Goliath

Life and Loathing in Greater Israel

By: Max Blumenthal

Narrated by: Richard Powers

Length: 22 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

In Goliath, New York Times best-selling author Max Blumenthal takes us on a journey through the badlands and high roads of Israel-Palestine, painting a startling portrait of Israeli society under the siege of increasingly authoritarian politics as the occupation of the Palestinians deepens.

Beginning with the national elections carried out during Israel's war on Gaza in 2008/9, which brought into power the country's most right-wing government to date, Blumenthal tells the story of Israel in the wake of the collapse of the Oslo peace process.

As Blumenthal reveals, Israel has become a country where right-wing leaders like Avigdor Lieberman and Bibi Netanyahu are sacrificing democracy on the altar of their power politics, where the loyal opposition largely and passively stands aside and watches the organized assault on civil liberties, where state-funded Orthodox rabbis publish books that provide instructions on how and when to kill gentiles, where half of Jewish youth declare their refusal to sit in a classroom with an Arab, and where mob violence targets Palestinians and African asylum seekers scapegoated by leading government officials as "demographic threats".

Immersing himself like few other journalists inside the world of hard-line political leaders and movements, Blumenthal interviews the demagogues and divas in their homes, in the Knesset, and in the watering holes where their young acolytes hang out, and he speaks with those political leaders behind the organized assault on civil liberties. As his journey deepens, he painstakingly reports on the occupied Palestinians challenging schemes of demographic separation through unarmed protest. He talks at length to the leaders and youth of Palestinian society inside Israel now targeted by security service dragnets and legislation suppressing their speech and provides in-depth reporting on the small band of Jewish Israeli dissidents who have shaken off a conformist mindset that permeates the media, schools, and the military.

Through his far-ranging travels, Blumenthal illuminates the present by uncovering the ghosts of the past - the histories of Palestinian neighborhoods and villages now gone and forgotten, how that history has set the stage for the current crisis of Israeli society, and how the Holocaust has been turned into justification for occupation.

A brave and unflinching account of the real facts on the ground, Goliath is an unprecedented and compelling work of journalism.

©2013 Max Blumenthal (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

very informative. a difficult thing to learn about

very good narrator, I see Max alot on YouTube and though it wasn't his voice it still felt like him telling the story.

Masterful

A devastating look into domestic Israeli fascism and West Bank persecution. Highly recommended for anyone with a conscience.

Introduction to Israel 101

Great book that must be read by all people feeling morally undecided about Israeli occupation.

Even more relevant in 2021's 'Intafada III'

Max's searing insight into the Israel's settler colonialism is here for all to see. His reporting helps support Norman Finkelstein's observations regarding the crass insensitivity of the Israeli government (as well as too many of their people) towards the helpless Palestinians.

Anecdotal yet when stitched together the stories form a rare view of Israel.

There is much information here. Anyone serious about understanding modern Israel or the trajectory of right wing power anywhere should give a listen.

The real story of occupation

Listened to it after I heard an interview with the author on democracy now. I could not stop listing or sleep until I finished it. It makes you want to cry. A must read for all peace lovers.

One of the few TRUE accounts of Israeli occupation

Anyone who is interested in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, or the apartheid, or the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, (or whatever term you choose to use), should add this book to their collection. Towards the end I felt like it droned on a little too long, more or less just reenforcing the message well after the point had been made. But at the same time, it was interesting to hear the multiple accounts from different sources the writer spent time with. If you have spent any time or effort looking into the Israel story, (post 1945), the. you have no doubt learned that nearly every mainstream book, article, or documentary, is completely one sided to the dogmatic narrative that the Jews were victims of Nazi aggression, and they "just want to exist." The reality is they forced themselves onto the Palestinians with promises that they will play nice and keep to their territories. What this book demonstrates is that the Israeli occupation is not only the most fundamentally racist, sexist, and religiously descriminatory regime on Earth, (surpassing the normal evil villains we hear of such as North Korea, Iran, Russia, etc), but are also the the most sadistic. A strong arguement can be made that they are in fact, the most sadistic regime in any written history.

The truth is rarely pretty

Goliath is not always an easy book to listen to. It is well written and well read, but the truths can be hard for many people to hear. Max Blumenthal at the lives of Palestinians, those in the Occupied Territories, but more so those Palestinians living inside Israel proper. The stories these Palestinians have almost never been told in the US, but they are important. Close to two million Arabs live inside Israel treated as less than second class citizens. They are denied access to most land, most jobs, many government benefits, and basic rights to organize political institutions and celebrate their culture. Blumenthal also examines the increasing rhetoric and legislation in Israel that many Israelis themselves describe as neo-fascist.

If you're looking for a feel-good story, this is not it. If you are looking for stories about life in Israel and Palestine that aren't generally told in the US, this book is a must read.

very in depth

I loved the book. I found it filled with knowledge, highly recommend. I support BDS whole heartedly now.

Worth reading with reservations.

The book is long but very interesting, and should be read/listenin to if you are a supporter of Israel. My reservations come from his clear bias, a strong negative view of Israel. He makes his case well but is it exaggerated? For example he considered the city with derogation as if it is a hopeless hole. I for one know well a person and the person's friends, who all grew up in Ashdod. The person and her friends went to the local public schools most whent on to one or another of Israel's main University. The person I know best first majored in mathematics and philosophy and ended up graduating with a double degree in electrical and computer engineer. I could not have done it. I went to school in the U.S. and stink in math.

However, if half of what he reports is true, much of which, having lived in Israel, I accept as true, supporters of Israel have much to worry about it they support and believe that Israel is a democracy with human rights and freedoms of speech.