From Empathy to Denial wins The Washington Institute Book Prize

The Washington Institute announced that From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust has won the Gold Prize.

The Washington Institute Book Prize, now in its third year, was established to highlight new nonfiction books on the Middle East and is among the world’s most lucrative literary awards.

The following is from the prize jury commendation:

From Empathy to Denial is the definitive exposé of a deeply held prejudice obscured by politics and partisanship. Through painstaking sifting of Arabic sources, the authors carefully measure the psychological barriers that block Arab comprehension of the Holocaust’s significance for Israel, Jewry, and the world. In so doing, Meir Litvak and Esther Webman tell a neglected story behind the persistence of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Silver Prize went to The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle, by Michael Young (Simon & Schuster)

The Bronze Prize was awarded to: Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World, by Jeffrey Herf (Yale University Press)