WELL WRITTEN, CLEAR. TRYING TO show Israeli's side & yet being 'open minded' ( )

At first, I thought this slim book of letters written by a Jewish man living in Israel to a Palestinian living just behind the wall that separates them would not have much of anything to say to me, a nonreligious woman living in America with no personal connection to either Israel or Palestine. But Halevi's writing drew me in, and he had much to teach me about the history of Israel, the history and worldview of the Jewish people, the fundamental nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and possible resolutions he could foresee. It was a very interesting read for all people who are interested in history, the world, and progressing toward peace.

I grew up in Central and Western Mass—one of the most Jewish places in Massachusetts. Although I'm not Jewish, I have considered converting various times over the year, and many of my friends are Jewish.

So I've been aware of the Israel-Palestine conflict for many years, and many of my Jewish friends have been activists for a less-aggressive Israel. That said—especially Israel coming to the fore of current events with their violence against Palestinians—I felt it time to dig a little deeper into the issues.

I asked some friends that are especially versed in these issues for some recommendations on the history of Israel and of the Jewish people. They came back with two recommendations: "The Zionist Idea," by Arthur Hertzberg, and this book. As the latter is a massive and archaic tome, I ended up getting through this one first.

As the title might suggest, the book is written by a liberal Israeli Jew. There are no unbiased views on the issue, and I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of "Gaza" by Norman Finkelstein for a perspective from one of the other sides.

What I love about the book is it's accessibility. It's composed of ten short letters, grounded in Jewish religion and history. The tone is personal, compassionate, conversational.

I learned a lot of fascinating things about the history of Israel. The country is a modern state, invented by UN decree in 1947. Promptly following that decree, the baby country was invaded by its Muslim neighbors. After a bloody war, Israel was able to hold ground, and members of the Jewish Diaspora from around the world were airlifted in a mass-migration. Today, about half of the world's Jews live in Israel, which has become quite a powerhouse in the region.

Although the Jews as a people share their origins, with this place in the world, they've haven't been able to call Israel home for two millennia. In 700 BC they were kicked out of Babylon, and shortly after Christ, they were kicked out of Rome. Understandably, others have come to call the land we refer to as Israel home in the intervening aeons, the Palestinians amongst them.

Palestine itself was a British territory at the time of the creation of Israel—which I why the Israel project was a possibility. That, along with a two-century old movement called Zionism.

One of the things I find fascinating about Jewish affairs today is that they're both an indigenous people, and a colonial nation. This seeming paradox is at the crux of our larger civilizational existential challenges. Additionally, Israel could be the largest-scale example of land reparations in current times, and there's a lot that the reparations movement could learn from it.

If nothing else, what I'm taking home from this book is the phenomenal depth and complexity of the Israel-Palestine conflict. I'm left with many more questions than when I started.

If you're interested in learned more about these issues (and they really do affect all of us), then I recommend you start with this book! ( )

Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbors in this taut and provocative book, empathizing with Palestinian suffering and longing for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes.