Scan barcode
coffeefrog22's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
4.0
I think Amos has sold me on why the two state solution is the least worst solution to the Israel Palestine conflict. I admire his metaphor of a painful divorce - one that's not happy for either party, but one that's necessary, one that's better than any other alternative. I think he's right. With the current situation - of a far right government in Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip - a two state solution will still be better than the status quo we have now.
I think if anything else I respect Amos' views on Zionism having read this. It's interesting to see him defend the existence of the State of Israel so vigorously, yet in the same breath defend the rights of Palestinian people and their right to statehood. I could see myself aligning with him.
I think if anything else I respect Amos' views on Zionism having read this. It's interesting to see him defend the existence of the State of Israel so vigorously, yet in the same breath defend the rights of Palestinian people and their right to statehood. I could see myself aligning with him.
ckrupiej's review against another edition
5.0
"It is not a struggle between good and evil, rather it is a tragedy in the ancient and most precise sense of the word: a clash between right and right, a clash between one very powerful, deep and convincing claim and another very different but no less convincing, no less powerful, no less humane claim."
"When it comes to the foundations of the Israel-Arab conflict, in particular the Israeli- Palestinian conflicts, things are not so straightforward. And I am afraid I am not going to make things any easier for you."
"The Palestinians have tried, unwillingly, to live in other Arab countries. They were rejected, sometimes even humiliated and persecuted, by the so-called "Arab family".
"When my father was a little boy in Poland, the streets of Europe were covered with graffiti, 'Jews, go back to Palestine', or sometimes worse: 'Dirty yids, piss to Palestine'. When my father revisited Europe fifty years later, the walls were covered with new graffiti, 'Jews, get out of Palestine."
"The Palestinian want the land they call Palestine. They have very string reasons to want it. The Israeli Jews want exactly the same land for exactly the same reasons, which provides for a perfect understanding between the parties, and for a terrible tragedy. Rivers of coffee drunk together cannot extinguish the tragedy of two peoples claiming, and I think rightly claiming , the same small country as their one and only national homeland. So drinking coffee together is wonderful and I'm all for it, especially if it is Arabic coffee which is infinitely better then Israeli coffee."
"The word compromise means life. And the opposite of compromise is not idealism, not devotion; the opposite of compromise is fanaticism and death."
"A compromise means that the Palestinian people should never go down on tis knees, neither should the Israeli Jewish people."
"We are very critical of the Palestinian leadership. I personally am as critical of the Palestinian leadership as I am of the Israeli leadership."
"If once again I felt that there was a real danger of my country being completely wiped off the map and my people being butchered, I would fight again, although I'm an old man. But I would only fight if I thought it was a matter of life and death, or if I thought anybody was trying to turn me or the next person into a slave. I would never fight - I would prefer to go to jail - over extra territories."
"the ultimate evil is not war but aggression."
"So when you recognize aggression, you have to fight against it, wherever it comes from. But only over life and freedom not over extra territory or extra resources."
"We need a sense of justice, but we also need common sense, we need imagination, a deep ability to imagine the other, sometimes to put ourselves in the skin of the other. We need the rational ability to compromise and sometimes to make sacrifices and concessions, but we don't need to commit suicide for the sake of peace"
"One of the things which makes this conflict particularly hard is the fact that the Israel-Palestinian, the Israeli-Arab conflict, is essentially a conflict between two victims. Two victims of the same oppressor. Europe, which colonised the Arab world, exploited it, humiliated it, trampled upon its culture, controlled it and used is as imperialistic playground , is the same Europe which discriminated against Jews, persecuted them, harassed them, and finally, mass-murdered them in an unprecedent crime of genocide."
"Very often Arabs, even some sensitive Arab writers, fail to see us as what we, Israeli Jews, really are - a bunch of half-hysterical refugees and survivors, haunted by dreadful nightmares, traumatised not only by Europe but also by the way we were treated in Arabic and Islamic countries. Half the population of Israel are people who were kicked out of Arabic and Islamic countries. Israel is indeed one large Jewish refugee camp."
"But mostly I have been critical of the Palestinian national movement for failing to realise how genuine the Jewish connection to the land is."
"Moreover, the crucial step ought to be , must be, a two state solution. Israel must go back to what has been the initial Israeli proposition since 1948 and even before' 48 from the beginning: recognition for recognition, statehood for statehood, independence for independence, security for security. Good neighbourliness for good neighbourliness, respect for respect.
"For many years we Israelis blinded ourselves to the fact that the Palestinian people could not find a home even in Arab countries. We did not want to hear this."
"But more urgent that the question of boundaries, more urgent that the question of the disputed holy places, more urgent than any other question, is the question of what to do about the Palestinian refugees of 1948"
"You no longer have to choose between being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. You have to be pro-peace."
"A sense of humour, the ability to imagine the other, the capacity to recognise the peninsular quality of everyone of us may be at least a partial defence against the fanatic gene which we all contain."
"When it comes to the foundations of the Israel-Arab conflict, in particular the Israeli- Palestinian conflicts, things are not so straightforward. And I am afraid I am not going to make things any easier for you."
"The Palestinians have tried, unwillingly, to live in other Arab countries. They were rejected, sometimes even humiliated and persecuted, by the so-called "Arab family".
"When my father was a little boy in Poland, the streets of Europe were covered with graffiti, 'Jews, go back to Palestine', or sometimes worse: 'Dirty yids, piss to Palestine'. When my father revisited Europe fifty years later, the walls were covered with new graffiti, 'Jews, get out of Palestine."
"The Palestinian want the land they call Palestine. They have very string reasons to want it. The Israeli Jews want exactly the same land for exactly the same reasons, which provides for a perfect understanding between the parties, and for a terrible tragedy. Rivers of coffee drunk together cannot extinguish the tragedy of two peoples claiming, and I think rightly claiming , the same small country as their one and only national homeland. So drinking coffee together is wonderful and I'm all for it, especially if it is Arabic coffee which is infinitely better then Israeli coffee."
"The word compromise means life. And the opposite of compromise is not idealism, not devotion; the opposite of compromise is fanaticism and death."
"A compromise means that the Palestinian people should never go down on tis knees, neither should the Israeli Jewish people."
"We are very critical of the Palestinian leadership. I personally am as critical of the Palestinian leadership as I am of the Israeli leadership."
"If once again I felt that there was a real danger of my country being completely wiped off the map and my people being butchered, I would fight again, although I'm an old man. But I would only fight if I thought it was a matter of life and death, or if I thought anybody was trying to turn me or the next person into a slave. I would never fight - I would prefer to go to jail - over extra territories."
"the ultimate evil is not war but aggression."
"So when you recognize aggression, you have to fight against it, wherever it comes from. But only over life and freedom not over extra territory or extra resources."
"We need a sense of justice, but we also need common sense, we need imagination, a deep ability to imagine the other, sometimes to put ourselves in the skin of the other. We need the rational ability to compromise and sometimes to make sacrifices and concessions, but we don't need to commit suicide for the sake of peace"
"One of the things which makes this conflict particularly hard is the fact that the Israel-Palestinian, the Israeli-Arab conflict, is essentially a conflict between two victims. Two victims of the same oppressor. Europe, which colonised the Arab world, exploited it, humiliated it, trampled upon its culture, controlled it and used is as imperialistic playground , is the same Europe which discriminated against Jews, persecuted them, harassed them, and finally, mass-murdered them in an unprecedent crime of genocide."
"Very often Arabs, even some sensitive Arab writers, fail to see us as what we, Israeli Jews, really are - a bunch of half-hysterical refugees and survivors, haunted by dreadful nightmares, traumatised not only by Europe but also by the way we were treated in Arabic and Islamic countries. Half the population of Israel are people who were kicked out of Arabic and Islamic countries. Israel is indeed one large Jewish refugee camp."
"But mostly I have been critical of the Palestinian national movement for failing to realise how genuine the Jewish connection to the land is."
"Moreover, the crucial step ought to be , must be, a two state solution. Israel must go back to what has been the initial Israeli proposition since 1948 and even before' 48 from the beginning: recognition for recognition, statehood for statehood, independence for independence, security for security. Good neighbourliness for good neighbourliness, respect for respect.
"For many years we Israelis blinded ourselves to the fact that the Palestinian people could not find a home even in Arab countries. We did not want to hear this."
"But more urgent that the question of boundaries, more urgent that the question of the disputed holy places, more urgent than any other question, is the question of what to do about the Palestinian refugees of 1948"
"You no longer have to choose between being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. You have to be pro-peace."
"A sense of humour, the ability to imagine the other, the capacity to recognise the peninsular quality of everyone of us may be at least a partial defence against the fanatic gene which we all contain."
nessafurtado's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Although the author has some lucid and valid arguments, and I believe he had no I’ll intentions, in the light of everyday events we are facing, there’s just one thing I’d like to add: FREE PALESTINE. once and for all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, War, and Violence
elsa811's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
fictionfanatic's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
2.5