Re: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
In his comment about Benny Morris, Shmuel Ben-Gad (Gelman Library, George Washington University) referred to Efraim Karsh's 1997 book, "Fabricating Israeli history: the 'new historians'", as having "challenged the worth of at least some of [the new historians'] work. Most reviews of Professor Karsh's book have been relatively short, and not written by those with expertise in the field and experience in working with the archival sources used by the "new historians" and by Karsh in criticising them. But there was an 11 page review in the fall of 1997 by Ian K. Lustick, then chair of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, a scholar with the requisite expertise and experience. It was published in "Survival", the journal of the highly respected International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and it was entitled, "Israeli history, who is fabricating what?" There also was a subsequent exchange of letters between Karsh and Lustick published in the next issue (winter, 1997-98). Both the review-essay and the letters clearly set out Karsh's own many errors, misleading comments and underlying purpose in vilifying Benny Morris and his colleagues. Lustick sums up his view of Karsh's book as follows: Errors, inconsistencies and over-interpretation there may be in some of the the new Israeli histories, but nothing in them can match the howlers, contradictions and distor- tions contained in this volume... In fact it is Karsh's volume, especially given the solem invocation of scholarly norms it contains, which comes perilously close to falling within the category of a hoax. When I read Karsh's book, not having the knowledge to determine whether his charges were correct or not, I checked several reviews and found that Karsh was not to be trusted. Such is the dificulty we face as librarians who have to make choices and select books for our readers. It is no doubt one of the most difficult and intellectualy challenging tasks we do! Shabbat shalom, Bernard Katz, former Head, Special Collections and Library Development McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph and founding Treasurer, AJL - Ontario Chapter == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
Bernard Katz says that Professor Karsh is "not be trusted." Based upon their comments on the book "Fabricating Israei History," these are some scholars ho I do not think would concur with Mr. Katz: Itamar Rabinovich, Daniel Pipes. Hyam Maccoby, J. C. Hurewitz, and Norman Berdichevsky. == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
Shmuel Ben-Gad names five scholars "ho [sic] I do not think would concur with Mr. Katz". At the time I looked into the accuracy of Effraim Karsh's book, I found some 20 reviews, about 3/4 of which were in scholarly journals. Because of the controversial nature of the book and its thesis, I read most of them; of those in newspapers, I looked at only the review in the Times Literary Supplement (London). I also checked the subsequent issues of all the periodicals whose reviews I read, to be certain that I would see any rejoinders to their reviewers in the form of letters to the editor. I believe that my method was quite neutral and sufficiently comprehensive. Of the five "scholars" named by Mr. Ben-Gad, only one turned up in my widely cast literature search - Itamar Rabinovich. His review of the book appeared in the Sept., 1998 issue (V. 20, no.3) of "The International History Review" and was less than 2 pages long. The problem with such relatively short reviews, is that they give the reviewer little space to comment on her/his own examination of the sources. Rabinovich did state his disagreement with one of Karsh's central themes - that the "new historians" did not find anything really new in the freshly opened archives and that what they did find changes nothing in our understanding of history. Rabinovich says that he himself is "indebted to [Avi] Shlaim [one of the three scholars who founded the movement] for presenting the new archival material and for the challenge of his sharp statements, and [I] recognize the contribution that he and his colleagues have made by debunking a number of myths and by adding ferment to Israeli historiography." While his short review does not record any analysis of Karsh's proofs that the "new historians" falsifed historical evidence, Rabinovich says that Karsh's "own conservative bent and genuine anger, however, endow his book with a stridency that, in fact, detracts from its effectiveness." I do not find this review to be contrary to what I concluded about Karsh's book (that it is not to be trusted), after reading Lustick's review, which I cited in my earlier posting, as well as others. For instance, in his lengthy review of Karsh's book (typical of the Times Literary Supplement) of Oct. 3, 1997, Omar Bartov, Professor of History at Rutgers University says: "There are some curious aspects to Karsh's polemical essay. He has not worked intensively with the documents examined by Morris, Shlaim or Pappe. If he criticises their interpretation of this or that document, and at times raises reasonable doubts about some of their conclusions, he nevertheless lacks the documentary basis which underlies the major works by the scholars he attacks...For the vehemence of Karsh's essay bears no relationship to the actual weight of his criticism." B'shalom, Bernard Katz, former Head, Special Collections and Library Development McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph and founding Treasurer, AJL - Ontario Chapter == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
Of course my main point is that the "new historians" views are seriously controverted within academia, as Professor Karsh's wrtitings and the other scholars I mentioned indicated. Another example is Yehoshua Porath, emeritus profesor of Middle East History at Hebrew University who wrote an essay quite critical of one of the new historians school, Tom Segev, in issue 9 of Azure magazine. Indeed the editorial in that issue of Azure might also be of interest to people. Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Library, George Washington University. Mme de Gramont...was called before the Revolutionary Tribunal to stand trial for her life. "Had she ever aided the aristocrats who had escaped abroad?" the court asked her. Mme. de Gramont knew that if she answered yes she would be guillotined at once. For some seconds she looked at her judges in silence, then, "I was going to answer no," she said, "but life is not worth the lie."--as related by Whittaker Chambers in Life magazine, September 15, 1947. -- == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
Shmuel Ben-Gad writes that his "main point is that [Israel's] 'new historians' views are seriously controverted within academia", and I certainly agree with him. So what is a librarian selecting books for the library to do? After all, it is impossible to become an instant expert in this or any other subject! In my view, the answer is to use a method for evaluation which brings to light, as much as possible, the biases of book reviewers. In my postings on the controversy surrounding Karsh's book I tried to indicate one effective approach. Mr. Ben-Gad's posting, citing an article about Tom Segev in the journal "Azure", gives me the opportunity to demonstrate explicitely the need for care when looking at reviews or articles in periodicals and even books. At question is who published it and how this can alert us to a possible *unwarranted* bias on the part of a reviewer or author. The only local public or academic library subscribing to "Azure" is the University of Toronto. Its online catalogue indicates the periodical is published by The Shalem Center-Institute for Social Thought, Jerusalem. In an article published in the Feb.7, 2000 issue of the Canadian Jewish News, Rabbi Michael Melchior (leader of Meimad, a moderate religious Israeli party, and former Deputy Foreign Minister in Sharon's previous cabinet) describes The Shalem Centre as "a right-of-centre think-tank, and an advisor to Benyamin Netanyahu from the days before he became prime minister". Further, the "Azure" Web site itself quotes an Oct.9, 1996 article in Ha'aretz (Books Supplement) describing it as a periodical, "whose aim is to try to grapple with the intellectual success of post- Zionism, and to present us with a positive Jewish-nationalist alternative to it." In other words, "Azure" is clearly against the new-historians' point of view to begin with, and is not at all a dispasionate scholarly forum for discussion. Also of note is that "Azure"s Web site shows Porath to be a contributing editor and not simply an author publishing there. In my perspective, all this places "Azure" outside the same league as the "Times Literary Supplement", or "Survival" (International Institute for Strategic Studies), or the "International History Review". I will certainly read Yehoshua Porath's article - it's on the "Azure" Web site, though not all parts of each issue are made available there (eg. letters are not on the site, so one cannot read rejoinders to the articles). But I'll consider it alongside other materials about Tom Segev's work. B'shalom, Bernard Katz, former Head, Special Collections and Library Development McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph and founding Treasurer, AJL - Ontario Chapter == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
I hadn't intended ot write on this again, but , with all respect, I cannot agree with Mr. Katz's dismissing reviews that appear in ideologiclaly committed publications. (I leave aside the fact that the new historians themselves tend to left-wing views which many say inform their own historical work.) Left of center publications like the New York Review of Books and the Nation,and the New Republic sometimes have excellent book reviews in my opinion.I think the same can be said for right of center publications like Commentary and the American Spectator. Ind ealing with Jewish matters, should we be dismissive of reviews in the journals Tradition and Reform Judaism? I think I would be crippling myself as a librarian if I was dismissive of them. Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Library, George Washington University. Mme de Gramont...was called before the Revolutionary Tribunal to stand trial for her life. "Had she ever aided the aristocrats who had escaped abroad?" the court asked her. Mme. de Gramont knew that if she answered yes she would be guillotined at once. For some seconds she looked at her judges in silence, then, "I was going to answer no," she said, "but life is not worth the lie."--as related by Whittaker Chambers in Life magazine, September 15, 1947. -- == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
I too had not intended to write again, however, I must protest Mr. Ben- Gad's statement that what I said in my previous posting was "dismissing reviews that appear in ideologiclaly [sic] committed publications". In fact I said: "At question is who published it and how this can alert us to a possible *unwarranted* bias on the part of a reviewer or author." Far from "dismissing" such reviews, I noted the potential problem they might contain, and said that as readers we must be alert to this. Mr. Ban-Gad then proceeds to expand his unfounded comments to the point of absurdity, by asking an obviously rhetorical question: "should we be dismissive of reviews in the journals Tradition and Reform Judaism?" And then: "I think I would be crippling myself as a librarian if I was dismissive of them." And I agree completely, especially since I was far from being "dismissive"! I clearly said what I had found out about "Azure" placed it "outside the same league" as that of certain other publications, but again I did not simply "dismiss" it as a source. In fact I said very clearly that I would read Porath's article and "consider it alongside other materials about Tom Segev's work". Indeed, I am grateful to Shmuel Ben-Gad for bringing it to my attention. I only wish that he in turn would read Ian Lustick's review essay of Karsh's book in "Survival"! B'shalom, Bernard Katz, former Head, Special Collections and Library Development McLaughlin Library, University of Guelph and founding Treasurer, AJL - Ontario Chapter == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
RE: [Ha-Safran] New Historians
Methinks Mr. Katz doth protest too much. But I wish him shalom rav anyway. Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Library, George Washington University. Mme de Gramont...was called before the Revolutionary Tribunal to stand trial for her life. "Had she ever aided the aristocrats who had escaped abroad?" the court asked her. Mme. de Gramont knew that if she answered yes she would be guillotined at once. For some seconds she looked at her judges in silence, then, "I was going to answer no," she said, "but life is not worth the lie."--as related by Whittaker Chambers in Life magazine, September 15, 1947. -- == HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
