Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism

by David Horovitz

Book Overview

Examines the political origins of the ongoing violence between Israel and Palestine and the social consequences this violence has on the lives of their ordinary citizens. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400040671
• ISBN13: 9781400040674
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Incredible eye opener!

This book is absolutely incredible! Thank you so much David Horovitz! I want to read your day-to-day accounts of life in Israel beyond the end of this book. I have been a religious right-wing supporter of Eretz Israel, anxiously awaiting the time that I am in a financial position to make aliyah. I have strongly supported the anti-disengagement fighters. Your book has made me think. It has opened my eyes to the Arab side of the story, as well as details of politics on both sides that I was not previously aware of. This book has filled me with hope of someday living in the holy land and at the same time has made me cry, and evoked terror. Reading the chapter on Yussuf makes me wonder if there is ever any hope for peace - on the political side there is, but on the religious side it seems hopeless, as religious Jews can never voluntarily relinquish the Temple Mount or any of Jerusalem. There have been times that I have had to put it down and walk away for a while to digest what I have just read (and cry) - and I'm only on page 166! For a long time I have thought the solution to this problem was for millions of North American religious Jews to make aliyah and change the government in Israel, now I'm not so sure... More to come...

A Centrist Manifesto

As an Israeli resident whose heart is on the left but whose head is somewhere else, I found David Horovitz's book a superb narrative of what happened to those of us who thought we had found a formula for peace. The disillusionment I and others like me feel has led us to a new place on the Israeli political spectrum, one that never really existed before -- the Center. David Horovitz explains why and gives a voice to the sensible, rational, middle-of-the-road Israel that is rarely depicted on television. He explains how it is possible to distrust Arafat and the rest of the Arab leadership without sounding like a rabid, drooling, racist "settler." While he describes what it is like to live close to the scene of repeated terrorist attacks, he does not rely on the reader's sympathy to persuade; rather, he uses sound, fundamental and highly articulate factual argument to substantiate his views.Anyone who considers himself well-versed on the situation in Israel MUST read this book.

Telling it like it is

Horovitzes book accurately portrays the struggle of trying to lead a normal life in Israel. We choose restaraunts or cafes by deciding which are less likely to be blown up. We avoid sending our kids on buses at all costs. We get nervous when a car driven by a Palestinian pulls up next to us.Horovitz goes to great lengths to describe how on the one hand we deal with terror, yet on the other we worry about our careers and doing right by the kids. He describes our frustration at often being painted the bad guys, or oppressors by a seemingly biased (and often ignorant or anti-semitic) world opinion. On the other hand, he really tries to show the Palestinian point of view, and describes the misery of their lives. The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is tragic. The author explains why it turned out like this and how possibly it could be resolved.The book gives a fascinating insight and is brilliantly written. A must read for anyone interested in Middle East affairs.

Still Life Wtih The Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism

There are virtually no other writers on the Middle East that possess the unique Horovitz mix of political independence mixed with an ability to reduce issues to words that really bring home realities. We are so used to reading of or seeing suicide bombs in Israel (indeed, now in a wider range of coutries) that we barely comprehend their horror and legacy on all of those involved. This book gives the first insight into life in Israel since the latest intafada began that really takes in to the daily impact on family life. Whilst in no way one sided, Horovitz expresses great scepticism on the liklihood of the situation improving whilst Arafat continues to be the key Palestinian powerhouse. I could not put it down, it is every bit as good as his previous books. I could not decide whether I was more or less depressed abpout the situation after I had read it, but I sure understood it a whole lot better. I strongly recommend this book.

A Vital Dose of Common Sense

As Israelis and Palestinians battle to persuade the world that right is on their side in their terrible conflict, David Horovitz cuts through the propaganda and tells it like it is: Ordinary Israelis and Palestinians are suffering because Yaser Arafat does not want to make peace. As Horovitz writes, Arafat does not want to be remembered as the Muslim leader who accepted the Jewish right to sovereignty in the Middle East. The strength of this book, though, is that it is not merely a well-argued political analysis. It is life from the civilian battle zone -- harrowing daily life, as described by a father, who like all Israeli parents, worries that every day he is sending his family out into the "grim lottery," where suicide bombers, indoctrinated by vicious Islamic extremists, lurk and have struck in almost every city -- not just in the West Bank and Gaza, but all over sovereign Israel as well. As both a journalist and an ordinary father, Horovitz is able to write as an analyst and an everyday citizen -- providing the personal anecdotes that give his text such power and credibility. I imagine there will be those on the Israeli right who will dislike this book for its commonsense insistence, now belatedly recognized by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, that Israel must separate from the Palestinians if it is to remain Jewish and democratic. I am sure that the Palestinian propagandists will loathe it, for so effectively puncturing their assertion that Israel has not been serious about wanting to partner them in co-existence. But this is a persuasive narrative from the middle ground, passionately argued, ringing true. And its critics will not be able to shrug it off lightly.