This was fairly interesting, with good humor, and I learned a bit, but it's starting to drag. Too much of the same thing, I think. I'm bored with it, but maybe one day I'll read more. ( )

As many of the reviews note, this book is a definite "must read" as an antidote to so much BS out there.

Nonetheless there are many valid critiques of this book. First on the Jewish side at least, he spends most of his time interviewing extremists. The vast majority of Israeli Jews are "boring" centrists, and so he doesn't spend as much time reporting about them. Instead, most of the Israelis Jews he talks to and reports about are at the extreme end of the political spectrum and therefore far more interesting. He dismisses centrist as "taking the worst ideas of both extremes" while in fact it's more accurate to say they reject the worst ideas of both extremes. Hence the book doesn't give the reader a more accurate view of Israeli society or politics - it just gives a different view. As noted, this view is important to understand because most of what you see in the US & even more in the European press, is a parroting of the views of the extreme Left, who since they are Jews are obviously seen as credible & telling the truth.

Secondly, he claims he reports only what he sees and hears, and yet sometimes the quotes he gives of some of the Israeli Leftists are just so outrageous one has to believe, or at least hope, he is paraphrasing to get across a point, rather than literally quoting them. If these are literal quotes, these people really are disturbed. One example is an old couple where the husband says he prefers to believe in lies and doesn't want to hear the truth - would anyone really say that?

Which leads to the third point - although he criticizes the biases of other journalists, he is hardly a neutral observer. It's not that he has a particular political stance, but he is almost allergic to stupidity & hypocrisy, so he tends to make the worst interpretation of the behavior & motives of the many stupid people he encounters.in many cases it's well deserved, but he often is overly harsh.

On the flip side, he exposes the awful Jewphobia of Palestinians, both their leadership and their man in the street. After spending five minutes with any random Palestinian pretending he's a German, they are sure to declare their love of Hitler. They go on and on about Jewish racism and Israel as an apartheid state, but in fact they are the ones who absolutely hate Jews and would cleanse Jews from the land if they can. They do everything in their power to live in a world of denial about the history of the region & the millennial Jewish connection to the land of Israel. Still, one can say he is a bit overly enthusiastic about how well they live. Most of them are not engaged in NGOs and the struggle to make Israel Palestine once again - but like most people are engaged in the day to day struggles of leading their lives.

For all these reasons, his epilogue is overly pessimistic. Ironically, while he tries to deny his own Israeli-ness throughout the book (both to enhance his reporting & to stress his ex-pat status) he shares the Israeli characteristic he notes at the very end - the fear that Israel is doomed. It actually isn't, it's doing quite well and has a bright future ahead of it. And while most Palestinians wish it would go away, most of them understand one way or another that it won't. As he notes, in many ways the Palestinian state exists de facto. So eventually the saner & less stupid parts on both sides will, reluctantly, find a way to make the de facto become de jure.

One last point - this book once again underlines how absolutely useless the EU is, and how the Germans should stick to making great beer and cars instead of meddling in other people's business! ( )

A must read for those who would like an inkling to what people in the Mideast and European countries are thinking. Come along on a humorous journey with 'Tobi the German' as he exposes anti-semitism and self-hatred in the people he interviews. a book you will discuss for days and buy for your friends to read. ( )

Es ist bedauerlich, dass der renommierte Suhrkamp-Verlag dieses Buch verlegt hat. Tenenbom - wie er die Welt sah. ( )

The author, born in Israel, goes undercover and pretends to be a German journalist. He visits with politicians on both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian issue, with non-governmental organizations working in the Palestinian areas and with Jewish religious figures investigating their viewpoints and actual knowledge of the issues. ( )