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Published before the Israeli war against Hezbollah, this series of eloquent and moving essays (written over a decade of reflection on the Israeli-Palestinian "Peace Process") by noted Israeli novelist David Grossman are a cri de coeur about the ongoing loss of life between two seemingly implaccable enemies. Grossman has a vision of peace, but it is torn to shreds as he witnesses the irrational conflict that seems like an unstoppable monster that eats up Palestinian and Israeli lives without distinction.

He is an ardent supporter of the State of Israel, but also a moving advocate of peace. Tragically, he lost one of his three children -- his son Uri, an IDF soldier -- in the 2006 Lebanese war.

From Wikipedia:

"Grossman, an outspoken peace activist, supported Israel during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. On August 10, 2006, however, he and fellow authors Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua held a press conference at which they urged the government to agree to a ceasefire that would create the basis for a negotiated solution.

Two days later, his 20-year-old son Uri, a staff sergeant in an armoured unit, was killed by an anti-tank missile during an IDF operation in southern Lebanon shortly before the ceasefire."

These essays do not incorporate the sorrow of his loss, because they are written prior to his son's combat death, but they eerily anticipate that the tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict spares few.

From Publishers Weekly:

By collecting his impressions from the last decade (originally published in Britain's Guardian), noted Israeli novelist Grossman creates something astonishing-a moving tale of, and comment on, modern Israeli culture and politics. Though there are no surprises in the chain of events, to watch an articulate and nuanced man live through the demise of the peace process is to experience it anew, in all its grisly and idiosyncratic power. Grossman watches the tentative steps toward peace, beginning in 1993, and what he hopes are the attempts of both sides to break free from being "hostages of their history and psychology." Then he looks on with increasing anxiety as it all unravels. Throughout, Grossman combines the lyrical touches he brings to his novels (The Smile of the Lamb, etc.) with a remarkably clear eye.

"So many cherished things and private moments are lost to fear and violence," he writes. "So much creative power, so much imagination and thought, are directed today at destruction and death." Indeed, he mourns for losses that are as much philosophical as political, another reason this book has more depth than the typically two-dimensional newspaper op-ed. Grossman holds out for peace even when events suggest otherwise, maintaining criticism of both Israeli civilians and leaders for not trying to understand the Palestinian heart and mind. But these aren't simply the untempered cries of a dove. The author writes convincingly of the inner torment he feels after several attacks on innocent Israelis and candidly engages in self-questioning when dreams of peace start to float away. That gives him credibility, which, mixed with a heartfelt love of Israel and a courtly tone, lend the book an uncommon force. [end of review]

Grossman wrote of the pain of the endless loss of life that afflicts both Israelies and Palestinians -- the the chaos of lost opportunities, before he tragically personally experienced such a loss.

He is now one of Israel's most thoughtful, impassioned, and compelling voices for an end to the cyclic madness of a 21st Century conflict that hasn't moved beyond the Biblical injunction of an "Eye for an Eye."

Assembled a few years back, these commentaries have not lost their impact. Historical details may have changed, but the reality of the ceaseless carnage has not.


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