My Israel Question

by Antony Loewenstein

A fearless look at the Israel–Palestine conflict, this study investigates how large a factor Zionism plays in this intractable conflict. Spanning the globe from New York and London to Paris and Melbourne, this source discusses Israel–Palestine issues that stem from suicide bombings, military aggressions, and passionate public debates by Holocaust survivors, Zionist organizations, Arab advocates, newspaper columnists, and politicians. This study also considers the historical rationale for Zionism, including the centuries of virulent European anti-Semitism from which it grew, and asks how relevant and sustainable Zionism is in the 21st century.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Middle East, History, Current Affairs, Israel

320 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2007

About the author

Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist, best-selling author, filmmaker and co-founder of Declassified Australia. He's written for The Guardian, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books and many others. His books include The Palestine Laboratory, Pills, Powder and Smoke, Disaster Capitalism and My Israel Question. His documentary films include Disaster Capitalism and the Al Jazeera English films West Africa's Opioid Crisis and Under the Cover of Covid. He was based in East Jerusalem 2016-2020.

Reviews

[Robert Bram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Antony Loewenstein's book is essentially about his staunch opposition to the actions of Zionist lobby groups who are determined to portray all criticism of Israel and its policies as Anti-Semitism, in other words conflating the terms Zionism and Judaism. This is the central, and most powerful, message in this book. Antony Loewenstein shows that because of the concerted lobbying of media and politicians by Zionist lobby groups in Australia, the US and UK, it is very hard to have honest discussion on the conflict between Palestine and Isreal.

I found this book very hard to read, and not just because my usual fare is more in the way of fantasy and science fiction. I felt drawn to this book, but I didn't like reading it and often put it down. This book is a polemic, the seed of which is a conflict so ingrained that a resolution seems impossible. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories is an extremely divisive topic, and I am continually dismayed by stories of the unmitigated hatred that come out of this conflict every week. It is not unique; there are many other conflicts around the world that deliver stories of equally depressing portent, but this is the one I feel closest to, due to my name, my lineage: my own Israel Question.

This book has helped me understand what Zionism is, and how the relationship between Zionism and Judaism involves the longing for a home land - which is what the Palestinian people want too.

There are four main sections to this book, each of which show a different aspect of the same general theme. The first part outlines Antony's family upbringing and how his questioning of faith and politics affected his life. It explores in detail a telling event in recent Australian political history - Hanan Ashrawi winning the Sydney Peace Prize - which was a formative period for the author's own career as a writer. The second part is an excruciating exploration of Zionism and antisemitism, and how criticism of the former is portrayed as an act of the latter in so many different ways. The third part continues this thread, closely examining the role of lobby groups as powerful political motivators that warp this debate all over the world. The fourth part focuses more closely on how this lobby driven bias directly affects the media, making it so much harder to find equilibrium between Israel and Palestine.

There are almost 60 pages of notes and references in this book. They are as fascinating as the text, and show the wide variety of influences that went into what was written. My version was accompanied by a small booklet containing essays of a few selected respondents to this book: Julian Burnside Q.C., Justice Alan Goldberg A.O., Robert Richter O.C., Peter Rodgers and David Marr. Justice Alan Goldberg A.O. called the book diatribe, the others were more positive. Each essay gave a revealing glimpse into the author's history and politics, showing how they have affected and been affected by their Israel Questions.

Read this book to gain insight into the Israeli occupation and the wide ranging political and religious issues that drive the conflict. Read this to understand how critical it is that parties on both sides be able to debate as equals, and how this is perhaps the most difficult goal to achieve.

From my blog: http://robertmarkbram.blogspot.com.au...

[Zainab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fearless indeed! Thorough, comprehensive, and well-organized. This is an important and useful text for understanding the occupation of Palestine today, the history and evolution of Zionism, and the complicity of actors outside Israel from the perspective of a Jewish journalist who simply had a question.

[Reem Alsmaiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

.أتمنى توزيع الكتاب على كل مشكك بعدالة القضية الفلسطينية وإجباره على قراءته
في الحقيقة قبل قراءتي للكتاب لم أكن أعرف تأثير اللوبي الصهيوني في أستراليا على سياسات الدولة الخارجية، لكنني استخلصت أنه مؤثر بدرجة أقل من نظيره الأمريكي الذي يكاد أن يكون متحكم العالم!
أثبت لي الكاتب إمكانية الإعلام والصحافة في بناء أفكار أجيال بأكملها، وكيف يمكن تشويه الحقيقة تماماً لغسل أدمغة البشر
أقف احتراماً لهذا الكاتب اليهودي المؤمن بعدالة هذه القضية والمؤمن المدافع عن حقوق الفلسطينيين أكثر من بعض العرب!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for everyone who wishes to understand the Israel/Palestine conflict and also for those that have no interest in it. This conflict shapes our media and society here in Australia too, and this book is compelling and easy to read. This book will change you. It is important to understand the biases, prejudices and corruption of Zionism that perpetuate evil by the State of Israel.

[Tasneem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by Sydney based journalist, Antony Loewenstein; 'My Israel Question' is the most important book on the topics of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Israeli lobby ever written by an Australian.

[Marcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping and thinking this book would be something other than what it is. I was looking forward to an introspective narrative about a journalist unlearning his Zionism. While there are small parts of the book that do go into that story, most of the book explores aspects of Palestinian-Zionist history as well as how the media represent it in the West and how Zionist lobbying organizations enable the apartheid and ethnic cleansing. It was a lot of rehashed material that was perhaps new to his Aussie readers, and the parts about Australia were new to me, but the rest of it felt redundant.

[Nasser Alkhateeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving every page I turn, full of facts and stark contrasts and mind blowing comparisons in the timeline of the middle east/palestine crisis.

Antony Lowenstien is very brave for having written this book.

[Swiftsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great read!
Clarified so many of my questions regarding the conflict and kept me bringing up more and more relevant questions.
Couldn't have found a better book to help me with my Extended Essay. :)

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably shouldn't rate this as I didn't finish it. Not because it wasn't good, but mostly because I'd followed the debates and heard all this before. So it wasn't opening my eyes to much, And there are so many other things to read.
But if you're interested in this debate, this is w great start.

[Jaqui Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting book and helpful for anyone wanting to understand more about what's
going on between Israel and the Palestinians AND the world Jewish community.
At a top level it's a clear exploration of the difference between Zionism and being a Jew...and that the two are not the same thing.

It explores the division within the Jewish community mostly here in Australia and between the diaspora Jewish community v those living in Israel.

Given the events of the past 6 months in Israel and Gaza/the West Bank and Lebanon, this book is a worthwhile exploration the discussion, or not as the facts may be, about Israel's approach
to Palestinian statehood. In fact, much of the book is about how how Jewish people who don't agree with the Zionist approach to Israel are more often than not bullied and disowned by their own families and community.

It also discusses the existence of the Jewish lobby group in Australia and it's impact on the media and political reporting and support of Israel.

It's clearly not going to be comfortable reading for many Jewish people but I found it interesting and provides a different perspective on this issue.

It was written well before the 2023/2024 events and I found myself wanting to know what Loewenstein would make of these so have subscribed to his newsletter to find out.

[Anastasios Moralis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the third edition of this book and found it fascinating.

Chapter 4 will contain little that is new for anyone that has done any reading about Palestine, but the rest of the book is an eye-opener. While still US-Israel-centric, the Australian author brings in a lot of well researched information from Australia and particularly Melbourne.

While I was already aware of many of Israel's human rights violations and falsehoods concerning their illegal occupation of the West Bank, Lowenstein brings in a lot of little known information exposing new details of the crimes and the lies.

This is a very well written and well researched book about the many successes (and few failures) of the pro-Israel PR machine in the US, Europe and Australia.

[Clare Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very important read for me as I try to understand the conflict in between Israel/ Palestine. It was easy to read and covers topics such as the Australian media, politicians and their role in this devastating, forever war. It was good to read about the Palestines present life and the fight for independence and their land. I would highly recommend this book.

[Jas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. I'm late to read it (published in 2006) but still, sadly, very relevant today. I learnt a lot more about the various pressues of the Zionist lobby in Australia from twenty years ago. Highly recommend this for Australians!

[Shahira alturkmani · Rating 3 out of 5]

انتهيت من كتاب #قضيتي_ضد_إسرائيل
by#Antony_Loewenstein
‎ أنطوني_لوينستاين#
أنتوني لوينستين كان شجاعا للغاية بطرحه وكتابته هذا الكتاب.كتاب أوضح الكثير من القضايا المتعلقة بالنزاع وجعلني أطرح المزيد والمزيد من الأسئلة ذات الصلة.
يدور كتاب أنتوني لوينشتاين بشكل أساسي حول معارضته الشديدة لأعمال مجموعات اللوبي الصهيونية المصممة على تصوير كل انتقادات لإسرائيل وسياساتها على أنها معاداة للسامية ، وبعبارة أخرى الخلط بين مصطلحي الصهيونية واليهودية. هذه هي الرسالة المركزية والأقوى في هذا الكتاب. يوضح أنتوني لوينشتاين أنه بسبب الضغط المنسق لوسائل الإعلام والسياسيين من قبل مجموعات الضغط الصهيونية في أستراليا والولايات المتحدة والمملكة المتحدة ، من الصعب جدًا إجراء مناقشة صادقة حول الصراع بين فلسطين وإسرائيل.
بذرة هذا الكتاب هو الصراع المتأصل للغاية بحيث يبدو معه الحل مستحيلاً. الاحتلال الإسرائيلي للأراضي الفلسطينية هو موضوع خلافي للغاية
هناك أربعة أقسام رئيسية لهذا الكتاب ، كل منها يظهر جانبًا مختلفًا من نفس الموضوع العام. يوجز الجزء الأول نشأة عائلة أنطوني وكيف أثر تشكيكه في الإيمان والسياسة على حياته. يستكشف بالتفصيل حدثًا مهمًا في التاريخ السياسي الأسترالي الحديث - فازت حنان عشراوي بجائزة سيدني للسلام - والتي كانت فترة تكوينية لمهنة المؤلف نفسها ككاتب. الجزء الثاني هو استكشاف مؤلم للصهيونية ومعاداة السامية ، وكيف يتم تصوير نقد الأول على أنه فعل من أعمال الأخير بطرق مختلفة. الجزء الثالث يتابع هذا الخيط ، ويختبر عن كثب دور مجموعات الضغط كمحفزات سياسية قوية تشوه هذا الجدل في جميع أنحاء العالم. يركز الجزء الرابع عن كثب على كيفية تأثير التحيز الذي يدفعه هذا اللوبي بشكل مباشر على وسائل الإعلام ، مما يجعل من الصعب جدًا إيجاد توازن بين إسرائيل وفلسطين.
يوجد ما يقرب من 60 صفحة من الملاحظات والمراجع في هذا الكتاب.
اقرأ هذا الكتاب للحصول على نظرة ثاقبة للاحتلال الإسرائيلي والقضايا السياسية والدينية الواسعة النطاق التي تدفع الصراع ولفهم مدى أهمية أن تكون الأطراف من كلا الجانبين قادرة على النقاش على قدم المساواة ، وكيف أن هذا ربما يكون أصعب هدف بالإمكان تحقيقه.
فعلا أنطوني لوينستاين كان بلا خوف حقا! كتاب وشامل وجيد التنظيم. هذا نص مهم ومفيد لفهم احتلال فلسطين اليوم ، وتاريخ الصهيونية وتطورها ، وتواطؤ الفاعلين خارج إسرائيل من منظور صحفي يهودي كان لديه سؤال ببساطة.
أعيب على الكتاب الإطالة لإثبات نفس النقطة و لكني
‎أقف احتراماً لهذا الكاتب اليهودي المؤمن بعدالة هذه القضية والمؤمن المدافع عن حقوق الفلسطينيين بأسلوب إنساني متوازن
⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Chirag]

haven't read it, but gave this talk on dec 5, 2008 in nyc:

Reading: Antony Loewenstein "The Blogging Revolution"
With the advent of decentralized publishing with a wide reach (think: the interweb!), blogging has become a important tool for international reporting. In "The Blogging Revolution," Antony Loewenstein investigates the impacts of blogging on state authority and mass media in propagating truth. Loewenstein is an Australian journalist and the author of "My Israel Question."

[Muhannad Asad]

بشهادةٍ تدعمُها الأدلَّةُ والبراهينُ يُدين شاهدٌ أهله.كاتب يهودي يخرق جدار الصمت ويُبدي تعاطفه الشديد مع قضية فلسطين ويعرّي وحشية الصهاينة من الداخل في تعاملهم مع الشعب الفلسطيني ويحاول أن يغيِّر الصورة الراسخة في أذهان الغالبية العظمى

[lovely-dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alternative voice to be heard

[Gamal soliman · Rating 3 out of 5]

وشهد شاهد من أهلها
تحدث الكاتب عن جرائم بنى قومه ضد العرب بشجاعه يحسد عليها