Episode · Behind the Bastards · 2026-08-04
Books mentioned on Part One: The Origins of Terror in Palestine
Robert sits down with Dr. Dana al-Kurd to discuss how things started going wrong in Palestine, and how terror first came to the Holy Land.
Robert Evans discussed Lives in Common by Menachem Klein, Auto-emancipation by Leon Pinsker, and Menachem Begin by Daniel Gordis.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Lives in Common
Lives in Common by Menachem Klein explores the historical coexistence and complex dynamics of different communities in Jerusalem.
Discussed“But there's a lot of I mean, one of our sources for this is a book called Lives in Common that really goes into how different things used to be there and how the the fundamental conflict has nothing to do with faith, right?”
Where to get it
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Auto-emancipation
Discussed“Per the Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of Terrorism, it does something else, too. This also expedited the consolidation of Jewish nationalism. The most significant essay of the time was Autoemancipation by Leon Pinsker, in which he advocated the idea of self-determination for the Jewish people in their ancient homeland.”
Where to get it
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Menachem Begin
Discussed“In his biography of Menachem Begin, Daniel Gordis makes it clear that Zionism developed alongside and was influenced by other nationalist movements.”
Where to get it
