Description

Journalist Peter Beinart discusses his book The Crisis of Zionism (Picador, 2013). The talk will be followed by a Q&A.

The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. For questions or accommodations, please contact the VCU Libraries Events Office at kimbrellgg@vcu.edu.

Watch Video

A video of the event is available on the VCU Libraries YouTube Channel.

About the Speaker

Peter Beinart is professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York. He is also a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times, a CNN political commentator, editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents and a non-resident fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack.com

His first book, The Good Fight, was published by HarperCollins in 2006. His second book, The Icarus Syndrome, was published by HarperCollins in 2010. His third, The Crisis of Zionism, was published by Times Books in 2012.

He has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, the Atlantic, Newsweek, Slate, Reader's Digest, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Polity: the Journal of the Northeastern Political Science Studies Association. The Week magazine named him columnist of the year for 2004. In 2005, he gave the Theodore H. White lecture at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

He has appeared on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Charlie Rose, Meet the Press, The Colbert Report and many other television programs.

He graduated from Yale University, winning a Rhodes scholarship for graduate study at Oxford University. After graduating from University College, Oxford, he became The New Republic's managing editor in 1995. He became senior editor in 1997, and from 1999 to 2006 served as the magazine's editor.

About the Book

In Israel, the deepening occupation of the West Bank is putting Israeli democracy at risk. And in the United States, the refusal of major Jewish organizations to defend democracy in the Jewish state is alienating many young liberal Jews from Zionism itself. The Crisis of Zionism lays out in chilling detail the looming danger to Israeli democracy and the American Jewish establishment's refusal to confront it. It renders a fascinating, groundbreaking portrait of two leaders at the center of the crisis: Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu. Beinart offers provocative proposals for how the relationship between American Jews and Israel must change, and an eloquent and moving appeal for American Jews to defend the dream of a democratic Jewish state before it is too late.

Sponsors

This event is presented by VCU Libraries and is sponsored by the Friends of VCU Libraries and the VCU Center for Judaic Studies.

Further Reading

Interested to know more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its history and its religious, political and social implications? These resources from the VCU Libraries collection are a taste of the many viewpoints on the issue.

Not a current VCU student, VCU employee or Friends of VCU Libraries member? Join the Friends to borrow VCU Libraries materials.

Image: Peter Beinart, courtesy of Keppler Speakers