THE FOUNDING MYTHS OF MODERN ISRAEL by French author Roger Garaudy describes and debunks popular perception of Zionism and the Holocaust. Garaudy is a former Communist and is currently a liberal Muslim. Many believe that attacks on certain Jewish interests such as this book come from "racists" and "right-wing extremists," however Garaudy never gave up his Marxist-based internationalist and anti-racist beliefs and ideals.

Zionism is based on skewed interpretations of certain Biblical texts, such as God's promises to Abraham in Genesis and Joshua's 'genocide' against the Canaanites. Garaudy compares it to Nazism/Hitlerism, except this time the Jews substitute themselves as being the "chosen race" and "more human." Many high ranking Zionists collaborated with the Nazi regime during WWII in order to get more Jews to immigrate to Palestine. Once in the Middle East, the Jewish military launched ethnic-cleansing campaigns against the Arab Palestinians (who are both Muslim and Christian) and uprooted millions of them from their homes and forced them to live in refugee camps. This still goes on today, in the form of Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank under the direction of current PM and former housing minister Ariel Sharon. Zionism itself is described as having its roots in 19th century European nationalism, colonialism and 'racism'. Zionism's most noted enthusiast and theorist is Theodore Herzel, an atheist who viewed Jews entirely in terms of race, same as the Nazis. As far as the big picture is concerned, Garaudy characterizes Israel as being a military presence for the United States in Middle East to further the "world domination" plans of the US. Don't throw out any ideas no matter how non-PC they happen to stand at the moment.

What got this book censored in France and the author fined was because it contests the outcome of the International War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremburg, Germany, to punish Nazi war-criminals. In France it is illegal to publish anything that challenges the outcomes of the Nuremburg decisions. Garaudy presents the so-called "revisionist" or [Horror of Horrors!] "Holocaust denial" viewpoint of Jews under the Third Reich. The Nuremburg trials were conducted soley to humiliate the Germans after WWII, and many were executed because they spread propaganda against the Jews and worked to escalate the War. No Allied war-criminals were brought to trial, such as the Soviets for atrocities committed in Poland, Winston Chruchill for calling for the starvation of Germany, Harry Truman for ordering the atomic-bombs dropped on Japan or Theodore Kauffman (member of the American Jewish Congress) who authored GERMANY MUST PERISH calling for the mass sterilization of Germans. Hitler's main goal was to destroy Communism, NOT exterminate the Jews, although Hitler placed the blame for international Communism squarely on the Jews. The "Final Soloution" for the Jewish question was NOT extermination by gas chambers but deporting all Jews out of Europe to Madagascar or another African country if Hilter won the War. Later, since the Africa plan was proving to be unfeasable because of Soviet onslaughts, the Jews were relocated en masse to forced labor camps to the East of Germany to serve as slave labor for the Nazis. There were no gas chambers or mass murder at Auschwitz. The evidence for gas-chambers comes from testimony from many camp inmates who said they HEARD about the chambers from other people. I nearly cracked when I read the commentary on this form of evidence: "...if the truth of a fact is to be established by the number of testimonies which attest to it, the existance of the devil during the Middle Ages would be better established than that of any other personage." The German word for 'crematory' was mistranslated into 'gas chamber' in certain documents by Holocaust historians. The large number of deaths in the camps was caused by the harsh conditions, lack of food and other supplies from war shortages, and outbreaks of Typhus and other lethal infectious diseases.

The "Six-Million Myth" as Garaudy terms it, has served Zionist interests well. It allowed them to cast their enemies as "Nazis" who are bent on killing Jews for the heck of it, and gives the Zionists an excuse to perpetrate atrocities against their perceived enemies. They follow a totalitarian system that tolerates no dissent, and pretending they are trying to aviod another "Holocaust" makes them above the law. Even the word 'Holocaust' has religious signifigance: it is used in the Bible to designate a sacrifice to god which is completely consumed by fire. In this case the Holocaust figures as a religious symbol like the Crucifixion of Chist that has its own dogmas and theology, and thus cannot be proven false no matter how outrageous its claims.

Garaudy concludes by saying that "the Truth illuminates the darkness: Efforts to silence us will be in vain. To shut us up, they'll have to kill us. The surge of hate against our misquoted writings...But this will only be additional confirmation that they cannot refute our arguments."

This book is especially good for those who want to get a good grounding on the subject. Mr. Garaudy does not condemn the entire Jewish community. He concentrates on the real culprits; the Zionists. One should also read Israel Shahak's books, as well as Alfred Koestler's on the "Thirteenth Tribe" and you will have a fairly complete picture as to why Jews in general and the Zionists in particular were not very popular in the past or now. I have noticed an annoying trend when a Jew reviews books by author such as Israel Shahak. Those reviewers almost always refer to the author as "self-hating Jews". How unfortunate that they don't have a better argument! What the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians now violates the old maxim that two wrongs don't make a right. What the Nazis did was certainly wrong and you would think that Ariel Sharon and his fellow thugs would feel some guilt about what they are perpetrating now. This is the main theme of Mr. Garaudy's fine book, one that every thinking American should read for the other side of the story.

Defying French censors, Founding Myths broke the silence and shattered the taboos on the Holocaust, on Adolf Hitler's relations with the founders of modern Israel, and on Zionism's hidden influence on American politics. Now, the most complete, up-to-date, and accurate edition available anywhere brings you not only the full text of Garaudy's Founding Myths of Modern Israel, but the full story of his 1998 French trial and the international controversy that continues to rage over this vital book.