A Stranger in the Land: Jewish Identity Beyond Nationalism

Brecher, an Amsterdam-based independent historian who lived in Israel and now describes himself as an “opponent of Zionism,” has conjoined two books. One is an often rich personal memoir of his life, and alienation, in both postwar Germany, where he grew up, and then in Israel as a young man during the 1980s, when he served in the army's education corps. Brecher has many insightful things to say about such issues as the understandably anxious nature of German-Jewish identity. The other book is an analysis of Israeli society and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Brecher characterizes the 1993 Oslo Accords as “not a peace treaty, but a treaty of surrender” by the Palestinians. While Brecher acknowledges Palestinian terrorism, his basic stance is that the Zionists were and continue to be colonialists and expansionist aggressors—a cartoonish history of a conflict marked by tragedy and by injustices committed by both sides. Some of his critique, such as that most Israelis do not empathize with nor even think about Palestinian suffering, is worth considering. In general, however, though a thoughtful autobiography, this is less successful as history. (July)