Bücher von Raphael Israeli

The long history of the dhimmi subordination of Christians and Jews to Islamic rule in the Middle East, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Balkans produced a lengthy trail of persecution, oppression, population cleansing, and transfer.In the modern world, in the wake of more than a millennium of subjugation, a series of reactions by the suppressed peoples brought about either the removal of Muslim invaders, as in Iberia, the Balkans, and Palestine, or the exodus of the Christian and Jewish communities out of Islamdom.In North Africa and the Middle East, the rise of Zionism was the form that the Jewish rebellion took, causing the convergence of various Jewish dhimmi communities in Islamdom into Palestine, where they reconstituted their independence in their ancient Land of Israel.About the Author:Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s. He is the author of over 80 books and 100 articles.

This volume sums up the extraordinary life of an extraordinary man. Dr. Mordechai Helfman was born and raised in Ukraine at the turn of the 20th century.He started his academic training in medicine in Kiev. Due to the severe anti-Semitic persecutions there, he fled to Prague, where he was caught up by the winds of Zionism, which swept up Diaspora Jews, partly in response to the escalating pogroms.Dr. Helfman returned to Kiev and then went to Berlin to complete his medical studies, specializing in ophthalmology, which prepared him for his Aliya (immigration to Mandatory Palestine), where that expertise was in demand.He never relented on his intense Zionist activity, preparing an entire generation to join the meager Jewish Yishuv under the British Mandate (1924), with a view to ultimately create a solid Jewish entity that would in time lead to Jewish independence in a Jewish state.With Jerusalem as his main base, he remained devoted to the UJA (United Jewish Appeal), spending most of his life until Israel was established raising funds throughout the world to encourage Aliya and collect funds for the Yishuv's development.Only when Israel was founded in 1948 did he turn his full attention to his medical expertise, serving as a popular eye doctor in Jerusalem, yet never neglecting his commitment to fund-raising.(About the Author)Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s. Is the author of over 80 books and 100 articles.

Noted scholar Raphael Israeli describes the surprising "normalization" process that occurred during the pandemic year 2020, in his latest book, Glittering Stars in a Dark Landscape: Early Auguries of the 2020 Arab "Normalization" with Israel.He explains how the 2020 explosion of the "normalization" between Israel and some Arab Gulf States was the fruit of a long process of Arab self-reckoning.Its fruition was crowned, thanks to the efforts of President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, with counsel from presidential advisor Jared Kushner.The process marks a revolution, insofar as it not only reverses the negative position taken by some Arab States that refused to deal with Israel as long as the Palestinian issue is not resolved, but in view of the Gulf States'' wealth and influence, this reversal will encourage others to follow in their footsteps.Great economic and political benefits will also accrue to Israel as a result.(About the Author)Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 60 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam.

The twenty percent Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel, which enjoys officially equal rights, refuses to recognize and accept the concept of a Jewish-Zionist state.Even though Israel is where Palestinians live, they strive to misuse Israeli democracy, allowing their representation of fifteen MK, or Members of Parliament, to subvert the legitimacy of the Israeli state and to totter it. This would allow them to create a bi-national Jewish-Arab country, where Arabs can veto anything Jewish or Zionist in its symbols or regime.But since the Jewish majority is adamant in maintaining the Jewish state, established more than seven decades ago, the Arabs who cannot reconcile their present situation will have to choose eventually between living in permanent friction and frustration, or restarting a new life in one of the surrounding 22 Arab or 57 Muslim countries where their likely adaptation would be much smoother and seamless.One major figurehead mentioned in the book is MK Ahmed Tibi, who despite being the darling of the liberal Israeli media, often adopts extremist anti-Israeli views and claims that Israel incites against his nation.(About the Author)Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 60 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam.

Based on documentation from all angles: Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, European, American, and international, this text aims to draw attention to another piece in the multi-faceted puzzle of the Arab-Israeli dispute, and of international anti-semitism.

Patchwork and Its Pitfalls: The Cost of Half-Way Solutions describes decision makers’ patchwork actions that occur due to hesitation and lack of firmness and determination.Under the pretext of “humanitarianism,” “saving lives,” or taking an otherwise wimpy action, they end up taking a cowardly action at the cost of human lives and much material damage.The costliest action often turns out to be the cheapest, but is seldom done, while the easiest and apparently cheapest action ends up being the most expensive in the aggregate.This book is important, because indecisive decision makers can emerge in all nations at all times.The author’s inspiration for writing this book: “When I watch politicians who repeatedly take cowardly decisions out of ‘human considerations’ and concern for lives and material preservations, but in fact end up wasting both.”(About the Author)Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 60 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam.

Dangers are looming for Western civilizations due to the creeping invasion of Muslims, who are gradually diluting the West with their own beliefs as they end up taking over and dominating them. This danger is described very eloquently and frighteningly by French writer Michel Houellebecq in his best-selling novel Submission.This process also triggers a fundamental change in Western societies, so the old cultures of Europe, which are known, sought, and admired by outsiders, will practically disappear, replaced by an amalgam of ancient European tradition with a newly imposed Muslim faith, mores, and Sharia laws.Muslim tourists and immigrants to the West are gradually but firmly imposing their culture on a scared West, which has lost its will to fight and its capacity to defend itself because of political correctness and a reluctance to face the truth. This volume is the fourth in the Quartet on the Waning of Western Civilizations which also comprises: Retreating from the Mirage of Multi-Culturalism, Misnomers and Cultural Choices, and Suicidal Democracy published in 2018-19.(About the Author)Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 50 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam.

Misnomers are often used in international politics to describe issues and situations that use common words, but carry different meanings. For example, tolerance, suicide bombers, women’s equality, and many other words are commonly used by Muslims to make us believe that these words mean the equivalent of the jargon we know, when in fact they cover up dark schemes that depart miles from conventional meanings.Tolerance means for us to accept others as they are without value/judgment. For Muslims, it means accepting others (often temporarily), despite their inherent inferiority, until converting or dominating them becomes feasible.Suicide bombers for us means terrorists who do not care for human life, and are prepared to kill themselves together with other targeted enemies. For Muslims, these bombers are holy martyrs who sacrifice themselves for the sake of Allah by killing enemies of Islam, and are assured the bliss of Paradise in the proximity of Allah.Women are diminished and relegated to a second-rate status in Islam. Women can be beaten and disciplined, while at the same time, equality and special concern is claimed for them. A wide array of examples and situations of Muslim misnomers are cited and elaborated in the book.Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 50 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam.

The Odd Couple details the ups and downs in the tortuous relations between modern Turkey and Israel.The central actor in the book is Tayyip Erdogan, who came to power in Turkey in 2002-2003, determined to turn the clock back and return his country to its pre-Ataturk glory, when the Ottoman Dynasty reigned supreme and Islam was the dominant ideology holding the Empire together. To understand the aberrant relationship between the Jewish state of Israel and the Islamic state of Turkey, and the preponderant role of Tayyip Erdogan in its deterioration, one must dig into the Ottoman past, the historical attitudes of Turks to Jews, and the shift in Turkish policies that was effected by the transition from the modern Turkish civil governments up to 2002 to the vast changes that the Islamic parties of Erbakan and Erdogan have triggered thereafter. This is the story of how one man can alter relations between two countries. Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 50 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam. Born in Fes, Morocco, at fourteen, "I left my family when I could no longer bear the oppression of Jews in an Islamic country and moved to fledgling Israel. To this day, I consider that the wisest and most game-changing decision I took in my life."

The Middle East conflict, which has been raging for a century and seems to have no end in sight, is not over territory or other assets, but is historically anchored in the Islamic tradition, which has become the preponderant faith of the Arabs.Being a qualitative factor of an either-or import from the Muslim point of view, which is today best expressed by Iran, the Muslim Brothers, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other radical Muslim movements, it is not given to negotiation and compromise, as any other political conflict, but is governed by absolutes and one-sided perspectives.Arab nationalism, Islam, and Zionism are the main political and religious movements taking center stage in this conflict.The intractable nature of the conflict has so far defied all negotiations, agreements, and peace treaties. All the proposed "peaceful" settlements have thus far remained brittle, while the fundamental issues of stereotyping, suspicion, hatred, and condescendence have remained in place, unshaken.This book confronts two contradictory ideologies and attempts to bridge them over. Born in Fes, Morocco, Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s. Professor Israeli is the author of over 50 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgement -- Arab Perceptions of Jews, Zionism and Israel -- Judaism and Israel -- Israel's Domestic Affairs -- The Political Leadership of Israel -- Israeli Foreign Policy -- Israel and the Arab World -- Israel and the Palestinians -- The Israeli Defence System -- The Israeli Propaganda Machine -- A Sample of Cartoons -- Does 'Peace' Change Perceptions? -- Index

Ethnic Cleansingis about the various forms of population displacement, from migration and ethnic cleansing to violent removals and expulsions, which may end up in genocide.It also shows how amidst displacement, the Jewish people have developed a millennial culture of survival.This volume covers the experience of population displacement in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, where the most renowned cases of migration and ethnic cleansing have happened under different regimes and in various cultures along the history of mankind.Today the author is also concerned with the plight of the Rohingyarefugees from Myanmar living in Bangladeshand the perennial Palestinian refugee problem.Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 50 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam. Born in Fes, Morocco, at fourteen, “I left my family when I could no longer bear the oppression of Jews in an Islamic country and moved to fledgling Israel. To this day, I consider that the wisest and most game-changing decision I took in my life.” 

Dying as a Shahid: Martyrs in Islam examines the motives, religious and psychological, which make the so-called "suicide bomber" tick.What is usually so called, must rather be termed "Islamikaze," a combination of Islam and kamikaze, due to the phenomenological resemblance between the Japanese kamikaze who fought in the Pacific during World War II, and the present-day Muslim terrorists.In addition to the religious, social, and psychological underpinnings of the phenomenon of Shahid (martyr), there is a rich array of historical precedents that have fixated this sort of terrorism with self-immolation, dubbed "self-sacrifice," as a prominent feature of Islamic life.(About the Author)Raphael Israeli has taught Islamic, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A graduate of Hebrew University in history and Arabic literature, he earned a Ph.D. in Chinese and Islamic history from the University of California, Berkeley. Now retired, he has been a Fellow of the Harry Truman Research Institute at Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Center since the 1970s, and is the author of over 50 research books, a dozen edited books, and 100 scholarly articles about Islam. Born in Fes, Morocco, at fourteen, "I left my family when I could no longer bear the oppression of Jews in an Islamic country and moved to fledgling Israel. To this day, I consider that the wisest and most game-changing decision I took in my life."