In this “powerful polemic that deserves to be read” (The New York Review of Books), the major issues that have haunted Israel and Palestine for decades are insightfully explored and analyzed.
With personal observation and sharp and challenging arguments, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Richard Ben Cramer insists that Israel is losing her soul by maintaining her occupation of the lands conquered in the Six Day War. Israel has become a victim of that occupation no less than the Palestinians, who must have a nation of their own. Cramer makes clear for the first time why the occupation endures and how it corrupts and corrodes the societies of both Arab and Jew.
Cramer’s portrait of those societies is both up to the minute and timeless, enlivened at every step by his trademark humor, humane understanding of the people caught in the conflict, and his astonishing gift for language, theirs and ours. The result is a book destined to produce both heat and light—it is both shocking and a delight to read. This is journalism so sharp that it will change the story it set out to tell.
"Cramer writes beautifully, and with intention. He seeks to force his readers, no matter what their stance might have been when they opened his book, to examine the harsh truths behind U.S. policies in the Middle East."
-- John Nichols, The Progressive
"Told without fear, this is a story that could -- if read with an open mind -- stir a much needed and honest debate about the future of U.S.-Israel relations."
-- Bob Kerrey, former Senator from Nebraska and President of The New School
"Cramer presents a strong case. You might not agree, but it's impossible to read this book and not think."
-- Jeff Guinn, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"Cramer...marshals facts and vivid anecdotes to back up his case."
-- Barbara Slavin, USA Today
