There are a number of pressing questions at the heart of Harriet Malinowitz's newly released book, Selling Israel: Zionism, Propaganda, and the Uses of Hasbara. "How could what was initially a small group of Eastern European Jewish thinkers and activists convince the Jews of the world to agree that they were all one 'people' undergoing one shared threat with one shared path to salvation – as well as a shared imperative to seek it?" she asks. "How could they convince the rest of the world to include them in the family of nations? And how could they convince all involved – including themselves – that their project of liberation was a benign and noble one to which they were entitled, producing no casualties or collateral damage?" 

The answers to these queries are at the crux of Selling Israel, and the book not only systematically examines them, but dives into how hasbara – globally enacted but Israeli government-instigated propaganda and public relations efforts– has been used to boost Zionism, diminish the perception of Palestinian oppression, and promote the fallacy that the 78- year-old country began as a land without people. 

The exhaustively researched work was touted by Publisher's Weekly as "an impressive and meticulous challenge to established narratives."

Malinowitz spoke to reporter Eleanor J. Bader about herself, her research, and her findings shortly after the book's publication.

Eleanor J. Bader: Did you grow up believing that Israel was necessary for Jewish survival?

Harriet Malinowitz: Actually, I was not initially given the usual sales pitch about Israel – that the country was established as a safe place for Jews. What I heard instead was that Israel was wonderful because everyone was Jewish – the bus drivers, the garbage collectors, the teachers, the bankers, the policemen. Everyone!

Bader: When did you begin to question this?

Malinowitz: It was a gradual process. I went to Israel for the first time in 1976 with my mother and brother, then returned in 1977 and spent several months on a kibbutz. I visited again in 1982 and 1984. 

When I was eight, my aunt moved there. She was in Israel from 1962 until 1969, and we sent letters back and forth. Her letters included a lot of local color about the kibbutz where she lived.

My Hebrew school teacher had me read them aloud in class and beamed until one letter concluded that Israel was a great place to visit, but not to live. The letter was suddenly snatched from my hand.