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Een land zonder grenzen. Een Israëlische schrijver reist door de bezette gebieden
In een verlangen stemmen te horen die normaal gesproken niet snel de reguliere media halen reist schrijver Nir Baram een jaar lang langs de grens tussen Israël en Palestina. Of hij nu een kibboets bezoekt op de rand van de Gazastrook, verblijft in een buitenpost van kolonisten, een wandeling door Oost-Jeruzalem maakt of bij een vluchtelingenkamp met 30.000 Palestijnen langsgaat: zonder oordeel brengt hij in kaart wat de gevoelens en meningen in de regio zijn. Hij spreekt met kolonisten, politici, activisten, ex-gevangenen en soldaten, met bewoners die geboren zijn nadat de bezetting is begonnen en met degenen die zich Israël van voor 1967 herinneren. Zijn reportage toont de realiteit van het dagelijks leven in een conflictgebied en weerspiegelt de complexe politieke situatie ten tijde van spanningen, oorlog en verkiezingen.
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 3, 2017
The most insightful, clear-headed and even-handed examination of the seemingly intractable Israeli/Palestinian conflict that I've ever read. Like David Grossman and Amos Oz before him, Baram cuts through the propagandist posturing of both sides to speak to the real players: the everyday people in East Jerusalem and the West Bank - Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, Jews, settlers, soldiers, peaceniks, agitators - who have to live inside the storm. A timely and important book that will ultimately surprise you with its glimmering undertones of hope and optimism. If you have even a passing interest in the topic I urge you to read it.
March 9, 2017
'A Land Without Borders' by Nir Baram
3.5 stars/ 7 out of 10
This book is based on Nir Baram's year long investigation, seeking to find out more about life on the West Bank, and to understand more about the occupation from both sides. In twelve chapters, he meets and interviews a wide variety of people from all walks of life, and in many different situations. These include settlers, Palestinians, politicians, young people, people living in refugee camps, families etc.
I don't feel that this book was suited to readers like myself, who have very limited knowledge about the nuances and complexities of the political and historical situations in the area that Baram was writing about.
For example, I had been hoping that the book would clarify for me, in a simple way, the differences between the 'one-state' and 'two-state' alternatives. In fact, I had to temporarily stop reading Baram's book, and read elsewhere about this, in order to better understand the situations that he was writing about.
This does not detract from the level of detail that Baram includes in the chapters here. Even as a 'novice', there was plenty to interest me. I liked the style of his writing, and the fact that so much dialogue was included from the people that he interviewed.
Thank you to Text Publishing and to NetGalley for an ARC.
3.5 stars/ 7 out of 10
This book is based on Nir Baram's year long investigation, seeking to find out more about life on the West Bank, and to understand more about the occupation from both sides. In twelve chapters, he meets and interviews a wide variety of people from all walks of life, and in many different situations. These include settlers, Palestinians, politicians, young people, people living in refugee camps, families etc.
I don't feel that this book was suited to readers like myself, who have very limited knowledge about the nuances and complexities of the political and historical situations in the area that Baram was writing about.
For example, I had been hoping that the book would clarify for me, in a simple way, the differences between the 'one-state' and 'two-state' alternatives. In fact, I had to temporarily stop reading Baram's book, and read elsewhere about this, in order to better understand the situations that he was writing about.
This does not detract from the level of detail that Baram includes in the chapters here. Even as a 'novice', there was plenty to interest me. I liked the style of his writing, and the fact that so much dialogue was included from the people that he interviewed.
Thank you to Text Publishing and to NetGalley for an ARC.
December 25, 2021
I'm just going to spend the next few days pretending I can totally read 14 more books and finish my challenge.
July 7, 2017
‘Written with great talent, momentum and ingenuity…it expands the borders of literature to reveal new landscapes.’
Amos Oz
‘One of the most intriguing writers in Israeli literature today.’
Haaretz
‘A book that is a fascinating and charged document about the meaning of home, security and freedom, on both sides of the divide.’
NRG
‘Quite possibly, Dostoyevsky would write like this if he lived in Israel today.’
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Good People
‘Good People rewards the reader’s patience while mining a tragic sense of irony that extends all the way to its title.’
Big Issue on Good People
‘Baram uses intense geographical plotting and is chillingly eloquent…[Good People] is tremendous. I read it in two sittings and I learned a lot. How does a man in his early 30s know how to write like this?’
Australian on Good People
‘Good People is a richly textured panorama of German and Russian life…This ample novel lives most memorably through Baram’s vignettes of people, dwellings, cities, landscapes and the like that seem to lie, at times, at the periphery of its central concerns.’
Age/Sydney Morning Herald on Good People
‘A groundbreaker…Riveting reading.’
Qantas Magazine on Good People
‘Precise and evocative, Good People is a riveting glimpse into a different place and a different time.’
Canberra Weekly on Good People
‘Astonishingly powerful…[A] compelling, important story.’
New Zealand Listener on Good People
‘An honest and troubling snapshot of Israel...From horror to fatigue to indifference, an important look forward and back that provides a grass-roots sense that one state needs to satisfy sovereignty for all.’
Kirkus Review
‘An engaging, fast-paced odyssey that conveys an intimate understanding of why peace remains so elusive…Nir Baram does what more people in the region should undertake: a grand listening tour that encompasses all sides of the conflict. The author is a good listener, too, albeit one who isn’t afraid to ask hard questions.’
Christian Science Monitor
‘Baram brings an open heart and mind to exploring the difficulties of coexistence where physical and emotional walls do harm on both sides, reaching beyond headline to explore the lives of Palestinians and Jews of different generations.’
Booklist
‘Nir Baram is an Israeli novelist, a highly respected journalist and an accomplished editor. So it is hardly surprising that his description of his journey around East Jerusalem and the West Bank is eminently readable, although much of what he recounts is worrying enough to give the reader many sleepless nights despite the shafts of optimism that occasionally shine through the text.’
Arts Hub
‘An essential guide to the human elements of Israel’s current crisis of identity…Baram’s work is compassionate, considered and sensitive. For the non-specialist, it is both fascinating and vital for understanding this labyrinthine conflict…This is a brave and balanced report. It is quintessential reading.’
Southland Times
‘This book is not just insightful background. It is an essential guide to the human elements of Israel’s current crisis of identity…Baram’s work is compassionate, considered and sensitive. For the non-specialist, it is both fascinating and vital for understanding this labyrinthine conflict…This is a brave and balanced report. It is quintessential reading.’
Dominion Post
‘This is essential reading for those who wish to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and for those who already think they do.’
Australian
‘To hear it from the people who currently live in the occupied territories—650,000 Jewish settlers and 27 million Palestinians—it is now as much a zero-sum game as ever. Their voices come through in A Land Without Borders: My Journey Around East Jerusalem and the West Bank, a wide-ranging travelogue…The great virtue of his book is that Baram lets his interlocutors speak for themselves. Long stretches are verbatim dialogues. And what he hears is total and irreconcilable difference.’
New York Times Book Review
‘[Baram’s] writing has a "you are there'' quality; people come alive in his vivid, emotional prose...The people's lives are described in rich imagery: the beauty of the landscape and the humanity of the villagers, settlers and townspeople come through in descriptions of their diverse cultures.’
Otago Daily Times
‘Baram’s sensitive and compassionate account is a clear-eyed, essential guide to a complex reality.’
Toowoomba Chronicle
Amos Oz
‘One of the most intriguing writers in Israeli literature today.’
Haaretz
‘A book that is a fascinating and charged document about the meaning of home, security and freedom, on both sides of the divide.’
NRG
‘Quite possibly, Dostoyevsky would write like this if he lived in Israel today.’
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Good People
‘Good People rewards the reader’s patience while mining a tragic sense of irony that extends all the way to its title.’
Big Issue on Good People
‘Baram uses intense geographical plotting and is chillingly eloquent…[Good People] is tremendous. I read it in two sittings and I learned a lot. How does a man in his early 30s know how to write like this?’
Australian on Good People
‘Good People is a richly textured panorama of German and Russian life…This ample novel lives most memorably through Baram’s vignettes of people, dwellings, cities, landscapes and the like that seem to lie, at times, at the periphery of its central concerns.’
Age/Sydney Morning Herald on Good People
‘A groundbreaker…Riveting reading.’
Qantas Magazine on Good People
‘Precise and evocative, Good People is a riveting glimpse into a different place and a different time.’
Canberra Weekly on Good People
‘Astonishingly powerful…[A] compelling, important story.’
New Zealand Listener on Good People
‘An honest and troubling snapshot of Israel...From horror to fatigue to indifference, an important look forward and back that provides a grass-roots sense that one state needs to satisfy sovereignty for all.’
Kirkus Review
‘An engaging, fast-paced odyssey that conveys an intimate understanding of why peace remains so elusive…Nir Baram does what more people in the region should undertake: a grand listening tour that encompasses all sides of the conflict. The author is a good listener, too, albeit one who isn’t afraid to ask hard questions.’
Christian Science Monitor
‘Baram brings an open heart and mind to exploring the difficulties of coexistence where physical and emotional walls do harm on both sides, reaching beyond headline to explore the lives of Palestinians and Jews of different generations.’
Booklist
‘Nir Baram is an Israeli novelist, a highly respected journalist and an accomplished editor. So it is hardly surprising that his description of his journey around East Jerusalem and the West Bank is eminently readable, although much of what he recounts is worrying enough to give the reader many sleepless nights despite the shafts of optimism that occasionally shine through the text.’
Arts Hub
‘An essential guide to the human elements of Israel’s current crisis of identity…Baram’s work is compassionate, considered and sensitive. For the non-specialist, it is both fascinating and vital for understanding this labyrinthine conflict…This is a brave and balanced report. It is quintessential reading.’
Southland Times
‘This book is not just insightful background. It is an essential guide to the human elements of Israel’s current crisis of identity…Baram’s work is compassionate, considered and sensitive. For the non-specialist, it is both fascinating and vital for understanding this labyrinthine conflict…This is a brave and balanced report. It is quintessential reading.’
Dominion Post
‘This is essential reading for those who wish to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and for those who already think they do.’
Australian
‘To hear it from the people who currently live in the occupied territories—650,000 Jewish settlers and 27 million Palestinians—it is now as much a zero-sum game as ever. Their voices come through in A Land Without Borders: My Journey Around East Jerusalem and the West Bank, a wide-ranging travelogue…The great virtue of his book is that Baram lets his interlocutors speak for themselves. Long stretches are verbatim dialogues. And what he hears is total and irreconcilable difference.’
New York Times Book Review
‘[Baram’s] writing has a "you are there'' quality; people come alive in his vivid, emotional prose...The people's lives are described in rich imagery: the beauty of the landscape and the humanity of the villagers, settlers and townspeople come through in descriptions of their diverse cultures.’
Otago Daily Times
‘Baram’s sensitive and compassionate account is a clear-eyed, essential guide to a complex reality.’
Toowoomba Chronicle
February 27, 2018
Een teleurstelling, dit boek.
Een talentvol Israëlisch auteur die een boek schrijft over de Israëlisch-Palestijnse kwestie, dat leek me een interessante invalshoek om wat meer te leren over die explosieve regio. Niet via een neutrale, secce beschrijving van feiten, maar via de bevlogen taal van een fictie-auteur.
Driewerf helaas. De schrijver bezoekt dan wel interessante locaties in bezet gebied, kolonistendorpen en Jeruzalem uiteraard, maar behalve een bijna letterlijke neerslag van zijn ontmoetingen daar, doet hij er weinig mee. Erg veel namedropping, dat wel. Maar als die namen je niks zeggen, werkt dit eerder storend dan iets anders.
Iets over halfweg heb ik het boek dan ook teleurgesteld terzijde gelegd.
Een talentvol Israëlisch auteur die een boek schrijft over de Israëlisch-Palestijnse kwestie, dat leek me een interessante invalshoek om wat meer te leren over die explosieve regio. Niet via een neutrale, secce beschrijving van feiten, maar via de bevlogen taal van een fictie-auteur.
Driewerf helaas. De schrijver bezoekt dan wel interessante locaties in bezet gebied, kolonistendorpen en Jeruzalem uiteraard, maar behalve een bijna letterlijke neerslag van zijn ontmoetingen daar, doet hij er weinig mee. Erg veel namedropping, dat wel. Maar als die namen je niks zeggen, werkt dit eerder storend dan iets anders.
Iets over halfweg heb ik het boek dan ook teleurgesteld terzijde gelegd.
July 12, 2017
This is a deeply troubling and upsetting book, but essential reading for anyone wanting to understand more about the tragedy that is the Israel/Palestinian conflict. Journalist and author Nir Baram travelled around the West Bank and East Jerusalem for over a year, listening to those whose lives have been so profoundly affected by the seemingly intractable situation that prevails in this divided land. Illuminating and engaging, the book is a clear and intelligible guide which, although it offers no solution, does at least offer the reader some insight into the complex political and human reality faced by the Palestinian every day.
May 31, 2017
Quit reading it about halfway. The subject is very interesting and the writer is an important Israeli voice for peace. But it's not well written, or the translation isn't good. Whatever it is, it became too much a task of reading this book.
October 24, 2024
Mooie verhalen!
July 19, 2017
For most of my adult life, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a incomprehensible morass of claim and counter claim, with horrific violence committed by both sides. It seems like an intractable conflict, destined never to be resolved. But I once thought of the Northern Ireland conflict in the same way, and yet there is peace there now. It may be an uneasy peace – especially in the aftermath of the last UK election – but the Good Friday Agreement has allowed a generation to grow up in peace and the longer it holds the more there is to lose by breaking it. So it was in the spirit of tentative optimism that I tackled Nir Baram’s new book, A Land without Borders, my journey around East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Nir Baram is the author of one of the best books I read last year. His novel Good People (2016, Text Publishing, first published in 2010, see my review), was an exploration of the reasons why otherwise good people in totalitarian regimes end up collaborating with evil. At the 2016 Melbourne Jewish Writers Festival Baram said that it is known that 98% of people do collaborate, and fiction is a useful way of exploring the motivations of characters who represent that overwhelming majority. Yet Baram has chosen not to use fiction for his new book, which steers a course through East Jerusalem and the West Bank: he has taken a journalistic approach and allowed the people he interviewed about the conflict to speak for themselves. What is interesting is the way that nearly all of these intractable opponents find ways to justify their motivations, just as Baram’s fictional characters did.
Baram is an Israeli citizen born in Jerusalem to a political family, so he’s not an indifferent spectator. But what he has tried to do is to go behind the separation wall in Jerusalem, and into the contentious Jewish settlements on the West Bank, to listen to opposing points of view. He interviews secular and orthodox believers on both sides, he talks to survivors of the war in Gaza, and he meets Palestinians who have spent half their lives in prison, using it as an opportunity to get an education and remembering it as a time when they actually had more autonomy in their lives. He hears about the privatisation of kibbutzim and how that shapes political attitudes. He sees pride in the accomplishments and courage of the settlers.
He goes into Ramallah where a little boy is gobsmacked by his presence:
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/07/19/a...
Nir Baram is the author of one of the best books I read last year. His novel Good People (2016, Text Publishing, first published in 2010, see my review), was an exploration of the reasons why otherwise good people in totalitarian regimes end up collaborating with evil. At the 2016 Melbourne Jewish Writers Festival Baram said that it is known that 98% of people do collaborate, and fiction is a useful way of exploring the motivations of characters who represent that overwhelming majority. Yet Baram has chosen not to use fiction for his new book, which steers a course through East Jerusalem and the West Bank: he has taken a journalistic approach and allowed the people he interviewed about the conflict to speak for themselves. What is interesting is the way that nearly all of these intractable opponents find ways to justify their motivations, just as Baram’s fictional characters did.
Baram is an Israeli citizen born in Jerusalem to a political family, so he’s not an indifferent spectator. But what he has tried to do is to go behind the separation wall in Jerusalem, and into the contentious Jewish settlements on the West Bank, to listen to opposing points of view. He interviews secular and orthodox believers on both sides, he talks to survivors of the war in Gaza, and he meets Palestinians who have spent half their lives in prison, using it as an opportunity to get an education and remembering it as a time when they actually had more autonomy in their lives. He hears about the privatisation of kibbutzim and how that shapes political attitudes. He sees pride in the accomplishments and courage of the settlers.
He goes into Ramallah where a little boy is gobsmacked by his presence:
On the street outside the building with the broken windows, the group that welcomed us in the morning gathers again. We talk about recent events. A little boy in a red Liverpool T-shirt walks past and hears us talking. He stops. ‘Inte Yahudi?’ he asks with a strange glint in his eyes ‘Are you Jewish?’ he repeats, his expression curious. I nod. He shakes his head in disbelief. ‘He’s Jewish?’ he asks the crowd around us in Arabic. One of the older Palestinians explains: the boy has never seen a Jew before. ‘He’s always hearing about Jews, but you’re the first Jew he’s ever seen in his life.’ (p. 77-8)
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/07/19/a...
November 11, 2016
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the origin of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the present situation in Israel and the Westbank/Gaza. You need an open mind however, but it’s sad to conclude that some sort of peace seems to be still far away in the Holy Land.
July 3, 2017
I will preface this by noting that very little of what I think I know about the internal politics of Israel and Palestine comes from sources close to what is happening in these places ; such sources are perhaps less partisan than many I would find in the Israeli and Palestinian press, but I worry that by relying on such detached sources I am allowing other people to supply my opinions when I should be forming my own. I have long accepted that the so-called "two state solution" is the only just and viable way out of Israel's difficulties and Palestine's suffering, and that Jewish settlements in the "occupied territories" are the work of fanatical Zionists hell-bent on wrecking a plan that would allow Palestinians to remain and thrive in places that they would prefer to see "cleansed" of Arabs altogether.
I don't say that this book has reversed my former opinions, but it has given me a sense of how ill-equipped I would be to defend them against any moderately well-prepared Israeli resident who called me out on them. According to Nir Baram, a Jew and an Israeli himself, few Israelis ever visit the areas where most Palestinians live except during their years of military service ; for a majority, knowledge of conditions on the West Bank, for instance, is no more validated by meaningful personal experience than my own, but opinions are strongly held and heatedly debated. There are Arabs living as Israeli citizens within the so-called "Green Line" that defines Israel proper (if I may use that term), but most live in three areas outside the Green Line, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza ; there are Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem but not Gaza, from which Israel unilaterally "disengaged" in 2005, and has virtually sealed off to stop all but a minimal movement of people (Gaza is sometimes called "the world's largest open-air prison").
The book is an alternating series of encounters with Palestinians and Israelis, presenting multifarious points of view that in combination create a picture that is bewildering in its complexity. Most unsettling, for me, were the testimonies of some settlers in the so-called Occupied Territories because they were people that I found I could like and even, in any other context, respect for the "content of their character", to use Martin Luther King's term. There are apparently few Palestinians still interested in a "two state solution" - many want no more than freedom of movement and respect for their rights (particularly the "right of return", allowing them to return to places from which their families have been systematically evicted since 1948) within a single Jewish-Arab state. There are dreamers, exploring new options by reaching out across the divide to unite people, but many are just trying to get on with their lives as best they can. I was impressed by the many Palestinians who expressed no ill-will to the Israelis, and a readiness to live together in peace under a new and benevolent dispensation.
This is a worthwhile read, but it does assume some local knowledge of Israel that I don't possess. Many times I encountered names of political parties, public figures, and Palestinian and particularly Jewish organizations about which I knew nothing, and so could not gauge the significance of a certain speaker's affiliation or sympathy with said entity ; I'm sure the book is richer for readers who are familiar with the names. A Land without Borders won't make you an expert on the "Palestinian question", but it might make you more thoughtful about it.
I don't say that this book has reversed my former opinions, but it has given me a sense of how ill-equipped I would be to defend them against any moderately well-prepared Israeli resident who called me out on them. According to Nir Baram, a Jew and an Israeli himself, few Israelis ever visit the areas where most Palestinians live except during their years of military service ; for a majority, knowledge of conditions on the West Bank, for instance, is no more validated by meaningful personal experience than my own, but opinions are strongly held and heatedly debated. There are Arabs living as Israeli citizens within the so-called "Green Line" that defines Israel proper (if I may use that term), but most live in three areas outside the Green Line, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza ; there are Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem but not Gaza, from which Israel unilaterally "disengaged" in 2005, and has virtually sealed off to stop all but a minimal movement of people (Gaza is sometimes called "the world's largest open-air prison").
The book is an alternating series of encounters with Palestinians and Israelis, presenting multifarious points of view that in combination create a picture that is bewildering in its complexity. Most unsettling, for me, were the testimonies of some settlers in the so-called Occupied Territories because they were people that I found I could like and even, in any other context, respect for the "content of their character", to use Martin Luther King's term. There are apparently few Palestinians still interested in a "two state solution" - many want no more than freedom of movement and respect for their rights (particularly the "right of return", allowing them to return to places from which their families have been systematically evicted since 1948) within a single Jewish-Arab state. There are dreamers, exploring new options by reaching out across the divide to unite people, but many are just trying to get on with their lives as best they can. I was impressed by the many Palestinians who expressed no ill-will to the Israelis, and a readiness to live together in peace under a new and benevolent dispensation.
This is a worthwhile read, but it does assume some local knowledge of Israel that I don't possess. Many times I encountered names of political parties, public figures, and Palestinian and particularly Jewish organizations about which I knew nothing, and so could not gauge the significance of a certain speaker's affiliation or sympathy with said entity ; I'm sure the book is richer for readers who are familiar with the names. A Land without Borders won't make you an expert on the "Palestinian question", but it might make you more thoughtful about it.
September 8, 2019
Excellent, and crude, portrait by Nir Baram of what happens on the Occupied Territories. He talks with settlers and Palestinians alike and presents them for how they are: humans. With flaws, feelings, ideas and problems. The multiple texts cover a wide-range of issues that take place in the multifarious West Bank and East Jerusalem: from economic discrepancies to modern Yeshivas whose objective is connivence with the local Palestinians or a family mourning a children. This book, I believe, is the modern version of The Yellow Wind by Grossman and The Land of Israel by Oz. It’s interesting to see how the views have changed on both sides since the late 80s/early 90s. And it’s heart-wrenching how both sides have arrived to the conclusion that peace is impossible, and that there’s no partner. Although I don’t agree with Baram’s conclusion that the Two-State Solution is dead, I agree with his premise, the one that every good book I’ve read on this subject has: the main problem is the lack of understanding and empathy between Israelis and Palestinians.
June 7, 2017
In the tradition of Amos Oz and David Grossman, Nir Baram is visiting Palestinian villages and inquires about what future stays ahead for the relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Unfortunately he doesn't look necessarily to answer his questions with new questions, but there are interesting facts revealed that may help to do your own further research. Like, for instance, how happened that in Betlehem the percentage of Chrisian Arabs decreased, a fact noticed by the author but not worth the effort of a serious journalistic research. The book is less ideological than expected though therefore, especially if you are curious to gather arguments and even get a sociological overview of the profile of the Palestinian leaders and their background there are some good information to take from it, although parsimoniously
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
December 29, 2023
This book touches very personally and in a nationalistic sense upon tensions within the fibres of human souls in the context of an epic struggle for economic and religious freedom. From the longing to belong, to the desire to believe in something better, greater, to explain our very existence, it exposes the hopelessness of relationships and generations shattered through conflict and injustice and posits the hope of reconciliation and a revolution of hearts and minds to bring about the elusive dream of freedom and peace.
It took a while to get through this book as the geographic and historical content was often unfamiliar. I feel I would have benefited from first studying the modern history of Israel.
It took a while to get through this book as the geographic and historical content was often unfamiliar. I feel I would have benefited from first studying the modern history of Israel.
November 20, 2017
Journalist & author, Nir Baram, travels through the West Bank & East Jerusalem. He is talking to people about the conflicts. This to me was all somewhat confusing, but I do not really understand all that happens there & why. This land has been in conflict for so long, and I do not think that anything will be resolved any time soon. Do not think that after reading this, I understand any better. There are good people & bad people in any strife, I do not understand who the good & bad are. Seems like nobody ever likes the Jewish people. Will they ever be able to get along?
May 10, 2017
Heartbreaking and uplifting, highly recommend, but I'd say it's written for people who have already read about history and issues in Palestine and Israel, or at least have a generally understanding, he doesn't explain or define much that he references, it's more about the people and the conversations he had and looks more at current/future issues, with references to the history. Really good and through provoking.
July 29, 2025
Inhoudelijk is dit boek meer dan het lezen waard : het biedt een genuanceerd beeld van het complexe conflict. Uiteenlopende stemmen van zowel Joodse als Palestijnse zijde doen je naar adem snakken, omwille van het meedogenloze, uitzichtloze geweld of de ongelofelijke hoop op een betere toekomst. Jammer dat de hier en daar stroeve stijl en/of vertaling van de tekst soms een taaie brok maken, en dat niet alle namen, begrippen of historische gebeurtenissen consequent verklaard worden.
May 13, 2018
Goed dat er over deze kant van het verhaal geschreven wordt. Jammergenoeg vond ik de schrijfstijl minder prettig. Het was eigenlijk meer een verzameling krantenartikelen dan een boek. En het boek was niet heel erg hoopvol, maar misschien is dat realistisch.
December 27, 2020
His conclusion is that whether the solution is two states, a confederation or a single state, both Jews and Arabs must be equal. He is an Israeli journo who looks to both sides for answers with intelligence and insight.
May 22, 2017
Was an interesting look at the Israeli / Palestinian conflict. Thought provoking arguments on both sides.
Read
August 10, 2021Leicht veraltet einerseits, leider immer noch hochaktuell andrerseits. Ausgewogen.
September 21, 2025
3.75 stars
January 6, 2018
PLEASE read this book and pray for religious freedom and protection of human rights for ALL.
February 11, 2017
This is a tricky book to review - partly because anything negative I may feel towards the book is more to do with my ignorance regarding current affairs in Israel rather than specifically relating to the narrative written by the author. The author has worked as a journalist and this comes across strongly. The book is very well written and much of it is on the basis of interviews with ordinary (and not so ordinary) people throughout the country. If you have a passing interest in what is going on in the West Bank and beyond, then this book is well worth a read. Some of the content is interesting, some fascinating and some shocking. I didn't realise 'the divide' crops up and is still being newly imposed throughout the country or that if you live on the wrong side of the wall you may not get your rubbish collected or be able to call an ambulance if you are sick. Equally shocking, when you live in a diverse society, is that in a holy city, some sectors of that society are not allowed to pray in a traditionally holy place. This could be an important book which educates people (like me) more widely about the issues people in Israel face, over and above what is reported on the news. I like travel books and was hooked by the second part of the title 'My Journey Around East Jerusalem and the West Bank' but this is much more than a travel book! Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 2, 2017
Fascinating insight into travelling around East Jerusalem and the West Bay. provides an insight into the Balata refugee camp and explains in detail about the differences about the Israelis Palestinian tragedy. I always find this type of book interesting basically because as a read you can glean insight into how refugees live and what life is like on the other side of the planet.
Read
June 12, 2017The book is very interesting and informative but I pretty much knew everything from the book My Promised Land by Avi Shalit. The book is also heartbreaking.
September 13, 2017
back later with my thoughts.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews