Uncivil War: The Israel Conflict in the Jewish Community

by Keith Kahn-Harris

Diaspora Jews are no longer unified in their support for Israel. Anger, aggression and verbal abuse between Jews has broken out. Keith Kahn-Harris explores the causes of the conflicts and describes his own efforts at conflict resolution
Analysing the various groupings - left, right, secular and religious, pro and anti-Zionist - in Britain and the USA, he looks at the history of civility in society and examines the different methods used by international organisations and groups involved in developing dialogue within Jewish communities.
He describes, how using these techniques and with expert help, he brought together more than seventy prominent diverse British Jews for a series of encounters. He concludes that dialogue and civility is possible. But with no change in behaviour there will be serious consequences for the Jewish communities of the world.
"A masterful and thoughtful analysis of the various existing positions of Jews and Israel advocates on Israel. This book might just give us the language, the insights – and the pause – for us to do something a little more sensible, before it’s, stupidly, too late. " Clive Lawton - leading Jewish educator and co-foinder of Limmud
"I applaud Keith Kahn-Harris for having the courage to examine this vexatious debate in his richly textured book." Gabrielle Rifkind - Oxford Research Group's Middle East conflict resolution specialist
The relationship between Anglo-Jewry and Israel is perilous, complex terrain - and there are few better placed to navigate it than Keith Kahn-Harris." Jonathan Freedland, Guardian journalist

Dr Keith Kahn-Harris is a sociologist and writer. He is co-author of 'Turbulent The British Jewish Community Today', the author of ' All That Matters' and the editor of the Jewish Journal of Sociology. A regular contributor of articles and reviews to The Guardian. Independent, New Statesman and Society, Jerusalem Post and Haaretz.
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First published February 24, 2014

About the author

I am a sociologist and writer, based in London. An author of seven books, editor of several collections and many articles and reviews, my career bridges academia and multiple other worlds. I've written about denial, Jews, antisemitism, metal - and the multilingual warning messages inside Kinder Surprise Eggs.