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My Promised Land

The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

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My Promised Land

By: Ari Shavit
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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About this listen

 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

“A deeply reported, deeply personal history of Zionism and Israel that does something few books even attempt: It balances the strength and weakness, the idealism and the brutality, the hope and the horror, that has always been at Zionism’s heart.”—Ezra Klein, The New York Times

Winner of the Natan Book Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award

Ari Shavit’s riveting work draws on historical documents, interviews, and private diaries and letters, as well as his own family’s story, to create a narrative larger than the sum of its parts: both personal and of profound historical dimension. As he examines the complexities and contradictions of the Israeli condition, Shavit asks difficult but important questions: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? Can it survive?

Culminating with an analysis of the issues and threats that Israel is facing, My Promised Land uses the defining events of the past to shed new light on the present. Shavit’s analysis of Israeli history provides a landmark portrait of a small, vibrant country living on the edge, whose identity and presence play a crucial role in today’s global political landscape. Israel & Palestine Middle East Military World Africa Holocaust War Middle Ages Iran Imperialism Socialism
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This audiobook was a privilege . The narrative and narrator were in total harmony. I have never had the privilege to learn of the sweep and complexity of Israel so clearly and fairly written .

Fair - thoughtful and passionate

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I can only begin to imagine how complex this Middle East’s history and reality is. Ari Shavit did an excellent job telling the story of the Jewish people starting from the birth of Zionism to the present day from personal, practical and geo-political view points. I recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in understanding the current situation in the Middle East. Parts of the book are almost prophetic in relation to the predicament that Israel and Palestine are in. As a career pacifist, Ari has called for de-occupation and removal of settlements but has clearly articulated the existential threat that Israel continues to face from the surrounding Arab nations. I am still not convinced though that the founders of Zionism foresaw the problems that Jews were going to face in the 20th century and hence wanted to settle in Palestine. I believe that it was the nature of the world at the time to not have considered the initial settlements as “occupation”. Ari also has detailed the retaliatory response that radical Jewish groups had to the Arab uprisings preceding the formation of Israel and he stopped short of calling it a “genocide”.

Exactly how a story of a people should be told

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As a South African Jewish lady, who lived in Israel in the mid-70’s for 17 Yrs, had 3 beautiful Sabra daughters, now we are all in Australia & are ardent Zionists - I could personally relate to so many of the sentiments & facts so well written & expressed by the author - captivating the real essence of Israeli society. I just loved the book & I might add compliments to the narrator. Thankyou

My Promised Land

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The writing is excellent, and incredibly enhanced by such superb narrating.
I believe it to be a balanced view on the history of Israel

Best audio book I’ve ever listened too

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Good to get a bit of the picture of the history of the modern state of Israel.

Well narrated

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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.