A detailed examination of the struggle within the Jewish community during the formation of Zionism and the attempt to reconcile the policies of Zionism with traditional Jewish teachings and values.

The State of Israel is the product of a political movement, Zionism, aimed at providing a solution to “the Jewish question”, i.e. the rise of modern Anti-Semitism in Europe at the end of the 19th Century. “The Palestinian question” is the direct result of the unilateral drive to resolve the Jewish question by creating a Jewish State in Palestine, without taking into account the existence and the rights of the indigenous population.

In this piece, Yvonne Ridley speculates as to whether or not Israel would be able to survive independently of aid and support from the United States. Ridley considers whether, politically and economically, Israel has become a greater liability than benefit to its greatest ally.

Review of Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East, by Jonathan Cook, Pluto Press, ISBN 978-0-7453-2754-9, pp204

This issue marks the Nakba with an overview of how a permanent state of war is not just a myth promoted by the Israeli establishment to win international friends. Rather than the besieged, Israel’s genesis and academic, military and political history point towards the drive