Death as Way of Life: Israel Ten Years After Oslo

I had to read this book for a college class, but ended up enjoying it anyway. While he does not reach any conclusions, I do not think that is his intention. Rather, he offers an emotional first-hand look at the complex situation that has developed in the Middle East. The reader experiances the highs and lows of the recent peace efforts, from the hope of Oslo to the tragedy of assassination. There is also an excellent essay on the Holocaust and the effects on Germany and Israel. No matter one's views on the Middle East conflict, this is a book worth reading. Grossman is moderate and rational, a viewpoint that is too often lost in the emotion and horror of the violent cycle that has taken hold in the region.

Perhaps the greatest insight I got from this collection of essays from David Grossman is that the peacemakers and people who strive for a peaceful solution are truly the greatest heros. It takes courage to overcome base human instincts and seek a fair peace. Mr Grossman does an admirable job of conveying this. This is not so much a book for the Mideast history scholar as it is for the person who wants to get a feel for what it's like to be caught in the maelstrom that envelops Israel and the Palestinian lands today.

It should be stated that the Jews didn't "run the British" out of the country like jskibel said. It was far more complicated then that.It is unfortunate that jskibel, obviously someone who is proud of his heritage, as am I (my father's family escaped what is now known as Lithuania during the holocaust), has let that pride cloud his judgement.While he is obviously quick to point out Palestinian aggression he does so while seemingly boasting that Israelis drove the British out. I hope that jskibel knows that the Jews, in a quest for a homeland, were doing the same exact thing that the Palestinian militants are doing and that is carrying out terrorist attacks. I guess the main difference now is you have Arabs who resort to blowing themselves up because the guns and rocks that were their original weapon of choice did not work against the tanks of the Israeli Governement.This book is an extremely balanced view of the current situation. While quick to point out his pride as a Jew and Israeli, David Grossman never once seems to justify the acts of agression that our fellow hebrew brothers carry out. It's unfortunate that such a great book does not create more worthwhile discussion in these reviews instead of the typical finger pointing. David Grossman seemingly also got what most people don't get... and that is how sad it is that Palestinians have become so desperate that they are willing to kill themselves for their cause. When men and women, some who aren't even old enough to Vote here in the States, carry out suicide attacks we do ourselves no favors by dismissing it as just terrorism, but also finding out what has caused some people to become so desperate as to resort to that type of terrorism.Great book.

In an April 1995 essay entitled "Yes, Prime Minister", included in this collection David Grossman wrote that the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians was "reversible", meaning it could be destroyed. He then went on to lay out the 3 the things that could destroy it:1.Arafat becomes inactive or irrelevant.2.The Likud party comes to power.3.The peace process is constantly interrupted by violence.As we know now, all these things have come to pass. How prophetic this collection of essays becomes. They have been collected from publications all over the world dating from the September 1993 hopes of the Oslo Summit to the most recent, an article from September 2002 and the almost hopelessness of the 10 year old Intifada. Grossman's essays cover different topics but they all come down to the ongoing conflict in Israel between the paranoid Israelis and the downtrodden and vengeful Palestinians. Well, he doesn't exactly stereotype them this way but he comes close. He paints Israel as a country of Jews that has suffered hostility and persecution over so many centuries that has bred in them a fear of being exterminated or of being caught up in a new diaspora where they are cast off their land. So any time they feel threatened they respond with overwhelming brutality. A sort of post-trauma of a whole nation. Ironically, the Palestinians find themselves in the same situation as the Jews once did. They are persecuted for their race, for their beliefs, for their wanting of a homeland. One of the big points in the book that I wondered about also was that where are the MODERATE representatives of both sides? Why do we always see these gun toting [people] and fat cat politicians raving up violence and venegence? Are the sane people in this conflict simply cowards? I know they exist! Where is a great leader on either side who could step up and unite their people??? It's like Hitler vs. Stalin all over again. Why doesn't the Likud and Hamas just join forces and declare war against the rest of the Jews and Palestinians?It just seems the people in power are simply there to draw more blood. Another point that Grossman makes in his essays is that both peoples need to realize that their survival depends on the peace they make between each other. Decades more war will only lead to their children becoming bloodthirsty savages who know how to make war and kill but know nothing of living together...I think everyone should read this book because even though it is written by an Israeli it tries to keep a balance and look at both sides of the conflict. He understands that there can be no peace without the absence of oppression. Grossman shows his fear of a future of war but never loses sight of a possible peace. The only negative aspect of his culture that he shows is in an essay called "Point of No Return" in which he argues against the right of return of the Palestians who were thrown off their land when Israel was first constituted back in the 40s. He belei

Full of empathy, insight and a necessary dose of incredulousness, Grossman is one of the most important writers on this tragic subject. Death as a Way of Life is also particularly relevant for Americans who want to know what life under terror feels like.