Bestselling author presents “Goliath” on Israel

Cristina Garcia/Staff Writer 

Amidst news of the American Studies Association’s academic boycott of the State of Israel, today a new voice enters the conversation.

Students for Justice in Palestine is proud to present Max Blumenthal, American journalist and New York Times bestselling author, to enlighten Panthers of the reality on the ground in Israel and Palestine. Blumenthal’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, The Nation, The Guardian, Al Jazeera English and many other publications.

As part of a nation-wide tour, Blumenthal, will be visiting Modesto A. Maidique to speak about his latest book, “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Israel.”

According to Publishers Weekly, “the book takes the Israelis to task for their racist and proto-fascist tendencies.”

The book begins in 2008, during Israel’s war on Gaza, detailing the development of Israel after the collapse of the Oslo peace process. Blumenthal reveals that the right-wing government has turned the State of Israel turned into a space where civil liberties are targeted and racism abounds. It is a space where “half of Jewish youth declare their refusal to sit in a classroom with an Arab; and where mob violence targets Palestinians and African asylum seekers scapegoated by leading government officials as ‘demographic threats,’” as stated in the book’s overview.

On his personal web site, Blumenthal wrote about various responses his book received.

Blumenthal wrote that J.J. Goldberg, an editor from the Jewish Daily Forward, was very critical of the book. According to Blumenthal, he complained about the chapter titles and the content, “but makes no attempt to present what [he] actually wrote in them or why they are titled as they are.” For instance, Goldberg claimed Blumenthal did not address “rockets bombarding Negev towns,” when in fact Blumenthal “‘wrote on the first page of [his] book that ‘Hamas’ armed wing…fired dozens of rockets’ in November 2008.” Goldberg added that “outside of the far-left and anti-Israel blogosphere,” “Goliath” was ignored.

However, reactions from others like Akiva Eldar, an Israeli journalist and author who for over 30 years served as chief political columnist for Haaretz, told a different story.

“A significant part of [Goliath’s] strength lies in the effect that is naturally created when a foreign correspondent describes the reality of your life and surroundings,” she wrote in Al Monitor. According to SJP, the book “exposes the myth of Israeli democracy as [Blumenthal] describes the horrific politics behind Israel’s military assault on Gaza.”

Shalom FIU supported the University’s stance against the academic boycott, stating harm would come to both FIU and Israeli universities if they did support it. However, within the first few chapters, an Israeli university is accounted as standing up for itself.

Within the chapter titled “Hill of Shame,” Blumenthal mentions Haifa University — where 20 percent of students are Arabs, the highest percentage of any Israeli university  — actively and publicly supporting Israel.

Besides breaking up peaceful demonstrations, the school made an announcement that said “As a show of solidarity with [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers fighting in Gaza and residents of the south […], the University of Haifa has made its central tower into a national flag […]. The university is not an ivory tower and is inseparably connected to the community.”

Much is left to be said about Israel, the treatment of Palestinians and a university’s political role. The book serves as background for Panthers to discuss all this and more.

To continue the conversation, you can go to Graham Center 150 at 4 p.m. The event will provide free food, drinks and a chance to discuss these issues along with Blumenthal’s book with your peers.

cristina.garcia@fiusm.com