SAPIR
Eight Tips for Reading About Israel
by Matti Friedman
Spring 2021

… Israel is a Jewish country, home to a plurality of the world’s Jews. The powerful story being woven around Israel is a story about Jews. This is an ancient category of Western stories, typically moralistic in nature, in which Jews are used to illustrate the perceived ills of a given place and time. That doesn’t necessarily mean (to cite a tired debate) that “anti-Zionism” is or isn’t “antisemitism,” whatever those two terms are taken to mean. It doesn’t mean that the Israel story of the mainstream press is wrong in every way, or necessarily motivated by dark intentions. It just means that this story belongs to a narrative tradition with a long history, and tragic side effects, and shouldn’t automatically be taken at face value.  READ MORE