At long, long last the book I have been working on for many years has been finalized and published. Here’s a little excerpt a few pages into chapter 1:
For years after my first trip to Israel, I thought what I was seeing in mainstream media, and in a more abstract version on college campuses, was a lack of information. I imagined that Israelis’ stories just weren’t getting out. I wanted to explain, point by point, what news reports and campus speakers seemed to be missing. I didn’t know that the Hebrew word, hasbara, which is often translated as Israeli “public relations,” actually means “explanation” or “information” but I did think that these were most needed, that if there were better spokespersons from Israel or if the books that offer information about Israel’s history and situation were widely read, the prevalence of what I now saw as one-sided discourse would disappear…And sometimes, people do have a change of heart when they learn that there is more to a story or that they have been misinformed.
However, the impetus for this book is not the need to get out a set of facts, though factual information is important—and, in this case, readily available—but to address why even factual information often has no impact on discussion of Israel. What I have come to understand is that although, like all countries, Israel has many problems and limitations, the language and rhetoric about Israel has framed it unfairly, unlike any other country in the world.
The book is available on Amazon and from the publisher, RVP Press. And any bookstore can order it for you.
Now maybe there will be more postings here from me!
