r/JewsOfConscience • u/Jche98 Jewish Anti-Zionist • 3d ago

Discussion - Flaired Users Only What book to give a Zionist?

My cousin is a Zionist. He made Aliyah and has served in the IDF in Gaza and Lebanon. He was in the brigade that responded to Oct 7 and lost one of his best friends to a Hamas bullet that day. I've spoken with him and he's open to learning more. I'm looking for a book to give him which is a very GENTLE introduction to an alternative viewpoint from Zionism, something that won't scare him. Can anyone recommend something.

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u/turtledovefairy7 Sephardic 3d ago edited 3d ago

Ilan Pappé is an Israeli historian and political scientist and one of the most read Ant-Zionist authors here in Brazil, but I’m not sure how gentle his approach would feel for a former IDF soldier who is still a Zionist. One of his most introductory books is Ten Myths About Israel.

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u/BolesCW Mizrahi 3d ago

OP asked specifically for gentle intros.

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u/turtledovefairy7 Sephardic 3d ago edited 3d ago

I know, that’s why I made that addendum. I think another author may be better for a first contact, but maybe he could be considered as another option later. At the very least he was from the same country and he addresses the issues Zionists may have about the subject. I’m not sure I would consider him “not gentle”, but he probably argues his points very strongly from the perspective of a Zionist. Still, reading his works and the responses to his works he got from Zionist authors was useful for me to get a better idea about the debate in Israel. It is very good that you raised this question, for it gave me the opportunity to go into further detail about how he could be useful and about the cons of starting with him as well as the pros of his approach, which I should have discussed better in my first post imo. Thank you for raising it so kindly.