The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is remote to most of us in the West - an abstract that one glosses over as one reads the morning paper. We hear of the suicide bombers and the checkpoints and it's easy to dismiss these stories as just another act of violence in a place that's far, far away. Emma Williams' book, It's Easier to Reach Heaven than the End of the Street,
goes a long way toward bringing this conflict into our living rooms, helping us to understand its complexities and explaining its human toll, putting a face to those suffering its effects.
When the Intifada erupted in September 2000, Williams was in a unique position as a British doctor, wife and mother living in Jerusalem. Her friends and co-workers included both Palestinians and Israelis, which allowed her to gather unvarnished opinions from...
Beyond the Book
Yom Ha'atzmaut & Al-Nakba
There have long been Jewish communities in Palestine, but populations saw particularly rapid growth as Jews fled European pogroms during the 19th century. A large wave of immigration, mainly from the Russian Empire began in 1881 and continued up until the start of World War I. During this period, known as the First and Second Aliya ("ascent"), over 70,000 Jews immigrated to Israel, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire, establishing the first kibbutz and reviving Hebrew as the national language; before this wave of immigration it is estimated that Jews represented about 4% of the local population.
In 1917, with the Ottoman Empire routed and the British in control of Jerusalem, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour...