A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel — new book by Robin Shepherd
A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel, by Robin Shepherd, has now been published in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Readers can purchase the book at the link to Amazon at the bottom of this article.
Every author wants his work to be read as widely as possible. So, I make no apology for a rather blatant piece of self-promotion here on my blog!
No country in the world has attracted as much censure and vilification in Europe in recent years as Israel. It seems to me that a more reasonable state of affairs will continue to elude us until we truly understand why this has happened.
It is up to others to assess how successful I have been in that aim. I called the book A State Beyond the Pale as a rather obvious play on words. Israel has been pushed beyond the pale of polite society across Europe. But could it be that it is Europe that is putting itself beyond the pale by immersing itself in bigotry?
Europe’s indignant opinion forming classes believe they are in a position to do the judging on this issue. They are convinced that it is they who hold the moral high ground. I beg to differ, and I seek to show how an obsessive and virulent anti-Zionism reflects deep seated weaknesses in the political culture of Europe. Europe is no position to do the judging. It does not hold the moral high ground. The great paradox is that the conflict is judging Europe. The anti-Israeli agenda tells us more about the people who are pushing it than they might care to admit.
Finally, the book does not focus on the usual suspects at the fringes. Focusing on far-Left or far-Right groups, let alone Islamist extremists, would have been to go for the easy targets. The value of such an approach would have been reduced accordingly.
A State Beyond the Pale focuses instead on anti-Israeli sentiment inside the mainstream of the public discourse. That is the core of the problem and it is there that the problem must now be addressed. So, I look forward to all your comments which are probably best directed to my email account on this site.
To purchase the book on Amazon for yourself or friends, click on the following link:
Tags: Israel
September 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Robin will speak about the book and sign copies on 21 October at Woodside Park Synagogue, London. See ZF website for details. All welcome.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
“A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel”
As you have no doubt pointed out in your book this is merely a symptom of a much older problem:
“A People Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with the Jews”
If anyone still has any doubts on this score, I suggest they read Melanie Phillips’s excellent piece on a blatantly anti-Semitic item put out by Katya Adler for the BBC’s Newsnight on Monday evening:
BBC Newsnight plumbs new depths of bigotry
http://tinyurl.com/lup2ru
September 9th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
As a young soldier in the Army I well remember a convesation I had with the army chaplan attached to our battalion. Son, he said, god commands us to love our enemy. Well my son, you can love your enemy as much as you like after you have done your duty for your country and killed him.
I guess that made him a war monger?
September 9th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Congratulations, Robin. Your book is a much needed antidote.
September 9th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Have read the introduction in one sitting. Absolutely superb stuff!
September 10th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
http://thejc.com/comment/comment/hatred-israel-a-european-pathology
Here’s Robin’s column about the book in tomorrow’s JC.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Just purchased the book, look forward to reading it. It seems like antisemitism takes on many disquises but always smells the same, ie: of envy, irrational hatred and outright lies that fill the pages of certain papers and the broadcasts of certain news channels, it saddens me that this country is one of the worst culprits. Mr. Shepherd, thank you for writing a much needed book!
October 1st, 2009 at 6:39 pm
we may have thought that the establishment of israel would provide a stop to anti-semitism and persecution.
it did not.
we have to continue to be alert and to fight back. at least, now we can fight back. we must not go to sleep. nor should we feel sorry for ourselves. remember the holocaust, go forward, stay alert, don’t take it personally. nothing has changed, except now we have an army and an air force and a navy and our own country, our own territory.
all of that should help us fight more effectively than we ever did.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:01 pm
The Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia, along its western border, in which permanent residence of Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish residence was generally prohibited. It extended from the pale or demarcation line to the Russian border with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
The Pale corresponded to historical borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and included much of present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Bessarabia, Ukraine, and parts of western Russia. Additionally, a number of cities within the pale were excluded from it. A limited number of categories of Jews were allowed to live outside the pale.
The word pale derives ultimately from the Latin word palus, meaning stake (palisade is derived from the same root). From this derivation came the figurative meaning of “boundary”, and the concept of a pale as an area within which local laws were valid.
It was from the PALE OF THE SETTLEMENT that Russian Jews SETTELEd in PALEstine in the 19th C., which led to modern Israel
October 4th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Here’s my review of this terrific book:
http://cifwatch.com/2009/10/03/review-of-a-state-beyond-the-pale-by-robin-shepherd/
Robin Shepherd will also be speaking about it in Manchester on December 9th (as well as London on October 21st).
October 21st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Will the book be available in the USA?
Robin Shepherd says: Yes it will, and thanks for asking. It can of course be ordered now on amazon.co.uk and they would ship it over. But the publishers are working on the US publication right now.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:56 pm
In August 2008 I self-published ISRAEL in REALITY which tries to explain Israeli society, politics, media and relations with Arabs from a grassroots perspective. This is an expose that deals with the many contradictions within Israel and should enlighten readers who are basically neutral regarding the Middle East. You can get more information at: http://www.trafford.com/08-0128.
Originally from NYC, I have been in Israel since 1969 and shall be pleased to correspond online with people interested in learning about Israel from an ordinary individual as opposed to agenda-driven media commentators.
February 5th, 2010 at 1:45 am
I have long maintained that criticism of Israel is not necessarily anti-Semitism. That said, plenty of anti-Semitism hides behind anti-Israel sentiment, particularly in Europe. As an American Jew who is critical of Israel’s actions, I have found that I cannot work with European activists on this issue precisely because anti-Semitism seems to be their primary motivation.
April 1st, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Dear Mr. Shepherd,
I have just finished reading the book.
We have met at the Sheraton Hotel in Krakow, on the 26th of January this year during an EFI event there, and you gave me a copy your book along with a personal signature.
I was very much impressed and overwhelmed by the interesting analyze of the triangle of relationships between Israel, the Arab world and Europe.
I think this book is a must read for one to understand the sad reality on the matter and the motivation behind the demonization of the only democracy in the Middle-East.
As an Israeli who lends his ear for voices coming up from other parts of the world about his only possible home, I am very pessimistic. Your description of the state of affairs doesn’t come as a surprise, but reading all of the exhaustive examples you provide is rather depressing. The positive thing about it, is that there are people in this world whose heads are equipped with eyes as well as a sober brain to see the truth.
I wish you the best of luck with this book. Its success is the success of democracy and justice over tyranny and falsehood.
Thank you,
Gilad
June 21st, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Dear Mr. Shepherd,
Thank you so much for this insightful reading.
Among other things, it helped me realize how much I have been subject to the influence stemming from the general discourse so well described and documented by you.
One question, if I may: Is the book going to be published in other languages?
My very best regards
Vladislav
Robin Shepherd says: Many thanks Vladislav. I do not know of any plans for foreign language versions. But if you know of any publishers who might be interested, please let me know.