Maurie Goldberg-Bartura

This book is full of Story, some parts more challenging to read than others, particularly because of the intermingled Israeli and Palestinian political and historical references that I'm beginning to grasp. I know I'll re-read it someday, both to savor my favorite sections -- Oz in a cafe in Ramallah speaking with two young Arab men while a third older man sits quietly until the end, with writers for an Arab newspaper in East Jerusalem, and bearing witness to the story of an old pioneer who grew up under the Ottomans and saw his country change in unimaginable ways -- and to try again to absorb the maddening, fascinating, near stream-of-consciousness accounts from settlers, fundamentalists, and idealists. My edition has an updated author note from 1993 (the book was originally published in 1983), and I'd love to read another updated note from Oz for the 21st century.… (mais)