This outraged polemic from Hanna (The Grim Reaper) argues that Israel’s “perversely persistent persecution of the indigenous Palestinian population” makes the nation an “‘apartheid regime’ guilty of crimes against humanity.” Further, he alleges that Judaism itself has been “hijacked” by Zionists who have made criticism of Israel tantamount to anti-Semitism and claim “that only a state controlled by, and exclusive to Jews can protect them against anti-Semitism and the threat of another Holocaust.” Zionists, he says, have prevented Jews from making common cause with other groups facing or that have survived genocide, especially the Palestinians, victims of “barbaric ethnic cleansing.”

“Preventing another genocide of the Jewish people, however, can hardly be either achieved, or morally justified, by having Jewish people exterminate another ethnic group,” he writes, with the high heat and opprobrium that pulses through the book. That scalding tone, while certain to alienate readers not onboard with his argument, doesn’t cover up a lack of rigor. To make his case, Hanna surveys not just 20th century and contemporary history, though he digs deep there, charting the horrific phenomena of genocide (“a fatal combination of social Darwinism … racist genetic theory, and fervent nationalism”) and anti-Semitism as well as considerations of Israel’s establishment, conflicts, and expansion. The Broken Promise Of A Promised Land also reaches back further, persuasively tracing a millennium-spanning history of inter-faith conflicts and oppression—and the development of Zionism itself.

With principled empathy for the oppressed, Hanna challenges religious dogma of all types, likens the idea of being “chosen” by God to the idea of a “master race,” and links Israeli lobbying to the United States’ Middle Eastern wars. He demonstrates from the first sentence his disinterest in inviting skeptical readers or believers into his thinking (it begins “If some Jewish people wish to believe they were chosen by a non-existent god …”), instead favoring rhetoric that will stiffen the spines of those already likely to agree.

Takeaway: A fiery denunciation of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, written with outrage and historical reach.

Great for fans of: Shlomo Sand’s The Invention of the Jewish People, Ilan Pappe’s Ten Myths About Israel.

Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-