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Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman
1 review
catronky's review
informative
medium-paced
4.5
A few years ago I was questioned by 4 El Al security employees in a tiny security room in the Paris airport for well over an hour, partially because I had the Arabic name for the Dome of the Rock on my itinerary, so I’m a little hesitant to write anything on the internet about Israeli politics. 🫥
I’ve read some of the reviews of this book on here and they’re exceptional, so I’ll just add my amateur thoughts. This was a fascinating read. I know it’s about the Mossad (and Shin Bet and AMAN), but I wouldn’t recommend it to someone for a good overview of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It’s much too Mossad-centric for that. There weren’t many voices from Israel’s enemies, and didn’t go into the reasons for the Intifadas, except for a few comments here and there about the settlement issues (and obviously the assassinations/murders of often-innocent Palestinians).
But as far as a book about the Israeli intelligence’s actions and motivations, this kept me interested and feeling despair about the complicated and endless conflict, and how it affects everyone’s lives. I am leaving this book with more compassion for the leaders who have to make terrible decisions (though they certainly didn’t always view those decisions as terrible).
4.5 stars— there were a few too many descriptions of operations for me to be 100% on board with the pacing, but everything else was a fast and fascinating read. It was really well-balanced, though I did get frustrated that the Palestinians were so often just called “terrorists” when the Israelis never were. But I feel very strongly that state-sponsored terrorism is real and that term should be used. But in general it didn’t praise or condemn the actions of any government or faction, simply stating the facts and the outcomes. Really impressive journalism.
The story of the Mossad trying to brainwash the Fatah soldier was probably my favorite, as well as the “Sum of all fears”-esque assassination attempt on the Israeli diplomat (by Iran I think?) in order to get three other countries to go to war. Incredible journalism work and this book deserves its rating.
I’ve read some of the reviews of this book on here and they’re exceptional, so I’ll just add my amateur thoughts. This was a fascinating read. I know it’s about the Mossad (and Shin Bet and AMAN), but I wouldn’t recommend it to someone for a good overview of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It’s much too Mossad-centric for that. There weren’t many voices from Israel’s enemies, and didn’t go into the reasons for the Intifadas, except for a few comments here and there about the settlement issues (and obviously the assassinations/murders of often-innocent Palestinians).
But as far as a book about the Israeli intelligence’s actions and motivations, this kept me interested and feeling despair about the complicated and endless conflict, and how it affects everyone’s lives. I am leaving this book with more compassion for the leaders who have to make terrible decisions (though they certainly didn’t always view those decisions as terrible).
4.5 stars— there were a few too many descriptions of operations for me to be 100% on board with the pacing, but everything else was a fast and fascinating read. It was really well-balanced, though I did get frustrated that the Palestinians were so often just called “terrorists” when the Israelis never were. But I feel very strongly that state-sponsored terrorism is real and that term should be used. But in general it didn’t praise or condemn the actions of any government or faction, simply stating the facts and the outcomes. Really impressive journalism.
The story of the Mossad trying to brainwash the Fatah soldier was probably my favorite, as well as the “Sum of all fears”-esque assassination attempt on the Israeli diplomat (by Iran I think?) in order to get three other countries to go to war. Incredible journalism work and this book deserves its rating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, War, Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Murder, Deportation, and Xenophobia
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