Subjects:
Middle Eastern history
Postwar 20th century history
from c 1945 to c 200
Israel
This is a compelling and moving account of life in Israel today. In a series of essays, author and Jerusalem resident Judy Lash Balint travels to the very heart of Israel. From embattled Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, to the home of the grieving family of a victim of the Ramallah lynching incident; from the barricades in Gilo under Arab fire, to the gas mask stations where Israeli citizens queue to collect their lifesaving equipment. These vivid descriptions piece together a stirring portrait of a people struggling to maintain normal life in the most abnormal of settings. Balint succeeds where the evening news and the most sophisticated media technologies fail. She chronicles the everyday existence of ordinary citizens, whose lives have been irrevocably altered by extraordinary events. The result is an absorbing and inspiring account of a nation and a country weathering a rough and relentless storm.
Judy Lash Balint has published articles in the Christian Science Monitor, Jerusalem Post, The Forward, Seattle Times, Moment Magazine, The Jerusalem Report, Midstream, London Jewish Chronicle and numerous US Jewish weeklies. She lives in Jerusalem.
""" Jerusalem Diaries provides a fascinating glimpse of life in Israel and has many lessons Americans can take to heart."" -- Eileen Goss, Jewish Community News, San Jose, California
Balint brings a wise and understanding heart, a keen eye, and great moral poise to her observations of Israel -- Edward Alexander Professor of English, University of Washington. Author of IRVING HOWE--SOCIALIST, CRITIC, JEW and THE JEWISH WARS: Reflections By One of the Belligerents
With sharp eye and penetrating pen Balint pierces the cant and hypocrisy that characterize much of today's reportage on Israel -- Walter Reich Professor of International Affairs, Ethics and Human Behavior, George Washington University"