Description: From the bestselling author of Ten Myths About Israel and a renowned neuroscientist comes a groundbreaking new book that delves into the psyche of settler colonialism and its far-reaching repercussions on history, identity, and global politics.
Since the Hamas assault of October 7, 2023, and for more than two years, Israel has been engaged in what has been described by a consensus of international experts as a genocide. Can Israel's actions be explained by retribution, "self-defense," revenge, or the quest to free hostages, or are these narratives masking something deeper? How has Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestine shaped the violence we are witnessing today? Wired to Steal is a powerful blend of investigative narrative, history, and behavioral neuroscience. Cutting through and dismantling propaganda, it exposes how the ruling classes of settler colonial projects hijack the human brain's fear circuitry, systems of addiction, empathy pathways, and identity mechanisms to make oppression feel normal, even righteous. At its core, the book is about psychological hacking: how political systems are designed to exploit human vulnerability to fear and social belonging in order to turn communities against others, justify mass violence, and conceal theft as self-defense. Zionism is presented here as the most urgent, real-time case study, yet the book's framework applies to settler colonialism worldwide. Drawing on decades of research in neuroscience and extensive historical scholarship, Wired to Steal combines vivid storytelling, clear science, and deep moral urgency to reveal the playbook of settler colonialism, and to offer a roadmap for dismantling it.Brief description: Yoav Litvin is a doctor of neuroscience, award-winning photographer, and writer. Known for incisive political analyses and interviews, he brings a unique perspective to social movements, urban culture, and the arts. Litvin has published scientific research articles and reviews on the neuroscience of emotion in a host of academic publications in the US and Europe. His books Outdoor Gallery: New York City and 2Create: Art Collaborations in New York City are iconic documents of ephemeral art.
Review Quotes: "This is the most comprehensive and timely book I know of that allows us finally to understand how the Zionist movement and the state of Israel dragged the Middle East and the world to this ghastly era of genocide, settler-colonial atrocities, Western complicities, and still expanding warfare. It required a neuroscientist and a historian--and much honesty--to unpack Zionism's combined criminality, cruelty, and colonial-imperial collusion with world powers over the past 100 years. This book's scientific evidence alongside the historical accounts allows us to understand how otherwise decent human beings have engaged in a non-stop rampage by Zionists, Israelis, and their global allies that peaked in the Gaza genocide with unprecedented cruelty against defenseless civilians, yet keeps expanding across the region and the world."--Rami G. Khouri, American University of Beirut