Israeli Exceptionalism

This book discusses the small band of European Zionists, who entered the world stage in late 19th century, determined to create a Jewish state and considers how, at that time in Europe, Jewish-Gentile frictions were local problems, whilst today in Israel they have come to form the pivot of global conflict.

"Alam writes with keen purpose and with an ethical point of view, one opposed to the injustices inscribed in Zionist logic, and one that is unfortunately still marginalized in North America." - Foreign Policy Journal

"Israeli Exceptionalism is not only a must read, it is a must-think-about book. To add intellectual spice, every chapter starts with a few quotes of prominent individuals related to the topic at hand. Reading these quotes alone speak volumes of the human tragedy that Zionism evokes." - Sam Bahour, Arab News

"Israeli Exceptionalism is nearly the best introduction to Zionism there is" - Holy Land Studies

"This is a critically important book. It enhances and expands on the groundbreaking message of Shlomo Sand s work. If Sand shows that Jews were not a people until Zionism created them as such, Alam shows this also and goes well beyond to show how Zionism and its manufactured nation went about dispossessing and replacing the Palestinians and winning all-important Western support for Israel and its now 60-year-old exclusionary colonialism. " - Counterpunch

"There is no doubt that many will consider[this] book to be controversial, and most will consider it provocative. Nobody will think it is un-interesting or irrelevant. It is novel in insights, keen in analysis, and sharp in language. The dominant discourse in the West, certainly in the US, about the Arab-Israeli conflict is usually simplistic, often cowardly, and almost always tendentious.Alam s counter-narrative, in spite of its indignant tone and grim prognosis, is a brave and bracing antidote to much mainstream blather on the subject." - Informed Comment, review by Ahrar Ahmad

"M. Shahid Alam's book is a splendid read - lively, engaging, and thought provoking. It competently penetrates, as will as demystifies, one of the most well packaged ideological myths of our times - Israel as a benevolent, civilized, moral national project and shows clearly its darker side, especially as it pertains to Palestinians who have been the major victims of this myth. Alam offers us a passionate plea for a much needed provincializing of Israeli discourse, one that in the United States monopolizes the public sphere. This book is truly a sobering analysis for all those who believe in this myth." - Khaldoun Samman, Associate Professor of Sociology and Program Director of the Middle East Studies and Islamic Civilization program at Macalester College and author of Clash of Modernities: The Islamist Challenge and the Making and Unmaking of the "New" Jew, Arab, and Turk

"This book should be read because it describes, with remarkable historical insight, why the current crusade of the West and the Zionists beckons dangers that we all need to understand, urgently." - John Pilger, Journalist, writer and documentary filmmaker

"M. Shahid Alam is a marvelous writer dealing with some of the most pressing problems facing both the United States and the Moslem world.In this book, exploring the tragedy inherent in the history of Zionism, Alam reveals to us how anti-Semitism and Zionism have evolved into an unholy alliance that now constitutes a major threat to world peace.For those seeking insight into this threat, Alam's book is a must read. " - Lawrence Davidson, Professor of History, West Chester University

M. SHAHID ALAM is Professor of Economics at Northeastern University, USA.