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Israel

A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth

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Israel

By: Noa Tishby
Narrated by: Noa Tishby
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About this listen

 AUDIO EXCLUSIVE: INCLUDES THE SONG “ELATION STATION” BY INFECTED MUSHROOM!

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A “fascinating and very moving” (Aaron Sorkin, award-winning screenwriter of The West Wing and The Social Network) chronological timeline spanning from Biblical times to today that explores one of the most interesting countries in the world—Israel.

Israel. The small strip of arid land is 5,700 miles away but remains a hot-button issue and a thorny topic of debate. But while everyone seems to have a strong opinion about Israel, how many people actually know the facts?

Here to fill in the information gap is Israeli American Noa Tishby. But “this is not your Bubbie’s history book” (Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher). Instead, offering a fresh, 360-degree view, Tishby brings her “passion, humor, and deep intimacy” (Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times bestselling author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor) to the subject, creating an accessible and dynamic portrait of a tiny country of outsized relevance. Through bite-sized chunks of history and deeply personal stories, Tishby chronicles her homeland’s evolution, beginning in Biblical times and moving forward to cover everything from WWI to Israel’s creation to the disputes dividing the country today. Tackling popular misconceptions with an abundance of facts, Tishby provides critical context around headline-generating controversies and offers a clear, intimate account of the richly cultured country of Israel. Israel & Palestine Middle East Modern Politics & Government Iran Witty Thought-Provoking Refugee Africa Israel History Jewish
All stars
Most relevant
This is a much needed book. It is exactly what it says it is. It’s multifaceted yet concise on a very complex topic(s). However, she gets TE Lawrence wrong. Lawrence did know about the likelihood of the British walking back their promises/assurances to the Arabs/Bedouin. This was the source of Lawrence’s inner turmoil and guilt and is a major theme in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. This being said, Faisal wasn’t unaware that the British would go back on their word either. (Everyone was hoping for the best possible respective outcomes during the First World War, despite a grim situation). Also, I thought that the author could have developed the refutation of Israel being an Apartheid State better. She primarily relies on Arabs having equal rights within Israel proper ie not Gaza or the West Bank. She doesn’t deal with Gaza and the West Bank much, when dealing with this topic - perhaps because it is the strongest counter-argument against her position? (I do not care for the ICJ 2024 ruling that Apartheid was being implemented, as the ICJ has lost all credibility in my eyes). Gaza is perhaps easier to deal with in this respect: it is an aggressive effective terrorist dictatorship working to destroy the State of Israel. What reasonable nation wouldn’t install a wall and/or blockade and protect itself? Egypt’s blockade is significant in this respect: the surrounding Arab nations do not want the Arab Palestinians because they are likely to be extremist terrorists. And so, unfortunately, the risk is too high to accept them, notwithstanding that it is an Arab nation itself. But where does this leave the West Bank? Out of the three different A, B, and C zones, Jews cannot go into zone A or else they will be shot. And area A is certainly not Apartheid as the PA has both military and civilian control. Anyway, it’s a good book and you should give it a go.

Worth reading/listening to

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Everyone trying to understand or making comments on the Middle East and Israel in particular should listen or read this book. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Fascinating, insightful & educational

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Beautifully written & narrated. Lots of information we rarely hear and from a descendent of a family firmly involved in the pre and early days of the state of Israel.

The facts we never hear

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Fact laden and balanced. Everyone should read this book. I think it would benefit from an epilogue given the recent events in the ME. Thank you Noa

Superb

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Written by an Israeli but notwithstanding it does try to look at the facts objectively.

I appreciated the insight to the day to day living of ordinary people from a number of generations.

Worth a Read

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.