The life and politics of an American Jewish activist who preached
radical and violent means to Jewish survival Meir Kahane came of
age amid the radical politics of the counterculture, becoming a
militant voice of protest against Jewish liberalism. Kahane founded
the Jewish Defense League in 1968, declaring that Jews must protect
themselves by any means necessary. He immigrated to Israel in 1971,
where he founded KACH, an ultranationalist and racist political
party. He would die by assassination in 1990. Shaul Magid provides
an in-depth look at this controversial figure, showing how the
postwar American experience shaped his life and political thought.
Magid sheds new light on Kahane’s radical political views, his
critique of liberalism, and his use of the “grammar of race” as
a tool to promote Jewish pride. He discusses Kahane’s theory of
violence as a mechanism to assure Jewish safety, and traces how his
Zionism evolved from a fervent support of Israel to a belief that
the Zionist project had failed. Magid examines how tradition and
classical Jewish texts profoundly influenced Kahane’s thought
later in life, and argues that Kahane’s enduring legacy lies not
in his Israeli career but in the challenge he posed to the
liberalism and assimilatory project of the postwar American Jewish
establishment. This incisive book shows how Kahane was a
quintessentially American figure, one who adopted the radicalism of
the militant Left as a tenet of Jewish survival.
General
Imprint: |
Princeton University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
August 2023 |
Firstpublished: |
2021 |
Authors: |
Shaul Magid
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
296 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-691-25469-2 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-691-25469-9 |
Barcode: |
9780691254692 |
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