Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel

Description

In Goliath, New York Times bestselling author Max Blumenthal takes us on a journey through the badlands and high roads of Israel-Palestine, painting a startling portrait of Israeli society under the siege of increasingly authoritarian politics as the occupation of the Palestinians deepens. Beginning with the national elections carried out during Israel's war on Gaza in 2008-09, which brought into power the country's most right-wing government to date, Blumenthal tells the story of Israel in the wake of the collapse of the Oslo peace process. As Blumenthal reveals, Israel has become a country where right-wing leaders like Avigdor Lieberman and Bibi Netanyahu are sacrificing democracy on the altar of their power politics; where the loyal opposition largely and passively stands aside and watches the organized assault on civil liberties; where state-funded Orthodox rabbis publish books that provide instructions on how and when to kill Gentiles; 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." Immersing himself like few other journalists inside the world of hardline political leaders and movements, Blumenthal interviews the demagogues and divas in their homes, in the Knesset, and in the watering holes where their young acolytes hang out, and speaks with those political leaders behind the organized assault on civil liberties. As his journey deepens, he painstakingly reports on the occupied Palestinians challenging schemes of demographic separation through unarmed protest. He talks at length to the leaders and youth of Palestinian society inside Israel now targeted by security service dragnets and legislation suppressing their speech, and provides in-depth reporting on the small band of Jewish Israeli dissidents who have shaken off a conformist mindset that permeates the media, schools, and the military. Through his far-ranging travels, Blumenthal illuminates the present by uncovering the ghosts of the past—the histories of Palestinian neighborhoods and villages now gone and forgotten; how that history has set the stage for the current crisis of Israeli society; and how the Holocaust has been turned into justification for occupation. A brave and unflinching account of the real facts on the ground, Goliath is an unprecedented and compelling work of journalism. Table of Contents......Page 8 Preface: Covering "Goliath"......Page 16 PART I: THE CAMPAIGNS......Page 18 1. To the Slaughter......Page 20 2. The Peace Camp......Page 23 3. Blood for Votes......Page 26 5. The Hill of Shame......Page 28 5. Hooligans......Page 32 6. Pawns in the Game......Page 34 7. This Man Is Clean......Page 37 8. The Salesman......Page 45 PART II: LAWS OF THE LAND......Page 52 9. Number 1......Page 54 10. Settling in the Hearts......Page 60 11. Banning Books......Page 70 12. The Fortress of Democracy......Page 73 13. Cut Off from the Tribe......Page 81 14. The Robbed Cossack......Page 86 15. Judaization......Page 95 16. Homogeneity......Page 102 17. At the Heavy Gates of Gaza......Page 106 18. Beethoven for Gaza......Page 109 19. The Zionist......Page 112 PART III: PIRATES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN......Page 116 20. Dark Forces......Page 118 21. The People, United......Page 133 22. The Enemies......Page 139 23. By Right and Not Grace......Page 142 24. The Silence of the Lambs......Page 145 25. Defensive Democracy......Page 149 26. Caliber 3: "The Values of Zionism"......Page 157 PART IV: OUTCASTS......Page 160 27. A Lesson in Israeli Democracy......Page 162 28. Just Being a Guy......Page 170 29. Leaving Haifa......Page 175 PART V: WHAT LIES BENEATH THE FOREST......Page 180 30. The Days of '48 Have Come Again......Page 182 31. The Blueprint......Page 187 32. The Summer Camp of Destruction......Page 193 33. Preparing the Land for Jesus......Page 196 34. There Are No Facts......Page 200 PART VI: THE YEAR OF DEMOCRACY......Page 208 35. These Things That Were Done to Us......Page 210 36. The Forbidden Tour......Page 216 37. Bleeding Over the Party......Page 218 38. A Date with the Devil......Page 223 39. Delegitimization......Page 225 40. The Explainers......Page 230 41. The Real Government......Page 236 42. It Is No Dream......Page 241 PART VII: FEELING THE HATE......Page 244 43. Riding the Ass......Page 246 44. The Revolutionaries......Page 251 45. Zion Square......Page 254 46. The Israeli Experience......Page 261 47. Ultras......Page 264 48. The Best Time of Their Lives......Page 267 49. The Base......Page 272 PART VIII: INDOCTRINATION MILLS......Page 278 50. The Prophets......Page 280 51. Change from Within......Page 286 52. The Insiders......Page 289 53. The Hunted......Page 295 54. Canceling th Other Narrative......Page 302 55. The Beauty Brigade......Page 309 56. Lifelong Draftees......Page 312 PART IX: THIS BELONGS TO THE WHITE MAN......Page 318 57. How to Kill Goyim and Influence People......Page 320 58. The Daughters of Israel......Page 330 59. Children Whose Hearts Were Unmoved......Page 338 60. When Kahane Won......Page 342 61. This Belongs to the White Man......Page 347 62. The Concentration Camp......Page 353 63. The Night of Broken Glass......Page 359 PART X: THE BIG QUIET......Page 366 64. The Big Quiet......Page 368 65. The Joint Struggle......Page 376 66. My Mother Before Justice......Page 382 67. The Crazy Village......Page 389 68. Night......Page 395 69. The Children's Court......Page 401 70. The Lovers' Camp......Page 408 71. A Wet Dream......Page 414 72. The Shadows and Mirrors Game......Page 420 73. The Exodus Party......Page 424 Acknowledgments......Page 428 Notes......Page 430 Index......Page 492