Noa Tishby

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Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby offers a chronological timeline of the region, explaining how we got to where we are. Ms. Tishby was a successful actress and entertainer; she is now an advocate against antisemitism and producer.

This 2021 book was both entertaining and informative, if anyone wants to understand the region from the Israeli perspective, it’s a good read. For me Israel by Noa Tishby was more of a review, I knew most of what the author presented, even though I do look at history from a more skeptical point of view.

One of the highlights of the book, for me, was how the BDS movement integrated itself into higher-education. This is something I didn’t know and that part was fascinating. Her question of “who’s paying for this” is an important one to ask, but it seems that there’s an overlap between BDS and Hamas leadership which should make everyone uncomfortable at the very least. I checked this and found the Congressional testimony from 2016 which Ms. Tishby refers to, as wells as a more recent one from 2023.

This book is biased, of course. But it’s not heavily biased and is simplistic by design. Many of Ms. Tishby’s points are spot on and she does a great job giving a high-level overview of major events in a timeline filled with them.

In an attempt to be unbiased, she acknowledges wrong done by Israel, but they’re quick and few. I wished she spent more time on those though since Israel is a divided country politically and self-reflection is important and would make her other points better.

I certainly think this book has value, is worth reading even if you disagree with every point she makes. The author includes a handy timeline at the end of the book, with major turning points that is interesting and gives a high-level historical overview.… (més)

Everyone should read ISRAEL by Noa Tishby. Most people NEED to read it. As her subtitle says, it's "a simple guide to the most misunderstood country on earth." I'm not Jewish, and I don't live in Israel.

Many times I've tried to read other history books or books pertaining to present-day countries in other parts of the world but gave up on them before I finished.They were like homework. Not ISRAEL. Every sentence interested me and kept my attention.

Rather than repeat what Tishby tries and succeeds in making clear, I'll say that ISRAEL is an easy-to-read book that corrects misunderstandings.

Read it. You may end up wanting to buy a copy for everyone you know.… (més)