Ground Zero: Jerusalem, holy war, and collective insanity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Anyone contemplating world war is certifiably  

insane, no matter how calm they seem"  

 

—Vanna Bonta

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ground Zero: Jerusalem, holy war, and collective insanity tries to unearth all the extreme elements which make peace in the region unobtainable: fundamentalism, messianism, evangelism, and territoriality. These represent the “dark force” which prevents a sane and reasonable peace from being achieved between Israel and the Arab world. 

 

The first to our four horsemen of the apocalypse that is examined is radical and extreme Islamic fundamentalism which cannot rest until the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque are liberated from the “infidels.”  From bin-Laden to Nasrallah and Akhmadinejhad, the fundamentalist point of view—and specifically Islamic end-times prophecy and the arrival of their redeemer, the Mahdi—plays a far larger role than most Americans think in how the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is perceived. When we journey to evangelicals, we encounter an opposite perception. Their thirst for the Rapture requires that the Dome of the Rock not be liberated but destroyed—“cleansed” in their words—so that the third temple can be built, prophecy fulfilled, and all the logo pieces put in place for the Rapture and the glorious return of Jesus.

 

In the final chapter, “Holocaust and holy war,” all the military options, equipment, submarines, nuclear weapons, anthrax, plague, sarin, mustard gas, thermobaric bombs, cruise missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, air-burst artillery shells, tanks, aircraft, dirty bombs, troops, settlers, reservists, militants, jihadists, holy warriors and martyrs are described, tallied, sifted, and sorted.  

 

Conclusion: this is the most densely weaponized acreage on planet earth and consummately the most volatile.  

 

The prospect of collective insanity breaking out in this region, with all the weaponry that is in place and ready for ignition, is nothing short of nightmarish.

 

 

Reviews 

 

“Jerry Kroth's Ground Zero not only convincingly describes the insane unconscious forces that produce Islamic terrorism, it is one of very few books that takes seriously the real desire of leaders like Akhadinejhad to give nuclear weapons to enough terrorists around the world to produce a final globe-cleansing holocaust. . . The need for Islamists to carry out their prophecies so they will fuse 

with their redeemer is real and reasonably likely which

 makes Kroth's book crucial for Israeli and

 American politicians today.”

 

—Lloyd deMause, Editor The Journal of Psychohistory

 

 

“An absolutely riveting psychological analysis of the most explosive

conflict on earth. I especially liked the discussion of the 

territorial imperative which I’ve never heard  developed

about the Arab/Israeli conflict previously. 

Incredibly readable, but scary too!”

 

—M.S. Forrest, Ph.D., psychotherapist, Santa Barbara

 

 

“. . . I like to think of myself as informed and yet the information that I took from Ground Zero was not only new but overwhelming. I had no idea that such a tinderbox of destructive potential for the world was under the aegis of completely deluded groups. It is like giving gasoline and matches to circus clowns on LSD. We tend to give a pass to religious movements thinking that faith is a good thing. But fundamental faith is so blinded by its own tautological dynamics that even mass death is acceptable on the stage of mythological fulfillment. What I was able to take from this book was a clear, well written explanation of the contemporary and frightening significance of an ancient area of dispute. Will I sleep easier? No, but if I hear disturbing sounds outside my window in the morning,

I will know why.”

 

—Steve Stelle, author of On Shaky Ground

 

 

“A provocative work that looks beyond the headlines, Jerry Kroth offers a thoughtful view of the ongoing tragedy that continues in the Middle East. In so doing, he challenges the perspective that

has dominated the conversation so very long.”

 

—Jeff Kisling, Ph.D., clinical psychotherapist,