We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel
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 US 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. 

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We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel
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 US 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. 

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We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel

We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel

by Eric Alterman
We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel

We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel

by Eric Alterman

Hardcover

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Overview

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 US 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. 


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780465096312
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 11/22/2022
Pages: 512
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

About The Author
Eric Alterman is a CUNY distinguished professor of English at Brooklyn College and holds a PhD in US 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. 

Table of Contents

Introduction: Working on a Dream 1

Chapter 1 Zionism for Thee, but Not for Me 19

Chapter 2 The Horror 31

Chapter 3 In the Arena 45

Chapter 4 Jew vs. Jew 75

Chapter 5 Standing Up and Standing Down 83

Chapter 6 A New "Bible" 99

Chapter 7 Six Days That Shook the World 117

Chapter 8 A Jew (and an Antisemite) for All Seasons 147

Chapter 9 "Zionism Is (Not) Racism" 165

Chapter 10 A Separate Peace 181

Chapter 11 Alliance for Armageddon 205

Chapter 12 War: What Is It Good For? 231

Chapter 13 "Fuck the Jews" 259

Chapter 14 Discourse Matters 269

Chapter 15 The Consequences of Chaos 289

Chapter 16 Wars of Words 305

Chapter 17 "Basically, a Liberal Jew" 329

Chapter 18 Coming Unglued 365

Conclusion: Not "Over" 395

Acknowledgments 423

Notes 427

Index 489

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