Landmark essay by Buckley on anti-Semitism in American politics. When the piece ran in the National Review (Dec. 1991), it elicited over 200 letters, the largest response in the magazine's history. Some of the letters appear here, along with an epilogue by the author. Buckley's essay sent shock waves through political America: Here was the president and editor-at-large of America's leading conservative journal, the host of Firing Line, publicly accusing his brethren of anti-Semitism. Buckley scrutinizes four cases of increasing seriousness, three of them involving personal friends. After poring over the evidence, he shrugs off charges of anti-Semitism lodged against the conservative Dartmouth Review and skewers Dartmouth President James Freedman for promoting media hysteria. More serious is the case of National Review columnist Joseph Sobran, who, Buckley concludes, is obsessively anti-Israel but not an anti-Semite. But Patrick Buchanan, with his claim that Congress is "Israeli-occupied territory," seems to have gone over the line. As for Gore Vidal, the only liberal in the docket, Buckley details his writings in The Nation as "genuinely and intentionally and derisively anti-Semitic." The published responses to Buckley's essay are overwhelmingly supportive, although Sobran writes a long letter in self-defense. Alan Dershowitz, Hugh Kenner, Irving Kristol, and Robert Novak also chime in. In the epilogue, Buckley discusses Buchanan's presidential bid and explores the book's most vexing question: Is political opposition to Israel tantamount to anti-Semitism? HIS answer is no, but he says that to oppose military aid to Israel is ipso facto anti-Semitic, as such opposition will result in the dissolution of the Jewish people. More temperate, and even generous, in its judgments than Ruth Wisse's ultra-partisan book on the same subject (see below). A model of muckraking on high moral ground.
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1992
ISBN: 0-8264-0619-X
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Continuum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
A heartfelt if somewhat unsurprising view of old age by the former president. Carter (Living Faith, 1996, etc.) succinctly evaluates the evolution and current status of federal policies concerning the elderly (including a balanced appraisal of the difficulties facing the Social Security system). He also meditates, while drawing heavily on autobiographical anecdotes, on the possibilities for exploration and intellectual and spiritual growth in old age. There are few lightning bolts to dazzle in his prescriptions (cultivate family ties; pursue the restorative pleasures of hobbies and socially minded activities). Yet the warmth and frankness of Carter’s remarks prove disarming. Given its brevity, the work is more of a call to senior citizens to reconsider how best to live life than it is a guide to any of the details involved.
Pub Date: Oct. 26, 1998
ISBN: 0-345-42592-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
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