12 Points East born in New York City in 1941, educat- of the SJI International Advisory Board Economics, Science and Technology in ed at the Bronx High School of Science, -Yitzhak Shichor and Jonathan Goldstein- the - Relations. Brandeis University (B.A. 1962) and Har- who also contribute to this anthology vard University (Ph.D. 1972). He taught with illuminating articles on security ori- Economic aspects are just one of many Chinese history, politics, and related sub- ented issues. areas covered by From Discord to Con- jects at the university level for forty years cord. Other essays, such as 1991: A and published extensively in these fields. Other contributors include Israeli diplo- Decisive Year, written by Zev Suffott He is fluent in Chinese and Russian. His mats who were pivotal in the knitting of (who passed away in 2014), describe recent works include: America’s Wars in the China-Israel bond. Among them are the development of diplomatic rela- Asia: From the Philippines to Vietnam Isai Magid (consul in Shanghai 1949- tions between the two countries. Suf- (2012), co-authored with Michael H. 1951), Reuven Merhav (consul in Hong fott details the titanic efforts that took Hunt. He collaborated with primary au- Kong 1985-1988, subsequently direc- place throughout 1991, culminating in thor Alexander V. Pantsov on Mao: The tor-general of the Foreign Ministry), Zev the establishment of relations between Real Story (2012), and Deng Xiaoping: A Suffott (first ambassador to China) and Israel and both China and India during Revolutionary Life (2015). He has pub- Moshe Yegar (head of the Ministry’s one momentous week in 1992. The two lished half a dozen book-length trans- Asia-Africa Department.) The rest of these Asian giants together comprise more lations from Russian and Chinese. He thirteen essays were penned by scholars than one third of the world’s popula- lives in Stevensville, Montana and Hill- from Israel, the USA, China and India. tion and their relations with Israel are sborough, North Carolina with his wife, Jonathan Goldstein, a historian at the currently excellent in both cases. Madeline G. Levine, a retired professor University of West Georgia, wrote both of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the introduction and the epilogue. Previously, China and India had both distinguished literary translator from Pol- adopted an anti-Israel position as part of ish. He may be contacted at chinabox@ their strategy to befriend Muslim coun- The book encompasses several aspects bellsouth.net. tries, the Third World and the Non- of the evolving relations between Israel Aligned. As described by Goldstein, and China. In their essay, Shichor and Shai, Suffott and others, the Conference Merhav divide these relations into four of Bandung, which took place in Indo- stages: Drought (1949-1978), Tillage nesia in April 1955, was the first inter- (1979-1984), Seedtime (1985-1991) and national expression of world discrimi- Harvest (1992.) nation against Israel – a forerunner of China and Israel: today’s BDS. From Discord to Concord In actual fact, the optimistic picture de- by Jonathan Goldstein and Yitzhak scribed in the book has been surpassed In those days, China lumped Israel Shichor (eds.) by reality, with many economists fore- and Taiwan together as the two Asian casting that China will soon outdo the US countries to be systematically boycot- as Israel’s largest trading partner. Thus re- The Hebrew University Magnes Press Je- ted. Although its rationale purported to rusalem, 2016, 306 pages cent years are a fifth phase that might be be “anti-colonialism,” China was very called “The Boom”. selective in the type of “colonialism” Language: Hebrew it opposed, never criticizing intrusive Suffice to say that during the first half of actions in Kashmir, Tibet, East Timor Paperback US$29.70; eBook US$24.75 last year, China invested more than $2 or Afghanistan. Indeed, as Sufott well billion in Israel, compared to just $300 explains, China stood out as “the only million throughout the previous year. In non-Muslim and non-Arab country that Reviewed by Gustavo D. Perednik parallel, in March 2015, Israel became avoided all official contact with Israel” a founding member of China’s AIIB since the 1950s. Not only is the title of this book reminis- (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,) cent of Agnon’s story From Foe to Friend reflecting the role of the Jewish state as Lilian Craig Harris’s article China and (1941), its topic also seems to be similar: a major economic partner. Examples the Arab Middle East 1948-1996: Arab the attempts of the Jewish state to befriend abound. The Horizons Ventures capital Viewpoints ably describes the Chinese a huge and powerful enemy. The struggle fund, founded by Hong Kong magnate position vis-à-vis the Arab world: Even bears fruit only towards the end of the sto- Li Ka-shing, is leading a US$10 million though the People’s Republic of China ry, as the permanence of the protagonist’s strategic investment in Windward, an sided with the Arab world against Isra- presence is acknowledged. Israeli maritime data and analytics com- el for forty years, the Arab regimes dis- pany. The Israeli Trade Authority signed trusted the PRC for its supply of weap- Relations between China and Israel have an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) ons to local revolutionaries in Yemen, improved greatly over the last two de- agreement, which simplifies customs and Sudan and Oman. Later on the PRC cades, to such an extent that even this approval procedures for Chinese export- sold weapons to both sides in the - recent and updated collection of essays ers to Israel. The privately-held Chinese Iraq war (1980-1988), as part of a prag- inevitably fails to cover some cardinal conglomerate Fosun International bought matic foreign policy called “friendly to events. the majority of shares of Israel’s Delek everyone.” Group, and has agreed to purchase the China and Israel: From Discord to Con- Ahava cosmetics firm. For the history of On this topic, of special interest is the cord was edited by two fellow members this partnership, see Yoram Evron’s essay article by Anthony Alexander Loh, Points East 13 which apologetically describes the an- Babylonia, the Greeks and the Persians, new marriages in the United States were ti-hegemonic motif in Chinese policy the Romans and Asia. between spouses of different racial, eth- since the days of Confucius. (Loh is a nic, or religious backgrounds, raising in- Chinese scholar who completed his From Discord to Concord was published creasingly relevant questions regarding PhD in Political Science at the Hebrew in a previous version in English (1999); the multicultural identities of new spouses University of Jerusalem.) this Hebrew version includes some new and their offspring. But while new census articles and updated versions of the oth- categories and a growing body of statistics Other articles deal with the network of ers. provide data, they tell us little about the small organizations set up in China to inner workings of day-to-day life for such assist Jews. Thus, Magid describes how Gustavo Perednik, an Israeli educator couples and their children. two institutions were set up in Shanghai and author, has been a member of the to help the migration to Israel of several SJI International Advisory Board for a JewAsian is a qualitative examination of hundred Jews, including personalities decade. He has lectured on Sino-Judaic the intersection of race, religion, and eth- such as Sinologue Ellis Joffe (1942-2010). topics in several Chinese universities, as nicity in the increasing number of house- well as in the US and Israel. His twenti- holds that are Jewish American and Asian Aharon Shai, a historian of South-East eth book, Chinese and Jews, will be re- American. Helen Kiyong Kim and Noah Asia and former rector of leased in Spanish by the end of this year. Samuel Leavitt’s book explores the larger University, writes about a relatively He may be contacted at perednik@netvi- social dimensions of intermarriages to ex- marginal issue - the policy of the Israel sion.net.il. plain how these particular unions reflect Communist Party towards China during not only the identity of married individuals the second half of the last century. but also the communities to which they be- Having interviewed a number of Israe- long. Using in-depth interviews with cou- li Communist leaders, including Meir ples and the children of Jewish American Vilner and David “Sasha” Hanin, Shai and Asian American marriages, Kim and describes how Israeli Communists dis- Leavitt’s research sheds much-needed light tanced themselves from China in 1969 – indeed, the chaos brought about by on the everyday lives of these partnerships Mao’s Leap Forward was despised even and how their children negotiate their own by their mentors in the Kremlin. Less identities in the twenty-first century. convincing is the supposition that the rapprochement between Israeli and Keren R. McGinity, author of Marrying Chinese Communist parties in 1987 Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fa- strengthened mutual understanding be- therhood, describes the book as “Essential tween the two nations, considering the reading for scholars of intermarriage, in- anti-Zionist rhetoric that Israeli Commu- ter-partnered couples and families, Jewish nists voiced in . outreach professionals, and all students of race, ethnicity, and religion…The alternate One remarkable point is that, during narrative Kim and Leavitt offer blasts open Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, interest in Is- the door to new ways of understanding rael was prompted by Israel’s success in Jewish American, Asian American, and defeating Soviet weaponry. JewAsian identities, challenging dominant racial, ethnic, and interfaith marriage dis- Reuven Merhav and Yitzhak Shichor courses in the process.” deal with the place of Hong Kong in China-Israel relations, noting that the About the Authors: Helen Kiyong Kim is path to the establishment of relations an associate professor in the Department was paved in Hong Kong, which hosted Briefly Noted of Sociology at Whitman College. Noah meetings between the two countries on Jew Asian Samuel Leavitt is an associate dean of stu- science, agriculture and security issues. dents at Whitman College and has served Moshe Yegar and P. R. Kumaraswamy By Helen Kiyong Kim as the advocacy director for the Jewish (a research fellow at the Harry S. Tru- and Noah Samuel Leavitt Council on Urban Affairs. man Institute of the Hebrew University) discuss the implications of China-Israel ISBN 0803285655 relations for South and South-east Asia. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, The anthology is focused more on his- July 2016 tory than on the future. Thus, an inter- esting topic not included is the possi- bility that Israel will become a bridge https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/ between the US and China, equidistant product/JewAsian,677187.aspx as it is between them as it was between previous world empires -- Egypt and In 2010 approximately 15 percent of all