Original. . . . Interesting. . . . Important. . . . Urgent.”—J. J. Goldberg, New York Times Book Review“Linfield explores her theme through the writing of a galaxy of intellectuals.”—David Feldman, Financial Times“An astute study of how the political cauldron of the Middle East has generated fierce responses from the left. . . . A significant contribution to contemporary political discourse.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“This delightfully smart book offers beautifully rendered insights. . . . Linfield has written a book that is shockingly heterodox.”—Commentary“A stunningly cogent account of how Jewish nationalism has troubled leftist thought from the foundation of Israel until today.”—David Mikics, Tablet“Informative, provocative and compelling.”—Glenn C. Altschuler, The Forward“A lucid and lively work of intellectual history that recalls, honors and criticizes some of the foundational figures of the left. . . . Anyone who frets about the left, whether they are for or against it, will learn something important by reading and heeding [Linfield’s] book.”—Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal“The reader—any reader—will put this book down feeling grateful to have been in the company of a satisfying piece of prose applied to an immensely stimulating subject. The Lions’ Den is clearly and unapologetically a polemic, of the kind that reminds us how rich and lively such writing can be.”—Vivian Gornick, Moment“Sometimes a book arrives at a necessary moment, a moment in which it can become part of the public conversation and help set the stage for political arguments to come. The Lions’ Den is such a book. . . .The book’s clarity and intellectual honesty will make it an especially useful and important resource for college students, faculty, and parents who are at the heart of the debate over Zionism and the left.”—Jo-Ann Mort, Reform Judaism“Beautifully written and penetrating. . . . A powerful book.”—Joshua Muravchik, Mosaic“Linfield does not merely give us an instructive gallery of political pathology; she also persuasively contemplates the whys and wherefores of Israel’s transformation into the screen onto which the Left projects its own anxieties. Her examples disclose through negation how not to think about Israel at a time when unclear thinking is most relentlessly arrayed against it.”—Benjamin Balint, Claremont Review of Books“A well-researched and forcefully argued volume.”—B. Smollet, Choice“Linfield’s book is useful, interesting, extremely well written, and absolutely worthy of serious attention. Scholars need not agree with it. They ought, however, to read it.”—Jack Jacobs, Middle East JournalNamed one of two Fall 2019 Natan Notable Books, sponsored by The Jewish Book Council “The Lions’ Den is a brilliantly incisive commentary on eight intellectuals who wrote about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Susie Linfield is herself the ninth intellectual in this book, with a strong and persuasive position of her own.”—Michael Walzer, author of A Foreign Policy for the Left“You don’t have to be enthralled by the Left, Judaism, or Zionism to enjoy this riveting book. Wherever you stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this is a must for devotees of fascinating, intriguing, exhilarating, and exciting debates.”—Hussein Agha, coauthor of A Framework for a Palestinian National Security Doctrine“Why have some of the brightest minds in the American and European Left been unable to understand Jewish nationalism? The Lions’ Den is a fascinating, uniquely incisive inquiry into the limits of the intellectual Left as it tries to deal with the harsh realities of our world.”—Zeev Sternhell, author of The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State“How has the stormy yet often devoted marriage of the Left and Zionism devolved into a minefield of acrimonious disputes? Susie Linfield approaches this polarizing subject with her customary brilliant vision and generous spirit. An original and essential contribution.”—Ruth Franklin, author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction“The Lions’ Den is an exemplary intellectual history that comes to grips with both the tragedy of Zionism and the way in which anti-Zionism became a touchstone for the global Left. It is scrupulous, unflinching, lucid, timely, and morally serious.”—Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage
"The Lions’ Den is an exemplary intellectual history that comes to grips with both the tragedy of Zionism and the way in which anti-Zionism became a touchstone for the global Left. It is scrupulous, unflinching, lucid, timely, and morally serious.”—Todd Gitlin, author of The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage
“How has the stormy yet often devoted marriage of the Left and Zionism devolved into a minefield of acrimonious disputes? Susie Linfield approaches this polarizing subject with her customary brilliant vision and generous spirit. An original and essential contribution.”&mdashRuth Franklin, author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction
“Why have some of the brightest minds in the American and European Left been unable to understand Jewish nationalism? The Lions’Den is a fascinating, uniquely incisive inquiry into the limits of the intellectual Left as it tries to deal with the harsh realities of our world.”—Zeev Sternhell, author of The Founding Myths of Israel: Nationalism, Socialism, and the Making of the Jewish State
"You don’t have to be enthralled by the Left, Judaism, or Zionism to enjoy this riveting book. Wherever you stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this is a must for devotees of fascinating, intriguing, exhilarating, and exciting debates."—Hussein Agha, coauthor of A Framework for a Palestinian National Security Doctrine
"The Lions’ Den is a brilliantly incisive commentary on eight intellectuals who wrote about the Israel/Palestine conflict. Susie Linfield is herself the ninth intellectual in this book, with a strong and persuasive position of her own."—Michael Walzer, author of A Foreign Policy for the Left
★ 2019-01-06
An astute study of how the political cauldron of the Middle East has generated fierce responses from the left.
Linfield (Journalism/New York Univ.; The Cruel Radiance: Photography and Political Violence, 2010) offers a trenchant analysis of the seemingly intractable Palestinian-Israeli conflict through an examination of eight prominent left-wing intellectuals: Hannah Arendt, Arthur Koestler, Maxime Rodinson, Isaac Deutscher, Albert Memmi, Fred Halliday, I.F. Stone, and Noam Chomsky. Each professed strong views on Zionism, which Linfield defines as "support for a democratic state for the Jewish people." In a series of linked, deftly delineated portraits, the author reveals fraught debate marked by both "fearless intellectual energy" and, too often, the dismaying imposition of "fantasy, symbol, metaphor, and theory overtaking reality and history." Many of her subjects, like Arendt, held an "ideological antipathy to sovereignty" that made them critical of Zionism. Some, like the combative Koestler, a self-loathing Jew, "insisted that there was no Jewish history and culture" to merit statehood for "a chosen people." Rodinson, a French scholar of Islam, believed that Palestinians, as victims of colonial oppression, were justified in their one unifying stance: hostility to Israel. That stance was echoed by Chomsky, whose hatred for Israel and championing of Palestine Linfield criticizes as arrogant and ignorant, based on "manufactured history" and "staggering" misrepresentations. In contrast, she praises Memmi and Halliday for their principled, humane analyses. Memmi saw Zionism as "the national liberation movement of an oppressed people," worthy of support by the left. Halliday, an activist, journalist, multilinguist, and scholar, condemned the "profound mistakes" and crimes committed by both Zionist and Palestinian movements. Both Memmi and Halliday concurred that support for terrorism was indefensible: "a short circuit that substitutes immediate fear and panicky responses for long-term solutions." Like Linfield, Halliday advocated the establishment of two democratic states of Israel and Palestine. Besides presenting an unusually clear and informed history of the Arab-Israeli struggle, the author throws a glaring light on the perils of fanaticism and insularity.
A significant contribution to contemporary political discourse.
