Marc Lamont HillExcept for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics

Extremely thorough and logical in terms of its review of both US policy on Israel as well as the role of US Zionist agenda. The reviews that give it 1 star I find to be disingenuous. One reviewer claims that this is not a good book, bc it doesn’t outline the atrocities from Iran or in Syria - that is totally disingenuous as a common what-about-ism that I hear from many folks who criticize an anti-Zionist state. The whole point of this book is that many progressives are progressive...except for Palestine. This book fully acknowledges that that Israel was created by western powers post holocaust, it does not lay “blame” to the Jewish people (in fact demonstrates many Zionists are in fact not Jewish also). Human rights abuses are regularly denounced everywhere; the concern here is that there appears to be a blind eye for progressives in particular (who are quick to denounce human rights abuses everywhere including in Saudi Arabia AND the United States) except for Palestine. BDS is another point brought up in a different review as anti-Semitic. The authors are clear that there has been laws in congress that were trying to be passed (by folks like Marc Rubio) to criminalize support for BDS. That is clearly against the first amendment and freedom of expression. The emphasis is not to make the US engage in BDS (it’s less than 1% of the Israel GDP and has a negligible impact in any case currently) but there are states and even potentially pushed federally to criminalize private company support for BDS, which is a totally different ballgame. I wonder if the 1 star reviewers actually read the book. I could go about and pick apart each of the arguments one by one in the other reviews, but to be honest, the 1 star reviews demonstrate CLEARLY one of the main theses in the book - that zionists oftentimes conflate anti-Zionism with anti-semitism and there is no distinction there. So if there is some type of pronouncement of solidarity with Palestinians (even in cases like Jewish voices for Peace, or Noam Chomsky or even Natalie Portman who herself is Israeli) there is a denouncement of anti-semitism or about “self-hating” Jewish people.The authors are very clear in the first chapter that they believe there is a real uptick of anti-semitism, the massacres at synagogues and specific anti-Jewish rhetoric in places like Charlottesville clearly demonstrate that and the authors make it clear this is important to understand, be aware of and acknowledge. It’s unfortunate the folks yelling that these authors are bigoted and anti-Semitic failed to read the book and try to understand the perspective they were coming from.

Great job in framing the current issues and putting into perspective the role the politics within the US, regardless of party, played in the conflict. Also great to have responding talking points.

Great read.

So informative and eye-opening, thank you Marc!

As the title implies, this is a comprehensive (at least as far as the last 20 or so years goes) discussion and explanation with defense, that even the most progressive group of politicians in the US, strongly side with the status quo when it comes to the subject of Palestine and it's inhabitants, while abiding by these principles in most if not all, other situations on the world scale. They don't stick to democratic or more importantly, human principles when it comes to this long-standing issue. Not only that, we see that the biased player, the US, actively tried and tries to undermine the rights of Palestinians, whether in public or behind the scenes when there are flare-ups in violence. A large part of the central argument that both conservatives and progressives use is Israel's "right to defend itself" without any regard for what happens to Palestinians. In fact, as Hill argues, this argument is quite an empty one.Hopefully, if you pick up this book, you are someone with an open mind to accept the blatant facts of humanity and justice. Or maybe, you can let a friend who is willing to listen, borrow this book from you and spread the word, that this status quo, this double standard, needs to end if some progress is going to be made.

We already know Marc Lamont Hill is brilliant. CNN choosing to fire him after his factual remarks on Palestine-Israel at the UN was cowardly, shameful and ultimately their own loss. He proves his bold stance and displays his knowledge of facts and politics in this excellent book. Must read for anyone who is interested in learning real facts about this widely misrepresented topic that most are too afraid to broach.

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand what’s behind the news headlines in Israel and the Palestinian Territories and for anyone who wants to understand America’s role in the violence. Plitnick and Hill’s book is meticulously and painstakingly cited with hundreds of footnotes and references. It’s dispassionate and factual. It provides an accurate portrayal free from prejudice or preconception. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

This is a very well written and easy to read book. It’s unfortunate the way Palestinians have been treated by an occupying power for over 50 years. What’s even more unfortunate as an American is that we are financing this and arming Israel to the teeth.

Amazing book ! If you want to know why you know so little about how complicit the USA is in the genocide and war crimes of Israel, and the murder of the Palestinian civilians, this is the book for you. We need to do better.

This book is intended for the readers who already have a lot of knowledge on the Palestine-Israeli Conflict, and wish to further deepen their understanding. I say this because the book provides very in depth information which I struggled to follow through.