After hitting Europe earlier this month, “The Israel Lobby” is preparing for a frontal assault on the Muslim world.
The controversial book by American academics Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, who accuse the pro-Israel lobby of hijacking American policy, hit bookstores in Europe in September and soon will be published across the Arab world and in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world.
Hebrew-only readers, however, will have to wait. To date, no Israeli publishing house has agreed to translate the book.
“We are hoping that the most liberal publishers in Israel might consider publishing it, however, it has proven very difficult,” said Christine Hsu, assistant to Walt and Mearsheimer’s agent at the William Morris Agency, Raffaella De Angelis. The agency declined to be more specific.
The book will be translated into Arabic by All-Prints, a Beirut-based publisher that also translates books from the likes of the late anti-Zionist Israel Shahak, soccer star David Beckham and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Readers in Indonesia, where some 220 million Muslims live, will be able to buy it from Pustaka Utama a mainstream publisher. And in an indication of the strong interest the book is attracting in Europe, it is being translated into German, Dutch, Danish, French, Italian, Spanish and even Catalan.
“The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” is an extended version of an article that appeared last year in The London Review of Books and on the Web site of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. The two scholars contend that a wide array of Jewish and pro-Israel groups has tilted American foreign policy in favor of Israel to the point of endangering America’s national security.
In recent weeks, the authors have been crisscrossing the United States, where they have been criticized for having an anti-Israel agenda and for shoddy research, but also hailed for provoking a long overdue debate about Israel’s influence on American policymaking.
The controversy has been covered heavily by the foreign media, particularly in the Arab world on television channels such as Al Jazeera, on which both authors have appeared.
“Books don’t sell all that well in the Arab world, where the tradition is more oral and visual,” said Shibley Telhami, a professor at the University of Maryland and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “But people are aware of it because of satellite TV.”
While no information was available as of press time about a Walt-Mearsheimer book tour in Muslim countries, the authors are embarking on a European visit next month, with speaking engagements scheduled at prestigious universities and think-tanks in Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Vienna and London. In London, they will also have an event at the House of Lords.
In Germany, where the book was released September 4 and received mixed reviews in the media, the publisher opted not to hold a promotional debate after the organization that was asked to host the event proposed inviting critics of the book. The publisher, Campus, did not return calls seeking comment.
A similar issue arose in the United States when the Forward rejected a proposal by publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux to host a debate on the book. The Forward instead proposed to be a participant in a conversation with the authors.
“I am concerned about the indirect impact this book could have,” said Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee’s office in Berlin. “It reinforces stereotypes in Germany that are probably even stronger than in the U.S. about the alleged influence of Jewish organizations on American foreign policy.”
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Joseph: no -- they expected not to have to face criticism. When they do face criticism, they like to dismiss it as "censorship". And so they censor criticism instead. Circular? You bet!
You forgot 'Tikkun's cover story in the US
Anit - zionist is an independent position that is chosen thru free - will. It is a simple and clear belief and stance not against a person's right to believe or have will, but it is a different position that does not agree. Thank G-D for freedom of choice and the freedom from being controlled by Nazi's, fascist, or lobby groups like these Isrealis. Stranger than not, you find non-zionist individuals to typically be more kind and pleasant, not brainwashed and rascist. This is my opinion and living with jewish and non-jewish has statiscally proven to me that the above is true. la chaim....
I think an earlier version of the book was titled "the protocols of the elders of Zion". Some people know on which side the bread is buttered, and the antisemitic side is one-hundred percent fool-proof. Hopefully this book will make any administration wary of touching the thorny Middle East question allowing Israel to solve its problems vis-a-vis the Arabs bereft of International pressure to commit suicide.
What Mr. Berger accuses the book of," reinforcing stereotypes in Germany that are probably even stronger than in the US. about the alleged influence of Jwish organizations on American foreigion policy." is an unnecessary comment since Zionist organizations are openly controlling, not only the US. but also other countries. The importance of the book lies not in what those courageous authers had to endure in order to tell what's known to most Americans,but rather in opening a window of hope so that people can freely and openly express their true opinions.Mearsheimerand&Walt comand respect and admiration for their courage in putting an end to the Zionist myth.
http://www.engageonline.org.uk/blog/article.php?id=1454 "You say that the Israel lobby was influential in helping push for war with Iraq. Is that because the Israeli lobby knew there were so many pro-Israeli forces ready to take over in Iraq once Saddam fell?" "How do they influence United States policy to make the United States the largest single supplier of arms - to Saudi Arabia? How does that benefit them?" "If we're not going to cut off aid to them, should we at least stop sending them Christmas cards? Cause they never send them back. It's always just a snowy field and the word 'blessing.'"
Whether or not people want to believe it, the Israeli Lobby plays a major role in determining US foreign policy in the Middle East. I have only to look at my member of Congress who on two occasions voted against the interests of AIPAC. After her second vote she was approached by one of the Zionist members of Congress who informed her that if she had any competition in the next election primary he would do everything he could to defeat her. When the next primary came the competition was stiff and a look at the list of donors to the competition revealed that much of the funding for the competition came from people who had also given large sums to Friends of Israel PAC and other pro-Israel candidates. A significant number of the donors to the competition were also from the opposition party.. My member of Congress learned her lesson. She scheduled a trip to Israel with AIPAC and has never again voted against the interests of AIPAC. She is firmly back in the grip of AIPAC. Having read almost half of The Israel Lobby," I find it to be right on target. it is too bad that those who want to denigrate the book can not accept that there is an Israel lobby with overwhelming power to determine US pollicy.
So M&W will be published in the Arab world, surprise, surprise. It says what the Arabs want to hear, Jews control America, Jews are bad for America and Arabs are good for America. Excuse me, but this American thinks that Jews are good for American and Arabs are bad for America. I wouldn't trade one Jew for hundred million barrels of oil.
Hey, the Last Temptation of Xist was a big hit in the Moslem world. So what! The dogs bark and the caravan moves on. In thirty years these anti-Israel idiots will be wearing burkas, subject to honor killings, hang for being gay. Let them get used to it.
The reason why Walt and Mearsheimer are denounced by sensible Jews of all political persuasions is that their stock-in-trade is an anti-Jewish prejudice with deep roots in Christian culture. Ever since the slander of deicide was spread against the Jews, the claim has been made that the Jews operate on their own behalf, with no regard for the host cultures that surround them. This is a false claim.
This contoversy itself illustrates that getting a discussion going on this subject is almost impossible. The level of abuse directed at Messrs.Walt and Mearsheimer is almost beyond belief. Is it really possible, for example, that two highly distinguished academics have really become"sloppy" as pro- Zionist critics continually tell us?I look forward to watching the debate develop albeit more in hope than expectation.
This guy Berger made me laugh, he said " the alleged influence of Jewish organizations on American foreign policy" ALLEGED?? Thi man is in the middle of this influence, he sees the damn elephant sitting in the room and he saus the alleged elephant!! I wish I could laugh like Hellary Clinton. “I am concerned about the indirect impact this book could have,” said Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee’s office in Berlin. “It reinforces stereotypes in Germany that are probably even stronger than in the U.S. about the alleged influence of Jewish organizations on American foreign policy.”
Am 86 yr old WW2 vet and remember receiving the Forward in our house printed in Yiddish. Have tried to follow stories on my computer and find it difficult to agree always with the writings. Think the war in Iraq was terrible mistake and believe George Bush worst president in history. Hopefully in a few months we will have new leaders and can start on the road to good times. After end of WW2 we all worked together. Now the country is filled with nothing but greed.
The problem with the Jews and Israel that in present term they are not at least 100 million and they have not territory of at least of 500000 square Km and their territory in the wrong place and that they have not enough wise to understand 1. That in the long term almost only this gives them as a nation acceptable guarantees to survive 2. How to achieve this goal in the future (the future is long).
“It reinforces stereotypes in Germany that are probably even stronger than in the U.S."..Diedre Berger Can you imagine if they held a "debate" called "Negro rapes of white women" that reinforced the stereotypes of blacks being stupid, lazy, and essentially primitive. Heck, it wouldn't even get off the ground. It would be denounced as racist (and rightly so) and banned to the fringes. But somehow, promoting equally false stereotypes about Jews is all the rage these days. Can anyone say double standard?
Isn't it about time Zionists stopped trying to stifle debate on the grounds that it "reinforces stereotypes"? The trouble with stereotypes is that all too often they turn out to be true. "We can't handle the truth"-- which is what this refusal to talk will sound like in the ears of disinterested bystanders-- is not going to impress those bystanders much. It's about time the professional suopressors realised that their tsctics are falling more and more on deaf, if not disgusted, ears.
Excellent news. The pro-Israel foreign policy influence in the US has reached a dangerous level. After all it is a foreign country and its agenda and apartheid system of government is far different from the US. It is also a nuclear powered country and that makes it illegal for the US to send military aid. And why should it send any aid at all? We have so many problems in the US, children without medical insurance, people out of jobs, crime increasing, children killing children rather than sitting down and talking - hummm sounds like how our politicians are doing things, bomb, don't talk. Enough is past enough.
All the big-wig responses to Walt and Mearsheimer are blog-free. So best arguments against the duo preempt responses. Noteworthy is Leslie Gelb's.
"the publisher opted not to hold a promotional debate after the organization that was asked to host the event proposed inviting critics of the book." What did they expect, a debate where everyone agrees with the author?
They will never forgive the Jews that (they the Jews) birthed Jesus.
The takeaway from the book - Page 352 second paragraph....."Stifling debate and smearing opponents is incosistent with the principles of vigarous and open dialouge on which democracy depends, AND CONTINUED RELIANCE ON THIS UNDEMOCRATIC TACTICS RUNS THE RISK OF GENERATING A HOSTILE BACKLASH AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE". In its decades of, putting is graciously, rough and touble, the lobby has created all the vital conditions for a hostile backlash; AIPAC is now feverishly working to expedite its onset.
Deidre Berger, director of the American Jewish Committee’s office in Berlin. “It reinforces stereotypes in Germany that are probably even stronger than in the U.S. about the alleged influence of Jewish organizations on American foreign policy.” ALLEGED ? ALLEGED ? I find it utterly typical of the Jewish right to always attack the attacker instead of addressing the facts. To try and smear two highly educated academics speaks volumes of how they personify those 'stereotypes' they themselves accuse us of. What utter rubbish. They are all in a tizzy because they know Walt and Mearsheimer, Jimmy Carter, Ron Paul, Noam Chomsky, and Norman Finklestein are right on the money. I hope I am alive to see the US change it's policy towards Israel.
when the translation of the book "The Israel Lobby "appeared in an Egyptian daily newspaper, I wrote that in Egypt not only the educated and cultured community will know about it, but also the Egyptian garbage collector will be aware of how Israel is controlling America the country he always believed was a super country ... but no more now. Well the Israeli Jews are not happy about it