Why I am a Zionist: Israel, Jewish identity & the challenges of today By Gil Troy

Mordecai Ben-Dat, (REVIEWER). The Canadian Jewish News. Jan 3, 2002. Vol. 32, Iss. 1, pg. 4.

A 'must buy' book

There are a number of sourcebooks, references, texts and films on the Middle East conflict to which we can all turn for invaluable guidance. A history of the Jewish people is a good place to begin. There are many reliable, well-written history texts, such as those authored by Heinrich Graetz, Solomon Grayzel, Simon Dubnov, Ben-Zion Dinur, Cecil Roth, H.H. Ben-Sasson, Jacob Katz, Howard Sacher and Paul Johnson, to name but a few.

Recently in this space, I wrote about two resources other than history texts that are very important sources of context and information for individuals interested in carrying the "battle" for public opinion on behalf of Israel.

One was the Web site of the Canada-Israel Committee (CIC)-- http://www.cicweb.ca--which publishes highly instructive documents and other publications. The other was Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard.

To this list must now be added the recently published. Why I Am A Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today, by Gil Troy.

Since the start of the violent rejection of the Oslo Accords by the Palestinians some 15 months ago, Troy has emerged as the pre-eminent advocate for Israel on Canadian campuses and in the general media.

A professor of history at McGill University, Troy wears the mantle in Canadian academic and intellectual circles, so proudly, ably and elegantly worn in the United States by Ruth Wisse, as a bold, unabashed defender of Israel's legitimacy and right to exist as a free, sovereign Jewish State in the Muslim Middle East.

Troy's book is one of the Most important works to appear on the subject of Jewish survival and continuity, at least since 1967. It is not an overstatement to join Zionism, the ostensible subject of the work, to Jewish survival and continuity. Troy uses the term Zionism in a wide, inclusive manner that begins with "people-hood, history and homeland," and concludes with a discussion on a reinvigorated, modern Zionism geared to Jews both in Israel and in the Diaspora.

Troy writes in a direct, forthright manner, in language that is as clear as sunlight in a noontime summer sky in Jerusalem. He never avoids or evades difficult issues. His arguments are forceful but never overbearing. Moreover, and perhaps most refreshing, Troy is never defensive about Israel or Israel's cause. When there are blemishes on Israel's record, he acknowledges them. But he refuses to allow the enemies of Israel to distort that record as if it only had such blemishes.

The book has its genesis in the morally inverted an world that once again, alas, wields truth topsy-turvy, upside down, as a sword against the Jewish State.

Like many of us, Troy was shocked at the nature and extent of the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric that has returned from the malodorous sinkholes of a former time. But unlike most of us, he has decided of take action.

This book arises from that action.

From its very first pages, the book glistens with high thought and inspiration. In the prologue, Troy tells how and why it was written.

He reproduces his famous shining essay I am a Zionist: A Twenty First Century Manifesto, the reactions it evoked, and his personal call-to-arms that resulted from those reactions.

The book is a specially effective armament for students on campus, where the vitriol against the Jews and the Jewish State has been the most poisonous.

Indeed, Troy has included an appendix that tells the reader "how to talk about Israel on campus and elsewhere without apologizing, cringing, crying or yelling." It should be made available for all our students on campuses throughout Canada.

Why I am a Zionist flows with facts, argument, history and context like a strong river whose unwavering current is able to smash the menacing rocks that lurk mostly hidden in its path.

Helping to make the book even more illuminating is the renowned Israeli illustrator of the Jerusalem Report, Avi Katz, whose many drawings add poignant visual accents to Troy's writings.

All of the author's royalties from the book will be donated to the Israeli MIA families' individual efforts to free their children. All other profits from the book will be donated to the Birthright Israel program. Why I am a Zionist can be ordered from the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre in Montreal by phone at: 514-345-2610, by fax at: 514-735-2175 or by email at: bjec@bjec.org.

There is no more informative, exciting, impassioned and inspiring voice today on Israel's behalf than Troy's. His book is a must buy.