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Tuvia Book
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Tuvia Book
Author, educator, Tour-Guide, artist
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“Mahmoud the Moderate”

Once again Time and its reporter Karl Vick’s bias, or naivety at best, is revealed regarding the Arab-Israel conflict. In his “The Stateless Statesman” [Oct.15, 2012] story he refers, using Orwellian adjectives, to Mahmoud Abbas as a, “bookish moderate” and an “avuncular, grandfatherly…modern man, free from violence.”  The kind of person one would introduce to ones daughter.

Is this the same man who regarding the recognition of Israel recently stated, in Arabic; “You can call yourselves whatever you want. But I will not accept it?” Is this the same man who approved a law authorising lump-sum payments of $2200 (mainly from foreign donations to the PA) to the surviving family members of terrorists, who he refers to as “shahids” (martyrs), including suicide bombers?

Is this the same man who refers to the the sovereign State of Israel as the “Zionist enemy,” and in December 2010, reiterated, in Arabic, his longstanding position that if a Palestinian state were to be established, no Jews would be permitted to enter it: “We have frankly said, and always will say: If there is an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, we won’t agree to the presence of one Israeli in it?”

Is this the man whose doctoral thesis from Moscow University later became a book (titled The Other Side: The Secret Relations between Nazism and the Leadership of the Zionist Movement) which denied both the scope and gravity of the Shoah? According to Abbas, “only a few hundred thousand Jews” were killed in the Shoah and those mostly through collusion between the Nazis and the Zionists.

Is this Time and Karl Vick’s peace-loving “hero?” Ecce homo!

Clearly Abbas has a very different message to his Arabic speaking constituency than he does to English speaking western reporters. The root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict is the failure of the Arab side to even recognise the legitimacy of a Jewish right to a homeland in the Land of Israel.

About the Author
Tuvia Book has a doctorate in education and is the author and illustrator of the internationally acclaimed Israel education curriculum; "For the Sake of Zion; A Curriculum of Israel Studies" (Fifth edition, Koren), "Jewish Journeys, The Second Temple Period to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, 536 BCE-136 CE," (Koren), "Moral Dilemmas of the Modern Israeli Soldier" (Rama) and the soon to be published “Jewish Journeys, The First Temple Period, 1000 -586 BCE” (Koren). Dr. Book was born in London and raised in both the UK and South Africa. After making Aliya at the age of 17 and studying in Yeshiva he volunteered for the IDF, where he served in an elite combat unit. Upon his discharge he completed his undergraduate degree in Jewish history and literature, as well as a certification in graphic design. He then served as the Information Officer and deputy head of security at the Israeli Consulate of Philadelphia, while earning a graduate degree in Jewish Studies. Upon his return to Israel, Dr. Book graduated from a course of study with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and is a licensed tour guide. Tuvia has been working in the field of Jewish education, both formal and informal, for many years. He has guided and taught Jewish students and educators from around the English-speaking world for some of Israel’s premier educational institutions and programs. Tuvia has lectured throughout North America, Australia, Europe, and South Africa. In addition, his artwork has been commissioned on every continent (except Antarctica). Tuvia served as a Shaliach (emissary) for the Jewish Agency for Israel as the Director of Israel and Zionist Education at the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (Jewish Education Project). He was a lecturer/educational guide at the Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education (AMIIE) in Israel. Tuvia has lectured at both Bar Ilan University and Hebrew University. He is a Teaching Fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is a research associate at the Hudson Institute. His latest book, "Jewish Journeys, The First Temple Period, From King David to King Zedekiah, 1000 - 586 BCE," (Koren) is part of a series on Jewish history.