We Are Not One, Eric Alterman
We Are Not One, Eric Alterman
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We Are Not One
A History of America’s Fight Over Israel

Author: Eric Alterman

Narrator: David Colacci

Unabridged: 19 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/14/2023


Synopsis

A bestselling historian uncovers the surprising roots of America's long alliance with Israel and its troubling consequences

Fights about the fate of the state of Israel, and the Zionist movement that gave birth to it, have long been a staple of both Jewish and American political culture. But despite these arguments' significance to American politics, American Jewish life, and to Israel itself, no one has ever systematically examined their history and explained why they matter.

In We Are Not One, historian Eric Alterman traces this debate from its nineteenth-century origins. Following Israel's 1948–1949 War of Independence (called the "nakba" or "catastrophe" by Palestinians), few Americans, including few Jews, paid much attention to Israel or the challenges it faced. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, however, almost overnight support for Israel became the primary component of American Jews' collective identity. Over time, Jewish organizations joined forces with conservative Christians and neoconservative pundits and politicos to wage a tenacious fight to define Israel's image in the United States media, popular culture, Congress, and college campuses. Deeply researched, We Are Not One reveals how our consensus on Israel and Palestine emerged and why, today, it is fracturing.

About Eric Alterman

Eric Alterman is a CUNY distinguished professor of English at Brooklyn College and holds a PhD in United States history from Stanford University. A contributing writer to the Nation and the American Prospect, he is the author of eleven previous titles, including the New York Times bestseller What Liberal Media?: The Truth About Bias and the News. He lives in New York.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Michael

The thing about the Israel-Palestine debate in contemporary American Judaism is that there is no such thing. The matter is settled. American Jews are supposed to shut up, get in line, and support Israel no matter what. And despite large divergences in culture and politics, aside from some quiet grum......more

Goodreads review by Alexis

This is brilliant and essential. Alterman takes aim squarely at the mythos of the Israel-US relationship and its effect on the Jewish community. He's on the left, and AIPACers will despise this book, which shows the US government as effectively weak and helpless. Alterman largely avoids the worst pit......more

Goodreads review by Preston

This book left me speechless. It is a journalistic achievement in every sense. Eric Alterman weaves an engaging web of connections between wealthy donors, American evangelical and Jewish organizations, and statesmens' manipulations where the now-falling PR status of america's long-time ally makes sen......more

Goodreads review by Bruin

This is most certainly NOT an easy, unbiased read. But if you’re willing to learn from a journalist turned media critic. The PR part of the story is interesting for crisis comms folks.......more

Goodreads review by Clif

Zionism, with only minority support within Judaism, was limping in its project to create a homeland for Jews in Palestine prior to WW2. Though anti-semitism remained widespread across the Western world, it took the horror of the holocaust to make the issue undeniable, demanding action. But again acro......more