"A compelling book about Israel's perceived identity in the west and the reality on the ground. Schalit offers a genuine and honest look at both sides of the equation." -- Jamal Dajani, Senior Director of Middle East Programming - LinkTV

Reach And Teach says:

We've worked with Joel Schalit for quite a few years, first when he was Managing Editor for Tikkun, and later in collaboration for launching a new publishing company. Joel is a brilliant writer, editor, and has a fascinating and in many ways unique world view. His experience inside and outside of Israel makes him quite able to view Israel/Palestine issues from many angles, and his openness to understanding how others view exactly the same people and conditions through different lenses, has helped him become a conduit for alternative solutions to be voiced even for seemingly unsolvable problems. His is a voice worth hearing, whatever side of the debate you are on. If you're willing to have ears that hear and eyes that see, give Joel a chance to fill them with voice and vision.

About the Book and Author:

ISRAEL IS A SYNONYM FOR MANY THINGS, the ancestral home of the Jewish people, the hell of the Palestinians; the realization of a centuries-old dream of freedom, and the heart of the War on Terror. No country inspires as much debate about its rights and wrongs, its legitimacy and illegitimacies, than Israel. Historically associated with Europe, such debate finally became common in the U.S. during the Bush era, as America deepened its involvement in the region, and Israel fought three wars.

IN HIS NEW BOOK, ISRAEL VS. UTOPIA, Israeli American journalist Joel Schalit distinguishes between the Israel he knows, and the image of it that exists in the imagination of Americans. Israel is a state of mind, Schalit argues, as much as it is its own sovereign state. Exploring this tension, in America, in Israel, employing a combination of personal observation, political, and cultural commentary, Schalit defines the instability of Israel, as a metaphor, and America's troubled love for it, as only an Israeli American would know.

JOEL SCHALIT is a writer and editor based in Milan, Italy. The author of the critically-acclaimed Jerusalem Calling, and the editor of several collections including The Anti-Capitalism Reader, Schalit has edited some of America's most influential independent magazines, including Punk Planet, Tikkun, and the legendary '90s e-zine, Bad Subjects. His work has also appeared in AlterNet, the Forward, the Guardian and XLR8R. Schalit currently comments on Mideast politics for French global news broadcaster France 24, and is the online editor of the New York Jewish periodical, Zeek. A member of the post-rock duo Elders of Zion, he is presently working on the band's third album, Donkeys of the Earth.

Reviews:

"Joel Schalit is an unusually considered and nuanced voice, the sort rarely heard amid the maelstrom of Israel-Palestine news coverage. Few writers live and breathe news from the region as he does, and fewer still can analyze and blend it with such eclectic, rich, and informative life experiences. Joel's work intuitively captures the pains, struggle, and contradictions of the Middle East, and offers a rare window into its possibilities for hope."
--Arthur Neslen, Occupied Minds and In Your Eyes a Sandstorm (forthcoming)

Critical Praise for Joel Schalit's Jerusalem Calling:

"This remarkable collection of essays by an astute young writer covers a wide range of topics [and] Schalit almost always hits his mark. This is the debut of a new and original thinker." --Publishers Weekly

"Schalit's genuine, urgent concern knocks down doors."
--Salon

"Schalit has risen to the forefront of a new left culture that's postmodern and ultra-aware but still believes in the power of activism."
--SF Weekly

"Joel Schalit is part of a new generation of secular Jewish leftists who issue a challenge to state-authorized religion in Israel and throughout the world."
--San Francisco Bay Guardian

Details:

Published in October 2009
Paperback - 250 Pages
Price - $15.95