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ePalestine.ps - Sam Bahour

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News & opinions from a Palestinian-American
living & working in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, Palestine

Books

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‘The Two-State Delusion,’ a well-researched but mistitled saga of a failed peace process [Book Review]

‘The Two-State Delusion,’ a well-researched but mistitled saga of a failed peace process [Book Review]

by | December 3, 2016 | Books, Writings

University of Massachusetts Boston professor Padraig O’Malley’s The Two-State Delusion’s title suggests that there is something paradoxical in persevering with a proposed solution of two states, Israel and Palestine, as a way forward; the thrust of the historical accounts and the arguments made, however, are actually geared more toward convincing the reader that what failed is the process rather than the two-state paradigm itself, which has never yet been tested. A more accurate title would have been “Eulogy for a U.S.-Monopolized Peace Process.”


The frozen Chosen: Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” [Book Review]

The frozen Chosen: Michael Chabon’s “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” [Book Review]

by | November 1, 2016 | Books, Writings

Reading fiction does not come easy for me. I guess, while living under a military occupation, there is too much non-fiction pounding at our lives to allow us to get happily lost in fiction. Reading The Yiddish Policemen’s Union may have changed that. No wonder this novel received a ton of awards; it takes fiction to new levels. Not only does Michael have a truly amazing command of the English language (proof being that my dictionary accompanied me in turning each of the 414 pages), but it turns out his Yiddish is not so bad too. Add to that a true historic premise to base his plot on, and linking the story to a few themes that are alive and well, albeit repulsive (think murder, racism, substance abuse, and more) in today’s real world, and what comes to life is something that you’ll be reflecting on long after the book takes its well-earned place on your bookshelf.


“The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza” by Max Blumenthal [Recommended]

“The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza” by Max Blumenthal [Recommended]

by | June 28, 2016 | Books

On July 8, 2014, Israel launched air strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza, followed by a ground invasion. The ensuing fifty-one days of war left more than 2,200 people dead, the vast majority of whom were Palestinian civilians, including over 500 children. During the assault, at least 10,000 homes were destroyed and, according to the United Nations, nearly 300,000 Palestinians were displaced. Max Blumenthal was in Gaza and throughout Israel-Palestine during what he argues was an entirely avoidable catastrophe. In this explosive work of intimate reportage, Blumenthal reveals the harrowing conditions and cynical deceptions that led to the ruinous war — and tells the human stories. (Publisher’s description)


“The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge” by Ilan Pappe [Book Review]

“The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge” by Ilan Pappe [Book Review]

by | July 20, 2015 | Books

Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe, takes the reader through the maze of knowledge creation in Israel and how that journey has interacted with power. The invaluable intellectual contribution and framing that Professor Pappe provides cannot be overstated. He documents for all serious researchers who follow how the dust (or more like blood) of Israel’s foundational moment has yet to settle. The events in and around 1948 that led to the creation of Israel and the colossal loss of Palestine were such a historic tragedy that even the well-oiled Israeli and Zionist public relations machines have been unable get traction to settle the historic account.


“The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood” by Rashid Khalidi [Recommended]

“The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood” by Rashid Khalidi [Recommended]

by | May 7, 2015 | Books

At a time when a lasting peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis seems virtually unattainable, understanding the roots of their conflict is an essential step in restoring hope to the region. In The Iron Cage, Rashid Khalidi, one of the most respected historians and political observers of the Middle East, homes in on Palestinian politics and history. By drawing on a wealth of experience and scholarship, Khalidi provides a lucid context for the realities on the ground today, a context that has been, until now, notably lacking in our discourse. (Publisher’s description)


Support Palestinian women writers! “Al-Khawaja”—a new book release in Arabic from Fida Jiryis [Recommended]

Support Palestinian women writers! “Al-Khawaja”—a new book release in Arabic from Fida Jiryis [Recommended]

by | February 21, 2014 | Books, Writings

Those of you who know me personally know how much I respect the written word. It is in this spirit that I write you as part of my ongoing efforts to support Palestinian culture and arts, especially writing, and more specifically women writers. One of the up and coming woman writers whom I’m supporting is Fida Jiryis. Fida is from the Palestinian village of Fassouta, near the border with Lebanon. She is a dear friend and dedicated colleague. AL-KHAWAJA is a sequel to Fida’s first book of short stories titled Hayatuna Elsagheera (“Our Small Life”).


“Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel” book by Max Blumenthal [Recommended]

“Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel” book by Max Blumenthal [Recommended]

by | October 1, 2013 | Books

In Goliath, New York Times bestselling author Max Blumenthal takes us on a journey through the badlands and high roads of Israel-Palestine, painting a startling portrait of Israeli society under the siege of increasingly authoritarian politics as the occupation of the Palestinians deepens…Through his far-ranging travels, Blumenthal illuminates the present by uncovering the ghosts of the past — the histories of Palestinian neighborhoods and villages now gone and forgotten; how that history has set the stage for the current crisis of Israeli society; and how the Holocaust has been turned into justification for occupation. A brave and unflinching account of the real facts on the ground, Goliath is an unprecedented and compelling work of journalism. (Publisher’s description)


“Palestinians in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education” [Recommended]

“Palestinians in Israeli School Books: Ideology and Propaganda in Education” [Recommended]

by | August 7, 2012 | Books

Each year, Israel’s young men and women are drafted into compulsory military service and are required to engage directly in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This conflict is by its nature intensely complex and is played out under the full glare of international security. So, how does Israel’s education system prepare its young people for this? How is Palestine, and the Palestinians against whom these young Israelis will potentially be required to use force, portrayed in the school system? Nurit Peled-Elhanan argues that the textbooks used in the school system are laced with a pro-Israel ideology, and that they play a part in priming Israeli children for military service. She analyzes the presentation of images, maps, layouts and use of language in History, Geography and Civic Studies textbooks, and reveals how the books might be seen to marginalize Palestinians, legitimize Israeli military action and reinforce Jewish-Israeli territorial identity. This book provides a fresh scholarly contribution to the Israeli-Palestinian debate, and will be relevant to the fields of Middle East Studies and Politics more widely. (Publisher’s description)


“Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land” [Book Review]

“Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land” [Book Review]

by | April 20, 2011 | Books, Writings

Reviewed for The Jewish Post & News (Winnipeg, Canada). Braverman is unequivocal in his judgment that Israel’s ongoing destruction of Palestine, which he portrays throughout with brutal honesty, is also destroying Israel itself. His urgent call for more effective interfaith and diplomatic intervention from outsiders is clearly aimed at rescuing Israelis as well as Palestinians. Just one example, quoting from something he wrote in 2008: “Israel’s policy, remarkably consistent and relentless…, to obtain complete political and economic control of all of Palestine, is killing Israel—its young people, its economy, its soul, its very future.”


“Towards a Jewish Theology of Liberation” (3rd Expanded Edition) by Marc H. Ellis and Julia Neuberger [Recommended]

“Towards a Jewish Theology of Liberation” (3rd Expanded Edition) by Marc H. Ellis and Julia Neuberger [Recommended]

by | April 1, 2011 | Books

Foreword by Desmond Tutu and Gustavo Gutierrez. Marc Ellis fine book about the future of the Jewish community was first published in 1987. But twenty years on, in the light of recent events in the Middle East and post-September 11, its powerful message of hope, directed towards a people ‘poised between Holocaust and empowerment’, remains as powerful, apposite, and pressingly relevant as it was before. Ellis begins with two poles: the holocaust and the pain and vision that issue from it. This leads him into ethics, and he highlights the contrast between the depth of Jewish ethical commitment and the paucity of renewal movements within Judaism. The author then addresses all suffering peoples, and the Christian liberation movements active among them, so that the holocaust may be set in a wider context. Against this background, Ellis sees it as essential that the journeys and visions of dissenting Jews—such as Etty Hillesum and Martin Buber—should be re-appraised. An alternative perspective of what it means to be Jewish begins to emerge, and in the final chapter a Jewish theology of liberation is essayed, which is a theology prepared ‘to enter the danger zones of contemporary Jewish life’, often at some cost. (Publisher’s description)