Raphael Israeli

In The Death Camps of Croatia, Raphael Israeli shows that throughout Yugoslavia during World War II, anti-semitism was both deeply rooted and widespread. This book traces the circumstances and the historical context in which the pro-Nazi Ustasha state, encompassing Croatia and Bosnia, erected the Jadovno and Jasenovac death camps. Israeli distills fact and historical record from accusation and grievance, noting that seventy years later, the gap in research and the collection of data, memoirs, and oral histories has become almost irreparable. This volume meets the challenge, basing its conclusions on evidence from participants from the period.

"This is a collection of essays which throws some light on one of the most intriguing aspects of Palestinian life, particularly since the Hamas takeover of national politics in the Palestinian Authority in general in early 2006, and more specifically in Gaza after June 2007, as a breakaway government which constantly challenges and erodes the power of the elected president Mahmud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. Under the Accords they reached with the Israeli government in September 1993, through which they realized their dream, the Palestinian Authority, while accusing Israel of continued 'occupation', has succeeding in forcing it to submit to international pressures and to yield more land, even though the Palestinians have done little to respect their own obligations of collecting illegal arms, putting an end to terrorism, arresting perpetrators of terror in Israel, and trying or extraditing them to Israel.^ Under the impact of the Hamas which was breathing down their neck and rejecting the Oslo Accords as a 'sell-out' to the Zionists, the PLO leadership who also managed the Authority found themselves losing ground constantly to the Hamas, which became permanently fundamentally stronger through dispensing welfare to the poor, criticizing the corrupt Authority, providing religious solace for the misery of life and gaining the confidence of their masses by engaging in Islamikaze (self-sacrificing) actions.^ In the process, they competed for mayoralties of cities and towns in the West Bank and Gaza, for student bodies at universities and for professional associations such as lawyers, doctors, architects, engineers, accountants and the like, generally achieving resounding victories." "Thus the Hamas declared itself as a challenge and an alternative to the PLO rule, by virtue of its rejection of Oslo, and its refusal to participate in the first general elections of 1995 which would have legitimized the Authority that derived its existence from those same Oslo Accords, and its continued criticism of the Palestinian government from the outside. The death of legendary Arafat, who was the symbol that all Palestinian factions adulated, and the rise of comparatively moderate Abu Mazen, who declared his will to strike a compromise with Israel, gave the final impetus to the dramatic rise of the Hamas in Palestinian politics.^ Its leaders, who sensed that their time had come, consented this time to compete in the elections and won their stunning victory while the veteran PLO, which was shocked by the results that unseated him from power, became the unwilling opposition party. As the Hamas became the government of the Palestinians, incurring in the process the wrath of the Americans, the Israelis and some Europeans due to its refusal to deal with Israel, to accept the commitments of the PLO under Oslo or to cease terrorism, it is feared that difficult days lie ahead for the Palestinians and the Middle East.^ While the question of the rapport of force between church and state in the Palestinian entity seems to have been decided for now, it remains to be seen how stable that resolution will be and how the Annapolis Conference of December 2007 which has clearly favoured and embraced the PLO and rejected Hamas and its intransigence, will decide that struggle between the two main factions of the Palestinian entity."--BOOK JACKET.

"Dismas Hardy is looking forward to cutting back his work hours and easing into retirement after recovering from two gunshot wounds. He is determined to spend more time with his family and even reconnect with his distant son, Vincent. But Dismas just can't stay away from the courtroom for long and soon he is pulled into an intense family drama with fatal consequences. Grant Carver, the vigorous patriarch of the Carver family and its four-generations owned family business, has been murdered. His bookkeeper Abby Jarvis, whom Hardy had defended on a DUI charge eleven years prior, is the prime suspect after police discover she's been embezzling funds from the company--but she insists she did not kill her boss. As he prepares to defend her, Dismas investigates the Carver clan and discovers the dark, twisted secrets within the family. It seems that Abby was not the only one who stood to profit from the company's $25 million dollar market value. From jealous children to gold-digging girlfriends, Dismas has his work cut out for him in sifting through mud flinging, backstabbing, and accusations of blackmail. But Dismas not only has to save his client's life but his own, as it soon becomes clear that someone has a painted a target on his back, too."--Amazon.com.

"Since the World Trade Center attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, Europe has been plagued by Islamist attacks that have taken many lives and disrupted many services. Considerable attention has been paid to radical Islamist attacks on the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, but far less focus has been on the Islamist extremist impact on the rest of Europe. This book warns all Europeans, but Middle Easterners as well, that they are not immune to terror. That terror is confined to Jews and Israel is a myth. Muslim extremist attacks have taken place against other Muslim nations--as well as European nations in which Jewish influence or Israeli support is negligible. The waves of Muslim recrimination against the West have given rise to internal struggles within the Arab world played out in terrorist acts. Muslim brotherhoods have defined a global war against other religions, nations, and cultures that stray from the principles of fundamentalism--a cultural and military jihad. Just where religious identity supervenes national identity has become a critical turning point. Israeli's book shows that the line between moderates and extremists within the Islamic fold is vague, ambiguous, and in certain situations non-existent. It draws attention to polls and public sentiments of the Islamic faithful, and emphasizes the Islamic attack on modernization and its cultural sources. This timely volume is addressed to those in the West who are not accustomed to thinking in apocalyptic terms. Israeli provides painstaking details of European responses to Islamist challenges, particularly those who prefer pragmatic compliance rather than response. He demonstrates that Islamic extremism continues to grow in the heartland of the European world. This is neither an optimistic nor pessimistic book; its disturbing message may be a wake-up call to some. It is a necessary read for those who want to go beyond news, opting for a more intellectual and comprehensive diet."--Provided by publisher.

"Since the World Trade Center attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, Europe has been plagued by Islamist attacks that have taken many lives and disrupted many services. Considerable attention has been paid to radical Islamist attacks on the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, but far less focus has been on the Islamist extremist impact on the rest of Europe. This book warns all Europeans, but Middle Easterners as well, that they are not immune to terror. That terror is confined to Jews and Israel is a myth. Muslim extremist attacks have taken place against other Muslim nations - as well as European nations in which Jewish influence or Israeli support is negligible. The waves of Muslim recrimination against the West have given rise to internal struggles within the Arab world played out in terrorist acts." "Muslim brotherhoods have defined a global war against other religions, nations, and cultures that stray from the principles of fundamentalism - a cultural and military jihad. Just where religious identity supervenes national identity has become a critical turning point. Israeli's book shows that the line between moderates and extremists within the Islamic fold is vague, ambiguous, and in certain situations non-existent. It draws attention to polls and public sentiments of the Islamic faithful, and emphasizes the Islamic attack on modernization and its cultural sources." "This timely volume is addressed to those in the West who are not accustomed to thinking in apocalyptic terms. Israeli provides painstaking details of European responses to Islamist challenges, particularly those who prefer pragmatic compliance rather than response. He demonstrates that Islamic extremism continues to grow in the heartland of the European world. This is neither an optimistic nor pessimistic book; its disturbing message may be a wake-up call to some. It is a necessary read for those who want to go beyond news, opting for a more intellectual and comprehensive diet."--Jacket.

"Modern Arab and Muslim hostility towards Jews and Israel is rooted not only in the Arab-Israeli conflict and traditional Islamic teaching but also in Christian anti-Semitic attitudes brought into the Islamic world by Western colonial powers. In this volume, Raphael Israeli examines how the worsening situation in the Middle East together with large waves of Muslim immigration to Europe, North America, and Australia has brought about a comingling of two anti-Semitic traditions. As the author explains, the unique interaction of Muslim immigrants in the West with the host societies brought them into contact with local, traditional anti- Semites of the xenophobic fascist and racist Right along with the avowedly anti-Zionist Left, to build a formidable wall of hatred against the Jewish state and its people. To complicate this picture further, the same Muslim immigrants share with them minority status in a Christian-majority society. Often finding themselves at odds with the majority host society, they find themselves subject to criticism and censure on all sides. They are engaged simultaneously in battle with both their host society into which they cannot integrate, and their Jewish compatriots who are a model of good integration. Consequently, they feel exposed and lose ground in the struggle for social acceptance. Israeli lays out the nature and ideologies of the Muslim immigrant world and shows how in each European country they create their own ethnic sub-groups and religious communities, often in competition with each other. This remarkable and courageous book will be of interest to sociologists, Middle East specialists, and political scientists."--Jacket.

Islam has permeated Chinese civilization as a religion and lifestyle for centuries. This volume offers a summary of key developments concerning scholarship on Islam in China and presents a record of research on this topic. The first part of the book is a narrative introduction to the history of Islam in China, the coexistence of Chinese and Muslim cultures, and contemporary issues. The second part of the work is a listing of more than four hundred sources of information on the topic. Entries are grouped in ten categories, and each entry includes a descriptive annotation. An appendix lists journals devoted to research in this field, and the volume concludes with author, title, and subject indexes.

"At the doorstep of the twenty-first century, one would expect that medieval concepts such as blood libel--the accusation that Jews kill children to use their blood in religious ritual--would have been discarded by any civilized human being. Certainly in the Christian world, where the story originated and endured for centuries, modern attitudes have nearly erased these barbaric accusations. But in Arab and Islamic worlds, where enmity towards Israel and Zionism has conditioned beliefs, attitudes, positions, and fantasies, blood libel and similar charges are still part of life. Most people are unaware of the history of blood libel and do not perceive links between it and many of the false accusations currently hurled against the state of Israel. Raphael Israeli argues that individuals and organizations guilty of human rights crimes project crimes onto Israel to avoid awareness of their own guilt. Certainly when countries ruled by dictators set the agenda of the UN Council for human rights, Israel is consistently censured and condemned. Accusations of "apartheid" and charges of discrimination against Muslims are frequently made. Israel is accused of plots against Muslims in order to harm their productive sectors, of using weapons of mass destruction to commit "genocide" against Arabs, of injecting poisonous substances into Palestinian children, of poisoning Arab lands under the guise of "agricultural aid," and of laying siege to peaceful citizens. All of these charges are derivatives of blood libel and have been adopted by Middle East Jihadists in their struggle against Israel. This volume aims to explain the origins of the charge of blood libel and define the ways its derivatives have achieved acceptance in certain parts of the world today."--Provided by publisher.