This is what makes <a href="http://maxblumenthal.com/about/"><span style='color:blue'>Max Blumenthal’s</span></a> “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel” one of the most fearless and honest books ever written about Israel. Blumenthal burrows deep into the dark heart of Israel. The American journalist binds himself to the beleaguered and shunned activists, radical journalists and human rights campaigners who are the conscience of the nation, as well as Palestinian families in the West Bank struggling in vain to hold back Israel’s ceaseless theft of their land. Blumenthal, in chapter after chapter, methodically rips down the facade. And what he exposes, in the end, is a corpse. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>More of the article on Truthdig - <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/imploding_the_myth_of_israel_20131103"><span style='color:blue'>here</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> ------- <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>The rest of this post relates to a few thoughts on the media response to what has been transpiring in Israel since the Cast Lead invasion of Gaza. The reception accorded to <i>Goliath</i> has been telling. The book has been underplayed in the mainstream media, all but ignored in some cases. <br><br>When it comes to denial on the subject of Israel and its many failings, liberal apologists may not be as culpable as pro-Israel pundits on the right, but at least the latter are being true to form. Liberals who refuse to call out Israel are hypocrites of the first order. These are often the same people who go to bat for minority rights in the US and Canada, who stand for civil rights and justice on many fronts... but who become oddly muted or understated on the topic of systemic discrimination against Palestinians. A number have been equally understated on other Israel-related issues such as the ethnic cleansing of the Bedouin, the <a href="http://www.drivebyplanet.com/2012/05/racism-in-israel-african-asylum-seekers.html"><span style='color:blue'>targeting of African asylum seekers</span></a> and the disturbing <a href="http://www.drivebyplanet.com/2013/01/depo-provera-injections-of-ethiopian.html"><span style='color:blue'>birth control measures</span></a> used on Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in the ME's alleged citadel of democracy. <br><br>Take the Toronto Star, widely regarded as a liberal newspaper... I'm a regular reader so familiar with both its website and print edition. You could scan the pages of the Star from one month to the next and never find anything approaching a substantive in-depth article, even an op-ed, that rigorously takes on the more odious abuses of power that happen in Israel on a regular basis. It's not as if Israel isn't a hot topic. Even so the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail for that matter, may not be the best bet for depth coverage of what is really going down. Check out Israel's <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/"><span style='color:blue'>Haaretz</span></a> or websites such as the brave Israel-based <a href="http://972mag.com/"><span style='color:blue'>972 mag</span></a> instead.<br><br>The New York Times has a little more credibility on the topic of Israel. It has run op-eds <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/magazine/is-this-where-the-third-intifada-will-start.html"><span style='color:blue'>such as this article</span></a> by Ben Ehrenreich, who also penned an insightful article entitled <i>Zionism is the Problem</i> - <a href="http://www.drivebyplanet.com/2009/03/ben-ehrenreich-zionism-is-problem.html"><span style='color:blue'>here</span></a> - that you are not likely to stumble upon in the Toronto Star as it is presently run. If you do happen to find some rare item buried in the pages of the Star don't look for the same outrage the paper brings to a Rob Ford drinking spree, because you won't find it. <br><br>It's disappointing the extent to which a Canadian newspaper, once known for its tough reporting on Israel, has gone soft on a country that is veering ever more dangerously to the right. If Netanyahu with his inflammatory rhetoric toward Palestinians represents the center you have to wonder what lies to the the right of the spectrum. <br><br>Controversial Israel stories are routinely filtered or entirely ignored in N. American mainstream media. This goes hand-in-glove with the often hostile coverage of protests at home that call out Israel. Around the time of operation Cast Lead in Gaza, the T- Star assigned its uber columnist Rosie DiManno to cover student protests against the war and Israeli apartheid. She accused the protesters not just of being anti-Semitic but of "hyperbolic anti-Semitism." This misrepresented the students' position in addition to being an offensive misuse of the term. I put up <a href="http://www.drivebyplanet.com/2009/03/rosie-dimanno-israel-apartheid-week.html"><span style='color:blue'>this post</span></a> at the time in response to her column. <br><br>Criticism of Israel can be just that. Given the extensive details covered in <i>Goliath</i> there is certainly a large target for activists. Labeling critics as anti-Semitic is equivalent to a McCarthyite smear job... more often than not <a href="http://www.drivebyplanet.com/2007/02/does-criticizing-israel-make-person_6917.html"><span style='color:blue'>an attempt to instill fear... a way to shut people up</span></a>. The truth is Judaism and Zionism are not synonymous and in the opinion of many Orthodox Jews are in fact diametrically opposed to each other. If we're talking about hatred of Jews we need to look elsewhere. There are plenty of websites with comment threads that show anti-Semitism in action... raw, hateful and demeaning commentary aimed squarely at Jews. This is despicable stuff and it is this and similar brands of hate that is anti-Semitic in the most visceral sense.<br><br>Many liberals who speak out against any number of human rights violations in Canada, the US and elsewhere in the world have erected a double standard when it comes to Israel. It isn't because they don't know what is going on. Some are on mute because they are beholden to interests that won't tolerate criticism of Israel. It could affect your job, your contacts, even your reputation. Many see an understated approach as politically expedient. <br><br>None of this is surprising in the current climate. Under Harper, Canada's standing has regressed. A nation that was once internationally respected has a PM who is an Israel-backing, UN-negating pontificator with weird anachronistic hankerings after things British. Former PM Joe Clark said recently that Canada is the country 'that lectures and leaves.' It's time we reclaimed our nation and its integrity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Max Blumenthal discussing his new book Goliath </span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>