Architects of Repression

How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy

De: Walter L. Hixson

Narrado por: Walter L. Hixson

This book offers a compelling history of the most powerful lobby acting on behalf of a foreign government in all of American history. The book puts to rest any doubt as to whether the Israel lobby has played and continues to play the crucial role in enabling aggression, the suppression of Palestinian rights, and the failure to achieve a comprehensive Middle East peace accord.

Rooted in archival evidence and an abundant secondary literature, Architects of Repression shows how AIPAC and other Israel affinity groups deploy propaganda, target campaign contributions, organize demonstrations, and exert political pressure to manage public opinion - and, especially, to influence the Congress. The massive foreign aid that the United States has provided Israel - far more than allocated to any other country and dispersed on favorable terms reserved for Israel alone - is only one of many enabling benefits the small Zionist state has received over many decades from the most powerful nation in the world.

For decades, as the book explains in depth, the Israel lobby has played the pivotal role as the US enabled Israel’s disdain for a negotiated settlement of the Middle East conflict; its contemptuous dismissal of the plight of Palestinian refugees; its cultivation of nuclear weapons in defiance of the global nuclear non-proliferation movement; its profusion of palpably racist, illegal and destabilizing Jewish-only settlements; its takeover of Jerusalem, much of the West Bank, and the Golan Heights; and its ongoing violent aggression, which has victimized Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as neighboring states notably Lebanon. In more recent years the Israel lobby launched a campaign to criminalize political engagement and freedom of speech by equating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. Hixson convincingly reveals that there will never be peace in the Middle East until the monolithic Israel lobby is neutralized.

©2021 Institute for Research (P)2021 Institute for Research

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Anyone interested in understanding the Middle East should read this book. Anyone that is worried about the future of the Palestinians (and Israelis) has to study this work." (Professor Shlomo Sand, history department, Tel Aviv University)

"The power of the Israel lobbies in American political life, widely acknowledged, has most often been discussed in a theoretical manner. The acclaimed Walter Hixson brings to the subject the clarity and careful documentation of the archival historian, and in so doing he sheds loads of illumination on lobbying that AIPAC officials themselves have admitted flourishes best in darkness." (Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell collegiate professor of history, University of Michigan)

"If you ever wondered what the USA role in the ongoing Nakba of the Palestinian people is, you need to read this book. If you ever wondered how the Israeli lobby in the USA corrupted the American foreign policy towards Palestine and beyond, you need to read this book. This book analyses in a clear narration, based on solid analysis and documentation, how this corrupted and vicious American policy, culminated in the Trumpian era. This book points clearly to all the culprits who bred racism, violence and injustice in the USA and inflicted this unholy trinity on Palestine and its people." (Ilan Pappé, professor of history and director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter)

Great

The book picks up where the Israel lobby left off. Goes into great detail about the history and inner workings of aipac in Washington among other things.

Very insightful and informative

This book not only provides a wealth of factual information, but it is also highly informative and exceptionally well written. One of the standout features of this book was its commitment to accuracy and research. Every historical event and figure was meticulously researched, resulting in a comprehensive and reliable account of the past. The author's dedication to presenting facts in a clear manner was evident throughout the book, and it was structured in a way that made it easy to follow the chronological sequence of events. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting an in-depth overview of how we arrived to the current state of affairs.

Informative, but difficult listen

The Israel lobby is powerful, and this book does an excellent job of demonstrating that.
It took me until chapter four at 1.6 speed to get accustomed to the unnatural pauses between words which made it hard to follow.

Very Insightful

This book really helps the listener understand the Israel lobby with an in-depth history of USA, Israel, and Arab conflict. I thought I knew a bit about the Israel/Palestine conflict but was surprised by the gaps in history that I was never taught. As someone who approached this subject as a somewhat Israel sympathizer I am walking away with a whole lot of contrary information that has shifted my perspective. The author reads the book in a very abrupt and emphatic way that caused me to only be able to listen for about two hours but I otherwise actually found it attention drawing.