Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. What a powerful, important read for anyone who is invested in understanding the dynamics of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from a number of perspectives. Highly recommend.

For many weeks, I hesitated to request the ARC of "Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza": I wasn't at all sure that I was the right reviewer, being neither Jewish nor Israeli nor Palestinian. And maybe I was right, maybe I'm not the right reviewer, but here I am anyway.

I'm familiar with the history of European anti-Semitism and fairly familiar with the history of Israel's foundation and the expulsion of the Palestinians, as well as their subsequent existence under what can only be called apartheid. (See, for example, Nathan Thrall's A Day in the Life of Abed Salama.) But, like many non-Jews, I've found it almost impossible to talk about Gaza or even to think about it. Was it for me to name Israel's actions genocide? Was it for me, not only as a non-Jew and non-Palestinian but also as someone of Eastern European ancestry, to do so?

Then I read a Columbia Journalism Review interview with Beinart and decided to request this book after all. I am very glad that I did.

Beinart is remarkable not in having been publicly, spectacularly, catastrophically wrong (he supported the US invasion of Iraq, as did plenty of other commentators), but in publicly admitting and attempting to account for his bad judgment (in which he's among a vanishingly small minority of commentators). I thought I could count on him to bring honesty and moral clarity to a discussion of Zionism, statism, the atrocities of October 7, and the subsequent obliteration of Gaza, and I was right.

Beinart's argument in this book is specifically Jewish -- that is, he adduces Jewish theology and Jewish history to make the claim (unanswerable, to my mind) that Zionism as presently constituted is morally wrong. He doesn't apply the word "genocide" to describe Israel's actions in Gaza, not because he disagrees that it's genocide but because he hopes (however faintly) to persuade readers who would otherwise, figuratively, walk away without troubling to listen.

I took comfort in "Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza." This might seem surprising -- I was certainly surprised -- but at this juncture in US and world politics, to spend time in the intellectual presence of someone who acknowledges his moral failures and proceeds to make amends for them is a balm to the soul.

"In Jewish tradition, states have no inherent value. States are not created in the image of God; human beings are. States are mere instruments. They can protect human flourishing, or they can destroy it. If they do the latter, they should be reconstituted to make them more respectful of human life. The legitimacy of a Jewish state— like the holiness of the Jewish people— is conditional on how it behaves."

This is a short book -- half its length is taken up with Beinart's source notes -- and, yes, everyone should read it.

Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC.

Timely, empathetic, and honest. Beinart offers a nuanced reading on Palestine-Israel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the advanced copy!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy.

I'm delighted the book exists. For years I've been wondering if I'm going to have to be the one to step up and be the South African Jew who draws the direct parallel.

The major pitfall of the book and its argument is the anti-communism and the unwillingness to address other settler-colonies. At one point, there is the sentence "If Jewish Israelis are settlers because their state displaced a native population, then so are American, Canadian, Australians, Argentines, and many others." This is obvious. It seems to me to be a blatant oversight to make one-to-one comparisons between Israelis, Afrikaners, white US southerners, etc etc. and then fall short of realising that the common thread is that these populations are settler populations, and the text suffers for it.

Nonetheless, demand for the book is very much there in my library system, and I'm proud of my city for it. While I personally find the text to be far too liberal for my taste, I am really happy to see a book that I can recommend and cite for aspects of my own views.

This shouldn't be the first thing you read about Gaza, as it's not a history of what has happened. This is more of an exploration of what Israel's effort to wipe a people off the face of the earth means for the Jewish people. Beinart is thoughtful and this is obviously a heartfelt and balanced effort. Well worth reading.

Making the argument that Israel has overstepped the bounds of humanitarianism and has fought a war to destroy its enemy, Hamas ( which he equates with Gaza) journalist Peter Beinart takes a stand that.the perception of victimization is no excuse for the continuation of Israeli Hamas war. This was very difficult for me to read as the initial slaughter of innocent Israeli dancers and party goers seems to have escaped his observations and conscience There are many varied viewpoints on this topic. I prefer a more balanced approach. I do not recommend this one sided position paper. My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishers for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I appreciate the opportunity to read and receive this ARC from NetGalley, the publisher, author, etc.

I definitely wanted to take my time reading this, so I made sure to highlight and take lots of notes. While there are a few sections that had me side eye-ing, overall it was one of the most empathetic and concise writings on the topic that I’ve read. The author made important notes that being victimized in the past doesn’t not preclude you from causing harm to others. The oppressed becoming the opresor is almost worse imho, because you know what it’s like and yet you have allowed yourself to inflict that horror onto others. I appreciated that while the author had lots of facts and figures, his writing also lead with empathy which is often lacking in scholarly texts.

The length of the book was prefect. The author hits a lot of points without rambling, including only the most pertinent info. I feel like this should be required reading, especially for Americans whose goverment and tax dollars are widely funding the genocide.

This is what I had a gripe with: On 71-73 the author goes on a little blurb somewhat defending/empathizing with Jewish Israelis. (Though I acknowledge I could have misunderstood the writing) He says, “If Jewish Israelis are settlers because their state displaced a native population, then so are Americans, Canadians, Australians…” which… yes- exactly! They/we are settlers! There is an inherent violence from being a settler in stolen land that we cannot deny. What makes loyal Israeli settlers so sinister (besides actively endorsing their governments apartheid and genocide) is that it’s one of the most recent in history. Palestinians still have the keys to their homes that were stolen and there are still Israelis alive today that have done the stealing of the homes. Thus their children and grandchildren’s existence in these stolen houses makes their complacency more relevant. Most white American are incredibly complacent in the genocide of Native Americans through their lineage. And while I do realize that children have little say in where they live in the world, let’s not act like there aren’t several images of Israeli children signing bombs that would be dropped on Palestinian children.The author goes on to say, “I wish leftist activists more often acknowledged that there’s a cultural Zionism..” and, “Treating Zionist students as pariahs is both unfair and counterproductive.” *cue tiny violin* while yes I understand that Zionism was ingrained in Jewish culture, it doesn’t excuse it’s violence. That’s akin to saying we should have sympathy for certain groups of Christians whose whole understanding of Christianity is intertwined with white supremacy. For a lot of them, bigotry is justified using Christianity, but that doesn’t mean they can’t eventually learn right from wrong. If they’re unable to acknowledge that Zionism is inherently violent at this point, then they’re complicit. Who I DO have sympathy for, are anti-Zionist Jewish people. I’m sorry but if after everything we’re seeing from Palestine, which the author himself quotes from a UNICEF official, “The depth of the horror surpasses our ability to describe it.” someone is STILL able to call themselves a Zionist, then they should be treated like a pariah. For the first time in history we’re intimately witnessing genocide in our phones- there’s no excuse for being a Zionist. I also resent the notion of having to nicely coddle bigots, holding their hand while teaching them how to have a conscience. They, like us, have phones, access to a myriad of information. Heck, even I who really had no clue about what was happening in Palestine until a few years ago have caught up and am actively doing what I can to learn more. Its not hard to educate yourself and be in the right side of history. A great example of this I the author himself, which is why this intervention confused me. The author was once on the side of Zionism and was able to educate himself on the topic- the same is possible for others.

Peter Beinart's writing gave a wonderful discussion on why we as Jews need to come to terms with what it means to be Jewish. The Horrific attack from Hamas on the people of Israel and the resulting response from Israel on the area of Gaza to flush out Hamas has led to a division among many jewish family and friends. Peter's argument for the future of being Jewish includes a great understanding of history, the Jewish faith and morality. Israeli Jews and Palestinians deserve to live without fear from each other and with equality. This is a must read.

Excellent book blending current events, history, and Jewish theology. I don’t really know what else to say about this except: read it, it’s short, and it’s good.

At just under 100 pages long, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza is a short read. It is also thoroughly researched and annotated (there are forty pages of citations and references), well balanced and beautifully written, and very clearly extraordinarily meaningful to the author. I am far from expert on the Middle East, and in fact, having spent a significant amount of time there both in my youth and in adulthood, I am of the opinion that anyone who claims to be an “expert” on the Middle East is a fool. I learned a lot about the region, its history, and its people in my time there, and I still found myself stopping to highlight passages or jot down notes after virtually every page of the first half of the book. There is a wealth of information buried in these pages, and if you can read it and not hear the author’s heart break for Palestinian liberation and Jewish enlightenment both… well, one of us may have a hearing problem.
•
At just under 100 pages long, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza is a short read, but it can’t be said to be a quick one. I can only imagine the ugliness that Beinart has faced for having the courage to voice these opinions, but his is a voice that absolutely should be heard. 4.5⭐️