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22 Jun, 2017

Here’s why you should read this new anthology on the Israel-Palestine conflict — Hindustan Times

The book was launched on June 18 to commemorate this month’s anniversary of the 1967 Mideast War, in which Israel took control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Hebrew and Arabic versions are to hit bookshelves in Israel and the Palestinian territories later this week.

Speaking to reporters at Jerusalem’s American Colony hotel, Chabon said the project seeks “to draw attention to the occupation, and especially to draw the attention of people who aren’t paying attention.”

Chabon, in his essay “Giant in a Cage,” describes travelling from Ramallah to the northern West Bank city of Nablus with a Palestinian-American businessman. He talks of witnessing firsthand the seemingly arbitrary nature of Israel’s military control over Palestinian lives – from checkpoints and permits to resource allocation and settlement construction.

“I was embarrassed and ashamed, both by my ignorance before seeing it and also that such things are being done with my money as an American taxpayer and in my name as a Jew,” he said.

Waldman said the essays do not address all the aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but focus on the impact of the occupation on ordinary lives.

“This book is not going to end the occupation,” Waldman said. “The occupation is a vast edifice, and everybody’s obligation is to pry loose their brick. And if enough bricks get pried loose, the wall will crumble.”

Read the rest: Here’s why you should read this new anthology on the Israel-Palestine conflict | books$ht-picks | Hindustan Times 

Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation

A groundbreaking collection of essays by celebrated international writers bears witness to the human cost of fifty years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, two of today’s most renowned novelists and essayists, have teamed up with the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence—an organization comprised of former Israeli soldiers who served in the occupied territories and saw firsthand the injustice there—and a host of illustrious writers to tell the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories.

Kingdom of Olives and Ash includes contributions from several of today’s most esteemed storytellers including: Colum McCann, Jacqueline Woodson, Colm Toibin, Geraldine Brooks, Dave Eggers, Hari Kunzru, Raja Shehadeh, Mario Vargas Llosa and Assaf Gavron, as well as from editors Chabon and Waldman. Through these incisive, perceptive, and poignant essays, readers will gain unique insight into the narratives behind the litany of grim destruction broadcasted nightly on the news, as well as deeper understanding of the conflict as experienced by the people who live in the occupied territories. Together, these stories stand witness to the human cost of the occupation.

Order: https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Olives-Ash-Confront-Occupation/dp/0062431781