Jerusalem Calling

Schalit critically interrogates everything from Middle Eastern politics to the New Economy, from debates in the independent music scene about “selling out” to the current cultural interventions of Jerry Falwell and his followers.

—Selected for Publishers Weekly‘s Best Books of 2002 list

“This remarkable collection of essays by an astute young writer covers a wide range of topics . . . [and] provides an overview of contemporary critical, radical thinking . . . This is the debut of a new and original thinker.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Joel Schalit is part of a new generation of secular Jewish leftists who issue a challenge to state-authorized religion in Israel and throughout the world. With his political autobiography, Schalit reveals the reactionary ideas that drive today’s liberal rhetoric. He also makes a passionate case for ending military violence, which rips apart countries and families alike.” —Annalee Newitz, San Francisco Bay Guardian

Jerusalem Calling signals the emergence of a new breed of public intellectual. American by birth, Israeli by association, and homeless by conscience, former Punk Planet and Bad Subjects editor Joel Schalit is uniquely qualified to dissect the New World Order and the rise of religious fundamentalism across the globe. Moving effortlessly from philosophical complexity to outrageous humor, Schalit critically interrogates everything from Middle Eastern politics to the New Economy, from debates in the independent music scene about “selling out” to the current cultural interventions of Jerry Falwell and his followers.

Throughout his impassioned analyses, Schalit highlights opportunities for the political left to make itself popular once again. Even while discussing the bleakest of topics, such as the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia, he never succumbs to the cynicism that plagues so many progressive commentators. Raised in a secular Zionist household by one of modern Israel’s founding families, Schalit has found a way to transcend nationalism of all stripes. Remarkably, he generates sympathy for Christian, Muslim, and Jew alike, even as he reveals the prevalent dangers in all forms of religious fundamentalism.