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Loading... Friendly Fire: How Israel Became Its Own Worst Enemy and the Hope for Its Futureby Ami Ayalon
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. In this deeply personal journey of discovery, Ami Ayalon seeks input and perspective from Palestinians and Israelis whose experiences differ from his own. As head of the Shin Bet security agency, he gained empathy for "the enemy" and learned that when Israel carries out anti-terrorist operations in a political context of hopelessness, the Palestinian public will support violence, because they have nothing to lose. no reviews | add a review
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In this deeply personal journey of discovery, Ami Ayalon seeks input and perspective from Palestinians and Israelis whose experiences differ from his own. As head of the Shin Bet security agency, he gained empathy for "the enemy" and learned that when Israel carries out anti-terrorist operations in a political context of hopelessness, the Palestinian public will support violence, because they have nothing to lose. Researching and writing Friendly Fire, he came to understand that his patriotic life had blinded him to the self-defeating nature of policies that have undermined Israel's civil society while heaping humiliation upon its Palestinian neighbors. "If Israel becomes an Orwellian dystopia," Ayalon writes, "it won't be thanks to a handful of theologians dragging us into the dark past. The secular majority will lead us there motivated by fear and propelled by silence." Ayalon is a realist, not an idealist, and many who consider themselves Zionists will regard as radical his conclusions about what Israel must do to achieve relative peace and security and to sustain itself as a Jewish homeland and a liberal democracy. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)956.9405History and Geography Asia Middle East The Levant Israel and PalestineLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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In refining his views over his life time, the author meets with and talks to people who don't agree with him, both Jews and Muslims. He worked in Israeli security at senior levels, and was a Cabinet member in the Knesset. Unfortunately politicians and senior officials rarely agree with him. What gives me hope is the number of regular citizens, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who do. ( )