Jewish Terrorism in Israel

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Columbia University Press, Oct 30, 2009 - Political Science - 264 pages

Ami Pedahzur and Arie Perliger, world experts on the study of terror and security, propose a theory of violence that contextualizes not only recent acts of terror but also instances of terrorism that stretch back centuries. Beginning with ancient Palestine and its encounters with Jewish terrorism, the authors analyze the social, political, and cultural factors that sponsor extreme violence, proving religious terrorism is not the fault of one faith, but flourishes within any counterculture that adheres to a totalistic ideology.

When a totalistic community perceives an external threat, the connectivity of the group and the rhetoric of its leaders bolster the collective mindset of members, who respond with violence. In ancient times, the Jewish sicarii of Judea carried out stealth assassinations against their Roman occupiers. In the mid-twentieth century, to facilitate their independence, Jewish groups committed acts of terror against British soldiers and the Arab population in Palestine. More recently, Yigal Amir, a member of a Jewish terrorist cell, assassinated Yitzhak Rabin to express his opposition to the Oslo Peace Accords.

Conducting interviews with former Jewish terrorists, political and spiritual leaders, and law-enforcement officials, and culling information from rare documents and surveys of terrorist networks, Pedahzur and Perliger construct an extensive portrait of terrorist aggression, while also describing the conditions behind the modern rise of zealotry.

 

Contents

The Founding Myths
1
Ethno Religious Terrorism
10
The Struggle over the Promised Land
38
Jews Against Israelis
69
CHAPTER 5 THE ASSASSINATION OF YITZHAK RABIN
98
Vengeance
111
CHAPTER 7 ECCENTRIC CULTS VENGEANCES AND LONE WOLVES
138
Reassessment of the Causes of Jewish Terrorism
159
GLOSSARY
171
CHRONOLOGY OF ATTACKS AND EVENTS RELATEDTO JEWISH TERRORISM
175
NOTES
193
INDEX
227
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About the author (2009)

Reader #2 - Ami Pedahzur is the Arnold Chaplik Professor in Israel and Diaspora Studies and a professor at the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. His books include The Triumph of Israel's Radical Right (Oxford University Press, The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism (Columbia University Press, 2009) and Jewish Terrorism in Israel (Columbia University Press, 2009, with Arie Perliger).

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