Arab and Jew

One

War: Earth of Brass

But if ye will not hearken unto me,
and will not do all these commandments . . .
I will break the pride of your power;
and I will make your heaven as iron,
and your earth as brass.

Leviticus 26:14, 19

Spring is a fleeting season in Israel. Fresh from the winter rains, hills and pastures are cloaked in a lushness that passes quickly. Wild flowers burst into a riot of color, then vanish, and the desert, momentarily brushed with a tint of green from wisps of new grass, lies burnished again by a relentless sun. The sky takes on its summer tone of cloudless, pastel blue. Not a drop of rain will fall again until November.

In the spring, Israel marks a double holiday divided by a dramatic shift in moods, two days in a row fixed in the Hebrew calendar to observe the sorrow of war and the joy of rebirth. First comes the Day of Remembrance to honor the country s fallen soldiers, a solemn, moving, mournful time. Then, at sundown, the sadness is cast aside and the streets come alive in a festive air as Independence Day begins; the Israelis who have spent the daylight hours in cemeteries form circles in the streets and dance into the night. The main thoroughfares become great promenades for strolling couples and clusters of teenagers; parking lots are floodlit and bathed in music; across makeshift counters, grilled Middle Eastern delicacies and games of chance are offered. And the next morning many go into the brief abundance of spring for picnics and songs and storytelling with their old army friends from the 1948 War of Independence, the 1956 Sinai Campaign, the Six-Day War of 1967, the War of Attrition with Egypt in 1969 71, the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the Lebanon wars of 1982 and 2006, or the Gaza wars that began in 2008.

Nearly 25,000 Israeli deaths from a dozen wars and intifadas have scarred the landscape of this ancient land. The gravestones on Mount Herzl, the military cemetery at the edge of Jerusalem, are

DAVID K. SHIPLER reported for the New York Times from 1966 to 1988 in New York, Saigon, Moscow, and Jerusalem before serving as chief diplomatic correspondent in Washington, D.C. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for Arab and Jew. He shared a George Polk Award for his coverage of the 1982 war in Lebanon and was executive producer, writer, and narrator of two PBS documentaries on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is the author of six other books, including the bestsellers Russia and The Working Poor. Shipler, who has been a chair of the nonfiction Pulitzer committee, a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has taught at Princeton University; at American University; and at Dartmouth College. He writes online at The Shipler Report.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE

The best and most comprehensive work there is in the English language on this subject. New York Times 
         
With an eye for detail and subtleties, Shipler provides anecdotes that are rich in meaning. Israel Today

Powerful . . . Remarkable freshness and originality . . . Leaves no aspect of the complex Arab-Jewish relationship untouched . . . Presented in an abundance of narratives, anecdotes, and conversations that never seem hackneyed. New York Times Book Review 

A rich, penetrating, and moving portrayal of Arab-Jewish hostility, told in human terms. Newsday

Finally a Western journalist has left the experts and the elites for the people themselves. Shipler has penetrated far into foreign feelings and foreign cultures. And he writes with great moral poise. New Republic

Critical yet compassionate, Arab and Jew offers a comprehensive guide for anyone wishing to learn about these neighbors and enemies living uneasily side by side. USA Today

The picture Shipler paints is chilling. . . . Poignant. Chicago Tribune

A superb journalistic meditation that captures the Middle East s mirror image of intolerance. Philadelphia Inquirer