Verso Books

THE RETURNS OF ZIONISM
Myths, Politics and Scholarship in Israel
In this original and wide-ranging study, Gabriel Piterberg examines the ideology and literature behind the colonization of Palestine, from the late nineteenth century to the present. Exploring Zionism's origins in Central-Eastern European nationalism and se...ttler movements, he shows how its texts can be placed within a wider discourse of western colonization. Piterberg revisits the work of Theodor Herzl, Gershom Scholem, Anita Shapira and David Ben-Gurion, among other thinkers influential in the formation of the Zionist myth, to break open prevailing views of Zionism. He demonstrates that it was in fact unexceptional, expressing a consciousness and imagination typical of colonial settler movement. Shaped by European ideological currents and the realities of colonial life, Zionism constructed its own story as a unique and impregnable one, in the process excluding the voices of an indigenous people - the Palestinian Arabs.

About the Author
GABRIEL PITERBERG was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and grew up in Israel. He graduated at Tel Aviv University, where he majored in Middle East history and political science (BA), and Middle East and European history (MA). His D.Phil. in the history of the Ottoman Empire is from the University of Oxford. He taught at the University of Durham, England, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel.
Piterberg now teaches at UCLA. He writes and teaches on the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean in the early modern period, and modern themes like colonialism, Zionism, and Palestine/Israel. He writes for the New Left Review and London Review of Books.
BOOK NOW AT: http://www.lrbshop.co.uk/product.php?productid=4499
The Returns of Zionism is available at all good bookshops and also at:
http://www.amazon.com/Returns-Zionism-Politics-Scholarship-Israel/dp/1844672603/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227539728&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Return-Zionism-Politics-Scholarship-Israel/dp/1844672603/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227539686&sr=8-1
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SPECIAL EVENT:

A very rare screening
of Peter Wollen’s
FRIENDSHIP’S DEATH



With introduction and Q&A
by Academy Award-winner
TILDA SWINTON


Curzon Soho, 12 noon, 23rd November 2008

A Critical Friendship: Peter Wollen, Tilda Swinton and ‘Friendship’s Death’

Friendship’s Death (Peter Wollen, UK, 1987) 78 mins.
With Tilda Swint...on and Bill Paterson

With an introduction by and Q&A with Tilda Swinton

Marking the publication of a new edition of ‘Raiding the Icebox: Reflections on Twentieth-Century Culture’ (Verso Books; www.versobooks.com), seminal critic Peter Wollen’s kaleidoscopic overview of avant-garde and radical subcultures, we are pleased to present a very special screening of his rarely seen feature ‘Friendship’s Death.’ A fascinating, experimental political drama, set in 1970 during the Palestinian / Jordanian conflict, it stars Swinton as a young lady, named Friendship, who is rescued from a PLO patrol by a British war correspondent (Paterson). “She claims to be an extraterrestrial robot sent to Earth on a peace mission… Is she insane, a spy, or telling the truth?… the use of the alien outsider's way of seeing the world is perceptive and provocative… best of all, the film displays a droll wit… and a surprising ability to touch the heart. With two impressive central performances, Wollen has made by far his most rewarding movie to date.” (Time Out).
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Date: Thursday 6 November, 6.00-7.30pm

Venue: Thatcher Room, Portcullis House, Houses of Parliament, Victoria Embankment, London SW1A 2LW

Speakers:

Conor Foley, author, journalist & humanitarian aid worker

Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP, former Minister for Europe

Oliver Kamm, Leader Writer, The Times

Chair: James Darcy, Direct...or of Programmes, Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute

At this Foreign Policy Centre and Verso Books event, humanitarian aid worker Conor Foley will outline the thesis of his new book, 'The Thin Blue Line: How Humanitarianism Went to War', and Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP and Oliver Kamm of The Times will present their responses to it.

The idea that we should 'do something' to help those suffering in far-off places is the main impulse driving those who care about human rights. Yet from Kosovo to Iraq, military interventions have gone disastrously wrong.

In his ground-breaking new book, Conor Foley explores how the doctrine of humanitarian intervention has been used to allow states to invade other nations in the name of human rights. Drawing on his own experience of working in over a dozen conflict and post-conflict zones, Foley shows how the growing influence of international law has been used to over-ride the sovereignty of the poorest countries in the world.

If you would like to attend, please send an email to: events@fpc.org.uk

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