GOOD JEW, BAD JEW, racism, anti-semitism and the assault on meaning

221pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2023

"Showing how Zionists have utilised anti-Semitism to justify their claims on Palestinian land, Steven Friedman demonstrates how Israel, contrary to its claim to protect Jews, actually places us at greater risk ... Good Jew, Bad Jew not only lays out the historical and contemporary unfurling of the Zionist misuses of anti-Semitism, but also points us towards the conceptual tools we need to stand up to them and reclaim our diasporic Jewish identity." Alana Lentin, Professor of Cultural and Social Analysis, Western Sydney University

"Friedman provides convincing arguments to account for the binary construction between the ‘good Jew’ who loyally supports Israel, and the ‘bad Jew’ who criticises its policies. It is this discourse on the ‘bad Jew’ that ends up silencing and shutting down democratic debate and deliberation. This is a vital book for anyone interested in understanding how open public debate on Palestine and Israel is being choked in many parts of the world, especially in Israel, Western Europe and the United States." Steven Robins, Professor, Sociology and Social Anthropology, University of Stellenbosch

Steven Friedman is Research Professor associated with the Department of Politics in the Humanities Faculty, University of Johannesburg. His books include One Virus, Two Countries, what Covid-19 tells us about South Africa; Power in Action: Democracy, citizenship and social justice and Prisoners of the Past: South African democracy and the legacy of minority rule.