A blog about Zionism, Jewish identity, and antisemitism.
© 2023 Michael Jacobson. All rights reserved.
A blog about Zionism, Jewish identity, and antisemitism.
© 2023 Michael Jacobson. All rights reserved.
Can We Talk About Israel?: A Guide for the Curious, Confused and Conflicted, by Daniel Sokatch. Illustrated by Christopher Noxon.
“Can’t you just explain the Israel situation to me? In, like, ten minutes or less?” Daniel Sokatch is used to answering this question on an almost daily basis as the head of the New Israel Fund, an organization dedicated to equality and democracy for all Israelis, not just Jews.
Can We Talk About Israel? is the story of th Israeli-Palestinian conflict, grappling with a century-long struggle between two peoples who both perceive themselves as (and indeed are) victims. And it’s an attempt to explain why Israel (and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) inspires such extreme feelings — why it seems like Israel is the answer to “what is wrong with the world” for half the people in it, and “what is right with the world” for the other half. As Sokatch asks, is there any other topic about which so many intelligent, educated, and sophisticated people express such strongly and passionately held convictions, and about which they actually know so little?
Complete with engaging illustrations by Christopher Noxon, Can We Talk About Israel? is an easy-to-read yet penetrating and original look at the history and basic contours of one of the most complicated conflicts in the world.