Essays on Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and the Left

"Amery's searing and indispensable reflection on the Nazi death camps, At the Mind's Limits, has now been supplemented by this prescient collection that foresaw the rise of leftwing antisemitism and described its motivations and impact with exceptional clarity. The result is a book that interrogates the present moment from the moral and philosophical perspective of the Shoah. This is a compelling book that everyone concerned with our destiny should read."—Cary Nelson, author of Dreams Deferred and Not in Kansas Anymore

"Remove the dates and historical markers on some of the essays, and you will think you are reading a contemporary critique of the left vis-à-vis the Jews and Israel. Jean Améry, for that reason, was, as much a major witness to the catastrophe, as a visionary intellectual who admonished those who had perverted the progressive project into the infamous "socialism of the fools." This collection of elegant translations prefaced by Alvin Rosenfeld shows an intellectual and a witness immune to all dogmas and whose heart and reason constitute the only measure of his ethical judgement."—Bruno Chaouat, author of Is Theory Good for the Jews? French Thought and the Challenge of the New Antisemitism

"If there's a cure for today's woke antisemitism, this is it. Camouflaged as anti-Zionism, the world's oldest hatred runs amok on the left in new forms after World War II (which stigmatized old-fashioned, rightwing Jew-hatred for a time), as Améry saw ahead of the rest. Anti-Zionism is antisemitism, he recognized unflinchingly. In sum, there is no discussion worth having of campus antisemitism, the movement to boycott Israel, the upsurge in attacks on Jews around the world or Israeli-diaspora relations that ignores this prescient and piercing, achingly lucid volume"—Gabriel Noah Brahm, Northern Michigan University

"From the late '60s on, Améry was a frequent presence in Germany's press and was often on the radio, a living reminder of what so many Germans wanted to repress. Now Indiana University Press has issued Améry's Essays on Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and the Left, which contains Améry's polemic for Israel, and against the German left's endorsement of Palestinian terror. These vital works continue to haunt us, as Améry would have wanted."—David Mikics, Tablet

"Essays on Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and the Left is a personal life-wrenching collection of writings by Jean Améry"—Zev Garber, Los Angeles Valley College., Reading Religion

"Améry saw leftist antisemitism as dangerous not so much because of antisemitic intentions but because the new moral masquerade of anti-Zionism turns antisemitic content into something virtuous and respectable."—Pavel Brunssen, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, H-Antisemitism H-net

"Améry develops an illuminating triangle viewpoint as he examines the interrelationship between antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and the New Left. In his critique of "virtuous antisemitism" (also: "latent antisemitism"), he unmasks its dangers and emphasizes the importance of vigilance in the face of changing ideologies."—H-Antisemitism

"It is a valuable and frustrating collection. It is valuable because Améry is an important voice from the Left—critical of his colleagues for their moral, ethical, and intellectual failures particularly relating to Jews and Israel. It is frustrating because Améry sees Jew hate/antisemitism as "ineradicable."—Daniel Mallock, New English Review