Read Ari Shavit and then Max Blumenthal and you get some idea of why it is so impossible to find a balanced account of Israel. Shavit is a journalist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, and he presents the perspective of the center-right in Israel, which is currently the mainstream perspective there. Shavit, a master storyteller, romanticizes Israeli history and presents a picture of Israel that thrills apologists by contextualizing all that is hurtful in ways that soften moral outrage. And yet, for those of us at Tikkun who love Israel, even while detesting its policies toward Palestinians, Bedouins, and other minorities, there is much in the story that rings true, because Shavit captures and highlights the remarkable story of a people crawling out of the death camps and managing to create a vibrant society capable of absorbing millions of Jewish refugees. Shavit acknowledges that most Israelis today do not...
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