Sam Bahour
Book review of What is Modern Israel? by Yakov M. Rabkin
As someone who gives political talks from a Palestinian vantage point to groups traveling through Palestine, I have spoken to thousands of Jews, among others, from around the world. I walked away from reading Professor Yakov M. Rabkin’s What is Modern Israel? with the burning desire to call back every one of those Jewish travelers and sit down with them, one on one over a hot cup of mint tea — so that I could read them each of his chapters aloud, looking up and into their eyes at the end of every chapter to ask somberly, Do you get it now? You’ve been had, collectively. You’ve been lied to, collectively. You’re being used, collectively. Your religion, a rich one, has been hijacked, purposely.
The book starts with an odd note of comparison between modern Israel and the Russian port city of Saint Petersburg. Professor Rabkin cites the words of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–81) who described Saint Petersburg as the “most abstract and premeditated city in the whole wide world.” In a radio interview, Rabkin recalled Israeli poet and author Benjamin Harshav’s depiction of the city as “artificial” and “inhospitable”; Russia’s greatest authors “saw the city of majestic elegance as an incongruous intruder, both foreign and strange, prophesying a dreadful end in the form of nature’s revenge.” The comparison with Saint Petersburg’s suffered beginnings is related to “the cost in human lives [caused by the] Zionist enterprise.”
As it happens, Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Leningrad (1924–1991), was Rabkin’s birthplace. Born and educated in the former Soviet Union, today he is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Montreal; his research interests relate to the history of the Soviet Union and the consequences of its dismemberment, the contemporary history of the Jews and the history of Zionism and the State of Israel, and the sciences and education as factors in international relations. He has studied Judaism at the Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim, the Pardes Institute, the Shalom Hartman Institute and the Bet Morasha Centre for Advanced Jewish…
Современный Израиль привлекает большое внимание аналитиков и общественности, но понять его мешают идеология, предрассудки и мифы. Зачастую к обсуждению Израиля подходят осторожно, чтобы не быть обвиненными в антисемитизме. В одной из предыдущих статей я объясняю, что отличает антисионизм от антисемитизма. Однако основная трудность в понимании Израиля состоит в привычной ассоциации этого государства в Западной Азии с евреями. […]
(240812) — GAZA, Aug. 12, 2024 (Xinhua) — People flee from the Hamad City, a neighborhood in the northwest of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on Aug. 11, 2024, following the latest evacuation order issued by the Israeli authorities. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) (Image by Xinhua) Modern Israel attracts much attention from […]
(Image by Prensa Latina) Every year, Jews recite the entire Pentateuch aloud in synagogues. It is divided in weekly portions. Last week’s one (Vaet’hanan, Deuteronomy 3 :23 – 7 :11) contains passages that are central to Jewish liturgy, including the Shema, a declaration of loyalty to God, or more precisely, a declaration of love […]
Este artículo también está disponible en: Inglés, Francés Lakhta Center at night (Imagen de Wikipedia) La conferencia de prensa de Vladimir Putin con los responsables de las agencias internacionales de noticias a principios de este mes, recibió una cobertura mediática importante. Gran parte de la atención se centró en su respuesta a una periodista británica sobre el […]
Yakov Rabkin L’auteur est professeur émérite d’histoire à l’Université de Montréal et associé au CERIUM, Centre d’études et de recherchesinternationales.Publié le 13 juin Idées Idées La conférence de presse du président russe, Vladimir Poutine , avec les directeurs d’agences depresse mondiales célébrée au début du mois a fait l’objet d’une couverture médiatique importante. L’attention s’est […]
Nahostkonflikt: Antizionismus ist nicht Antisemitismus. Und die meisten Zionisten sind keine Juden. Antisemitismus ist momentan ständig in den Schlagzeilen. Israels Premier nennt nicht nur den Vorwurf, Israel begehe in Gaza einen Genozid antisemitisch, sondern auch amerikanische Studierende, die einen Waffenstillstand fordern. Was Israel tut, provoziert in der Tat antisemitische Akte gegen Synagogen, jüdische Schulen und […]
Антисемитизм выходит сегодня на первые полосы газет западных стран. Премьер-министр Израиля называет антисемитскими обвинения в том, что Израиль совершает геноцид в Газе, и даже призывы к прекращению огня. В то же время военные действия Израиля провоцируют действительно антисемитские нападения на синагоги, еврейские школы и даже на отдельных евреев. Поэтому важно понять, что такое антисемитизм и […]
Çeviren: Ersin Aslıtürk Orijinal Fransızca versiyonu: https://www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opinions/2024-05-07/antisemitisme-et-antisionisme/un-amalgame-qui-mine-la-paix-sociale.php Antisemitizm sürekli manşetlere çıkıyor. İsrail Başbakanı, İsrail’in Gazze’de soykırım yaptığı yönündeki suçlamaları ve hatta ateşkes çağrısı yapan Amerikalı öğrencileri de Yahudi düşmanı olarak tanımlıyor. İsrail’in yaptığı şey aslında sinagoglara, Yahudi okullarına ve hatta bireysel olarak Yahudilere karşı antisemit eylemleri kışkırtmak. Bu nedenle antisemitizmin ne olduğunu, ne olmadığını ve antisiyonizmden nasıl […]
This post is also available in: Spanish, French Anti-Semitism is making the headlines. The Israeli Prime Minister describes as anti-Semitic the accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and even American students who are calling for a ceasefire. What Israel is doing does in fact provoke anti-Semitic acts against synagogues, Jewish schools and even individual Jews. […]
El antisemitismo ocupa los titulares. El primer ministro israelí califica de antisemita la acusación de que Israel está cometiendo un genocidio en Gaza, e incluso los estudiantes en varios países que piden un alto el fuego. Lo que Israel está haciendo provoca de hecho actos antisemitas dirigidos contra sinagogas y escuelas judías. Por tanto, es […]
L’antisémitisme fait les manchettes des journaux. Le premier ministre israélien qualifie d’antisémite l’accusation qu’Israël réalise un génocide à Gaza, voire les étudiants partout dans le monde qui demandent le cessez-le-feu. La guerre dans la bande de Gaza provoque en effet des actes antisémites visant des synagogues et des écoles juives. Il est donc important de […]
Reflections on Avi Shlaim, Three Worlds : Memoirs of an Arab-Jew, London: Oneworld, 2023, 324 pp. During my stay in Iran in 2016, I heard from several Muslims that Jews are good businessmen because they are trustworthy, and their word weighs more than a notarized contract. I recalled these comments when I read about Yusef, one of […]