The Question of Zion
"[A] remarkable book. . . . Enormous amounts of news coverage and polemic are devoted to Israel, and the conflict in the Holy Land is the single most bitterly contentious struggle on earth. And yet, as Rose points out, little attention is given to the roots of the Zionist movement and the impassioned debates that once surrounded it. . . . Just what a strange creed Zionism was, and how unlike other nations its out-come, are part of Rose's theme."--Geoffrey Wheatcroft,New Statesman"Jacqueline Rose has written a timely and courageous book. . . . It could do nothing but good if the force of Rose's argument were to be felt not only in and for Israel but beyond."--David Stimpson,London Review of Books"Professor Rose's analysis . . . is modestly expressed and methodical. It is also fiercely intellectual. Judaic theology and psychoanalytic theory are wielded like tools, unpicking the minds of Israel's pioneers . . . to the Bible-bashing settlers currently resisting evacuation from Gaza to the West Bank."--Rafael Behr,The Observer"[A]n original and provocative study, full of arresting insights, that deserves to be widely read in Israel and among diaspora Jews."--Rabbi David Goldberg,Jewish Chronicle"In some of the most interesting passages ofThe Question of Zion, [Jacqueline Rose] offers a brilliant account of the psychopathological effects of the holocaust on 'the Israeli mind'. . . . Inspired by Rose's courage and generosity, our field should now engage with much less timidity with the issue of Palestine/Israel."--Bart Moore-Gilbert,Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies"Rose's highly provocative work raises many important problems and provides many useful insights."--Laurence J. Silberstein,International History Review"Rose's book has the merit of probing the problematic liaison in the Jewish state between nationalism and religion, on the one hand, and national myth and political reality, on the other. From the perspective of the study of her religion, her book challenges us to pay heed to the fundamental conceptual difference between (religious) redemption and (national) liberation."--Martina Urban,Journal of Religion"Presents a revisionist appraisal of the complexities of the Arab-Israeli conflict and concludes that Israel is in danger of destroying itself."--Sheldon Kirshner,Canadian Jewish News"Rose asks the right questions: is it possible to talk about the suffering of the Jewish people and the violence of the Israeli state in the same breadth? Why is criticism of Israel construed as a denial of the Jewish people's right to self-defense? Can any state act with impunity on grounds of self-defense? And finally, if part of the messianic view of world history is that 'it is part of the cosmic order of things that the nation must live on a knife's edge,' as her analysis suggests, is it possible for there to be peace?"--Cynthia Hoffman,Tikkun