History Upside Down
{{Short description|2007 book by David Meir-Levi}}
{{multiple issues|
{{notability|Books|date=May 2011}}
{{COI|date=March 2020}}
{{advert|date=March 2020}}
}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = History Upside Down: The Roots of Palestinian Fascism and the Myth of Israeli Aggression
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = History Upside Down.jpg| caption =
| author = David Meir-Levi
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre =
| publisher = Encounter Books
| release_date = December 20, 2007
| media_type = Print (Hardcover)
| pages = 152 pages
| isbn = 1-59403-192-4
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
History Upside Down: The Roots of Palestinian Fascism and the Myth of Israeli Aggression, is a book by David Meir-Levi, professor of archaeology, Near Eastern history, and Middle Eastern history at San Jose State University{{Cite web |title=History Upside Down |url=https://www.encounterbooks.com/books/history-upside-down-the-roots-of-palestinian-fascism-and-the-myth-of-israeli-aggression/ |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=Encounter Books |language=en-us}}{{Cite book |last=Meir-Levi |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-D3LnAEACAAJ |title=History Upside Down: The Roots of Palestinian Fascism and the Myth of Israeli Aggression |date=2007 |publisher=Encounter Books |isbn=978-1-59403-192-2 |language=en}} about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Meir-Levi argues that Israel and Zionism have become the targets of antisemitic historical negationism by Arabic and Muslim bigots.
Content
History Upside Down is divided into two sections. The first provides a history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and contemporary Middle Eastern antisemitism, including the collaboration of Amin al-Husseini and the Muslim Brotherhood with Nazi Germany, the post-war rise of antisemitic jihadists like Sayyid Qutb, and the establishment of Hamas. Meir-Levi examines the influence of unifying identities such as Islamic extremism and pan-Arabism as antisemitic motivators, as well as international relationships to the Axis Powers and Soviet Union. Meir-Levi argues that Soviet Union propaganda transformed the image of Israel from an underdog into a perceived colonial oppressor.{{cite news |last1=Kemp |first1=Richard |title=Exposing the Soviet Lie of Israeli Apartheid |url=https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2022/04/08/exposing-the-soviet-lie-of-israeli-apartheid/ |access-date=26 September 2023 |publisher=Jewish Policy Center |date=Spring 2022}}
The second half of the book is dedicated to "dissect[ing] the myths [Palestinian fascism] has created to justify this long aggression."Meir-Levi, 2007, pg. 52 These chapters address and reject the common understanding of events relating to Israeli settlement, the Nakba, and the Deir Yassin massacre.
Reception
The work had a mixed reception. Political commentator and Middle East historian Asaf Romirowsky wrote in the Middle East Quarterly journal that History Upside Down "provides a valuable guide for those who wish to understand one important aspect of the Arab-Israeli conflict—the battle over the conflict's historical narrative," and that "Meir-Levi's book attempts to unearth the historical root problems of defending Israel; he shows how doing so has become increasingly difficult as a result of the intellectualization of the debate."{{cite journal | url=https://www.meforum.org/2076/history-upside-down | title=Review of History Upside Down | journal=Middle East Quarterly | date=January 2009 | last1=Romirowsky | first1=Asaf }}
Writing for the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa, George L. Simpson, professor of history at High Point University, offered a mixed review of the book. Simpson contends that Meir Levi's argument is persuasive that the Arab-Israeli conflict is an existential conflict not constrained to modern political definitions. However, Simpson argues that Meir-Levi could have used more scholarly sourcing and painted the topic with more nuance.{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=George |title=Review of History Turned Upside Down |url=https://www.asmeascholars.org/history-turned-upside-down--the-roots-of-palestinian-fascism-and-the-myth-of-israeli-aggression |website=ASMEA |publisher=Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa |access-date=25 September 2023}}
In a 2008 review by Book News, which summarizes scholarly works, the book is outlined as "presenting a highly selective portrait of the history of Palestinian nationalism that highlights any connections to Nazism, Communism, and/or Islamism" and in an effort to deflect criticism of Israel and blame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on "irrational Palestinian anti-Semitism", while "denying any genuine Palestinian political, social, and economic grievances".{{cite journal |author=Book News, Inc. |title=[Review:] History upside down; the roots of palestinian fascism and the myth of israeli aggression |date=2008 |journal=Reference and Research Book News |volume=23 |issue=1 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/199678671 |via=ProQuest |id={{ProQuest|199678671}} }}
According to Richard Kemp, Meir-Levi argues that propaganda of the Soviet Union transformed the image of Israel from an underdog into a perceived colonial oppressor. Further, Meir-Levi claims that the Palestinian movement is the "only national movement for political self-determination in the entire world, and across all of world history, to have the destruction of a sovereign state and the genocide of a people".{{cite news |last1=Kemp |first1=Richard |title=Exposing the Soviet Lie of Israeli Apartheid |url=https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2022/04/08/exposing-the-soviet-lie-of-israeli-apartheid/ |access-date=26 September 2023 |publisher=Jewish Policy Center |date=Spring 2022}}{{why|date=September 2023|reason=This is not a review, but a subsequent piece of description and quotation of the work made over a decade later, so does not really fall under "reception". The first part of this material also duplicates a sentence in the previous section}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Upside Down: The Roots Of Palestinian Fascism And The Myth Of Israeli Aggression}}
Category:2007 non-fiction books
Category:Israeli–Palestinian conflict books