arab and jew -- a book review

David Shipler's Arab and Jew:  Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land is a classic of Middle East studies that has now been revised and expanded.  Shipler, who was based in Jerusalem in the late 70s and early 80s, has given us a revised narrative of what it's like to avoid characterizations and treating both sides of the regions great divide with genuine kindness and humanity.

Shipler may well be "neither Arab or Jew", but standing in this world of violence and religious division, he still knows how to care and treat others with kindness and respect.  Which means Shipler knows how to listen.

And Arab and Jew is best known for its ability to hear both sides.  Unfortunately, Arab and Jew are now, politically and psychologically, two distinct bodies rather than parts of the same geographic whole.  Meanwhile, both sides suffer.  But Shipler intends to allow that distinctness to have its own voice.

Arab and Jew is therefore an historical account of what life is like in this torn land.  That historical account, though, is told in the lives and with the voices of those who have lived that history.

That's what makes Arab and Jew such essential reading.

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I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.