Kirjahaku

How have American Zionists maintained the delicate balance between their Americanism and their Zionism? How did they, as Americans, support the principle of democracy and at the same time, as Jews, support the creation of a Jewish homeland despite the pre-1948 Arab majority in Palestine? Looking at America-Holy Land relations during the years prior to the establishment of the state of Israel, Medoff explores this crucial question of American Jewish identity. Using original, previously unpublished archival material, this study presents an engaging account of a dilemma that is still very much an issue in today's political climate.

Could the Arab-Israeli conflict have been avoided? Was it possible to achieve peace between Jews and Arabs in Palestine in the 1930s? Rafael Medoff's intriguing study reveals, for the first time, the story of the Fifth Avenue multimillionaires who believed they could bring peace to the Middle East through secret diplomacy and a generous dose of baksheesh (bribery). In documents unearthed from archives on three continents, Medoff has discovered an extraordinary and previously unknown chapter in the history of Middle East diplomacy. Here he brings the story to life. A work of history that reads like a thriller, this book takes the reader from the elite Jewish social clubs of interwar Manhattan to the bustling bazaars of Baghdad, as it sheds fresh light on the Arab-Jewish conflict, the relationship between American Jewry and the Holy Land, and the divisions within the Jewish community over the Palestinian Arab issue.

This in-depth look at a controversial faction of American Zionism fills a void in the story of American Zionism--and in the story of American Judaism. This book recounts the fascinating and little-known story of the militant American Zionists who lobbied Congress, rallied American public opinion, and influenced British-American relations in their campaign for Jewish statehood in the 1930s and 1940s. Although these activists have been dismissed as fanatics who fragmented the American Zionist movement, Rafael Medoff reveals that the faction--which included an Academy Award-winning screenwriter and several future members of the Israeli parliament--was more influential than has been previously acknowledged. These militants stirred America's conscience by placing controversial newspaper ads, lobbying conservative as well as liberal members of Congress, and staging dramatic protest rallies. Through these tactics, Medoff shows, they attracted a wave of support from an extraordinary cross-section of leading Americans, including comedians Harpo Marx and Carl Reiner, actors Vincent Price, Marlon Brando, and Jane Wyatt, musician Leonard Bernstein, and rising young politicians Jacob Javits and Hubert Humphrey. Medoff also describes the shadowy underground division that smuggled weapons to the Holy Land in caskets, naming and interviewing for the first time members of this gunrunning network. Based on years of archival research and interviews and written in a compelling style, Militant Zionism in America documents events that reshaped the American Jewish community, influenced American foreign policy, and contributed to one of the most extraordinary events of modern history: the creation of the State of Israel. Rafael Medoff is a Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York -- Purchase College.

Based on recently discovered documents, The Jews Should Keep Quiet reassesses the hows and whys behind the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration’s fateful policies during the Holocaust. Rafael Medoff delves into difficult truths: With FDR’s consent, the administration deliberately suppressed European immigration far below the limits set by U.S. law. His administration also refused to admit Jewish refugees to the U.S. Virgin Islands, dismissed proposals to use empty Liberty ships returning from Europe to carry refugees, and rejected pleas to drop bombs on the railways leading to Auschwitz, even while American planes were bombing targets only a few miles away-actions that would not have conflicted with the larger goal of winning the war. What motivated FDR? Medoff explores the sensitive question of the president’s private sentiments toward Jews. Unmasking strong parallels between Roosevelt’s statements regarding Jews and Asians, he connects the administration’s policies of excluding Jewish refugees and interning Japanese Americans.The Jews Should Keep Quiet further reveals how FDR’s personal relationship with Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, American Jewry’s foremost leader in the 1930s and 1940s, swayed the U.S. response to the Holocaust. Documenting how Roosevelt and others pressured Wise to stifle American Jewish criticism of FDR’s policies, Medoff chronicles how and why the American Jewish community largely fell in line with Wise. Ultimately Medoff weighs the administration’s realistic options for rescue action, which, if taken, would have saved many lives.

Named a 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title The first comprehensive volume to teach about America’s response to the Holocaust through visual media, America and the Holocaust: A Documentary History explores the complex subject through the lens of one hundred important documents that help illuminate and amplify key episodes and issues. Each chapter pivots on five key documents: two in image form and three in text form. Individual introductions that contextualize the documents are followed by explanatory text, analysis of historical implications, and suggestions for further reading. A concluding state-of-the-field essay documents how scholars have arrived at the presented information. A complementary teacher’s guide with questions for discussion is available online. The twenty chapters address a broad range of subjects and events, among them America’s response to Hitler’s rise, U.S. public opinion about Jews, immigration policy, the Wagner-Rogers bill to save children, American rescuers, news coverage of atrocities, American Jewish and Christian responses to the Holocaust, the campaign for U.S. rescue action, the question of bombing Auschwitz, and liberation. Viewing real documents as a means to understanding core issues will deepen reader involvement with this material. High school and college students as well as general readers of all levels of knowledge will be engaged in understanding this crucial chapter in American history and weighing questions regarding mass atrocities in our own era.

Based on recently discovered documents, The Jews Should Keep Quiet reassesses the hows and whys behind the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration’s fateful policies during the Holocaust. Rafael Medoff delves into difficult truths: With FDR’s consent, the administration deliberately suppressed European immigration far below the limits set by U.S. law. His administration also refused to admit Jewish refugees to the U.S. Virgin Islands, dismissed proposals to use empty Liberty ships returning from Europe to carry refugees, and rejected pleas to drop bombs on the railways leading to Auschwitz, even while American planes were bombing targets only a few miles away-actions that would not have conflicted with the larger goal of winning the war. What motivated FDR? Medoff explores the sensitive question of the president’s private sentiments toward Jews. Unmasking strong parallels between Roosevelt’s statements regarding Jews and Asians, he connects the administration’s policies of excluding Jewish refugees and interning Japanese Americans.The Jews Should Keep Quiet further reveals how FDR’s personal relationship with Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, American Jewry’s foremost leader in the 1930s and 1940s, swayed the U.S. response to the Holocaust. Documenting how Roosevelt and others pressured Wise to stifle American Jewish criticism of FDR’s policies, Medoff chronicles how and why the American Jewish community largely fell in line with Wise. Ultimately Medoff weighs the administration’s realistic options for rescue action, which, if taken, would have saved many lives.

The Road to October 7 examines what paved the way for the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and its aftermath. Part 1, “The Present,” documents the Hamas invasion, the rise of Hamas, the education of Palestinian Arab children to hate and kill, the diplomatic decisions that helped enable the attack, and the propagation of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish libels. Part 2, “The Past,” analyzes how in both method and ideology, the Hamas assault echoed the pogroms in medieval Europe, Czarist Russia, and Ukraine; the Holocaust; and a century of Palestinian Arab terrorism. It also examines select American universities’ cultivation of friendly relations with Nazi Germany in the 1930s (the same universities that tolerated pro-Hamas protests after October 7) and October 7 as a turning point in the long history of antisemitism. Readers will emerge with important insights on the Hamas attack, antisemitic education in Palestinian Arab society, pro-Hamas groups on U.S. campuses, the responses of women’s and human rights organizations to mass sexual violence, misconceptions and fabrications about Israel’s conduct in the ensuing war, and why October 7 needs to be viewed as one segment of both the century-long Palestinian Arab war and the centuries-old international war against the Jewish people.

A compelling nonfiction graphic novel, set on the stage of World War II, Whistleblowers is the true story of 4 courageous individuals who risked their careers--or their lives--to confront the unfolding Holocaust. Who were the whistleblowers?Alan Cranston--a young journalist and future U.S. senator who exposed the truth of Hitler's plans.Josiah E. DuBois Jr.--a member of Franklin Roosevelt's Treasury Department whose report pressured the President to grant haven to refugees.Jan Karski--an eyewitness to Nazi atrocities who met with American and British officials to disclose the death camps.Arthur Weil--an American civil servant who blew the whistle on colleagues who were blocking the rescue of refugees.Acclaimed author Rafael Medoff, co-founder of the David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, and award-winning comics creator Dean Motter bring to life these tales of moral courage in the shadow of genocide.

This handbook addresses how the Jewish American community emerged from obscurity to play a role in behind-the-scenes power politics and finally appeared center stage.Jewish Americans and Political Participation explores the rise of the Jewish people from hardscrabble immigrants to the highest echelons of political power. The book provides an overview of American Jewish life, including the impact of immigration, domestic antisemitism, the Holocaust, and U.S–Israel relations. A chapter is devoted to protest politics, covering such events as President Grant's Order #11 (expulsion edict), tenants and shirtwaist-makers strikes, the 1943 rabbis march on Washington, and Jewish responses to the Rosenberg case.The book also covers participation in social movements such as abolition, Jewish defense organizations, and the New Left. A chapter is devoted to Jewish participation in electoral politics, from Jewish interest in early socialism to Jewish advisers and the emergence of Jewish conservatism. There are also biographies of Jewish American officials and political officeholders.Provides an overview of Jewish Americans in office, including Leopold Morse, the first Jew elected to Congress, in 1876; a review of Jewish members of Congress in the postwar era; and the role of Jewish American women in CongressContains excerpts from key legislation impacting Jewish political participation, including Ulysses S. Grant's 1862 directive to expel all Jews from the Kentucky–Tennessee–Mississippi region and the 1974 Jackson Amendment, which pressured the Soviet Union to permit the emigration of its Jewish citizens

The Jewish attachment to Zion is many centuries old. While the modern Zionist movement was organized a little more than a century ago, the roots of the Zionist idea reach back close to 4,000 years ago, to the day that the biblical patriarch Abraham left his home in Ur of the Chaldees to settle in the Promised Land, where the Jewish state subsequently arose. From that day to the establishing of the state of Israel in 1948, the Jewish people have been in a constant struggle to either regain or maintain their homeland. Although 60 years have now passed since the establishment of Israel, many of the political and religious factions that made up the Zionist movement in the pre-state era remain active. The A to Z of Zionism—through its chronology, maps, introductory essay, bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on crucial persons, organizations, and events—is a valuable contribution to the appreciation for both the diversity and consensus that characterize the Zionist experience.

Classic comic book stories about the Holocaust and interviews with theirartists and writers, with a cover drawn especially for this book by NealAdams.An amazing but forgotten chapter in comics history! Long beforethe Holocaust was taught in schools or presented in films such asSchindler's List, the youth of America was learning about the Nazigenocide from Batman, the X-Men, Captain America, and Sgt. Rock. Comics legendNeal Adams, Holocaust scholar Rafael Medoff, and comics historian Craig Yoebring together a remarkable collection of comic book stories that introduced anentire generation to an engaging and important subject. We Spoke Out is anextraordinary journey into a compelling topic.

Although Herbert Hoover is not remembered as having had much interaction with Jews or interest in issue of Jewish concern, he in fact played a significant role in aiding Jewish communities devastated by World War One and pogroms; supported the cause of a Jewish state despite pressure from his own State Department; actively promoted the rescue of Jews from the Holocaust; and played a key part in the emergence of the "Jewish vote" in American politics and bipartisan support for Israel. ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Dr. Sonja Schoepf Wentling is associate professor of history at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. A Herbert Hoover Presidential Fellow, Class of 1997-1998, she has written about U.S. foreign policy, Zionism, and East European Jewish history for numerous scholarly journals, including the Journal of World History, the Journal of American Ethnic History, American Jewish History, and American Jewish Archives. Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. A Herbert Hoover Presidential Fellow, Class of 1988-1989, he is author or editor of fourteen books on American Jewish history, Zionism, and the Holocaust, including 'Jewish Americans and Political Participation, ' which was named an "Outstanding Academic Title of 2003" by the American Library Association's Choice Magazine.