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This book discerns in the history of Zionism the plot of a Shakespearean tragedy. Zionists can only succeed by creating Islamicate enemies; they need resurgent anti-Semitism to send Jewish colons to Palestine; and they must persuade/coerce the West to stand behind their colonial project.

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This book discusses the small band of European Zionists, who entered the world stage in late 19th century, determined to create a Jewish state and considers how, at that time in Europe, Jewish-Gentile frictions were local problems, whilst today in Israel they have come to form the pivot of global conflict.

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PART I: Israeli Exceptionalism Varieties of Israeli Exceptionalism Sources of Israeli Exceptionalism PART II: Dynamite in Its Foundations A Violent History Zionism In Nuce The Arabs Hate Us A Secular Messianism A People Without Land Land Without a People Jewish Factors in Zionist Success A Surfeit of ´Mother Countries´ British Interests and Zionism

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M. SHAHID ALAM is Professor of Economics at Northeastern University, USA.

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