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Prior to reading this book, I had never heard of either Elmer Berger, Israel Shahak, or the eight other writers who contributed articles, but a cursory glance on-line at information available about Shahak - a concentration camp survivor, and later a professor at Hebrew University in Israel - make the charge of anti-semitism debatable, at the very least. As for Berger, one might get a better sense of his position on Zionism by reading the last essay in this book - "Reform Judaism and Zionism: Early History and Change", by Norton Mezvinsky. As an American Jew, Berger evidently considered himself first and foremost an American, seeing Jewishness more as a religious or spiritual philosophy, rather than a nationality, as the Zionists do. My take on anti-semitism in America is that, while it has certainly existed, and still exists, it has never been as virulent or widespread as it was in Germany or some Slavic countries. My own father changed his name as a young man in order to hide his Jewish background, but that was in the 1930s; I doubt many American Jews would bother doing that now. Anyone who really wants to know more about Shahak or Berger will just have to read what they've actually written, and this book would be an excellent place to start.

I might as well go ahead and list the contents of the book:

"Zionist Ideology: Obstacle to Peace", by Elmer Berger

"Anti-Zionism: A Democratic Alternative", by Naseer Aruri

"The 'Who is a Jew?' Controversy in Israel: A Product of Political Zionism", by Roselle Tekiner

"The Question of Palestine: Palestinian Attitudes Toward Civil Liberties and Human Rights", by Shaw J. Dallal

"Separatism at the Wrong Time in History", by Benjamin M. Joseph

"Zionism, Freedom of Information, and the Law", by Sally and W. Thomas Mallison

"American Efforts for Peace in the Middle East", by Cheryl A. Rubenberg

"Israel's Christian Comforters and Critics", by Ruth W. Mouly

"Zionism as a Recidivist Movement: Origin of its Separatist Aims", by Israel Shahak

"Reform Judaism and Zionism: Early History and Change", by Norton Mezvinsky