Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land [Paperback]

David K. Shipler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0142002291 | ISBN-13: 978-0142002292 | Publication Date: December 31, 2001 | Edition: Rev Upd

The Jew, according to the Arab stereotype, is a brutal, violent coward; the Arab, to the prejudiced Jew, is a primitive creature of animal vengeance and cruel desires. In this monumental work, revised and more relevant than ever, David Shipler delves into the origins of the prejudices that have been intensified by war, terrorism, nationalism, and the failure of the peace process.

"The best and most comprehensive work there is in the English language on this subject." (Walter Laqueur, The New York Times)

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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The correspondent for The New York Times in Jerusalem from 1979 to 1984, David K. Shipler brings a very American moral commitment to the problem of Arab-Jewish relations. The occupation of the West Bank was by then a static fact of life; many young Israelis and Palestinians had grown up knowing no other reality. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the massacres of Palestinians by Lebanese militiamen at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, which were under Israeli control, had shaken the consciences of many American Jews. Many of the voices in this book are American, from idealistic young secular Jews working for Arab-Jewish cooperation to the more fanatical followers of Meir Kahane. This work, which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, gives Shipler's narrative the power of a terrible family argument. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Shipler (Russia: Broken Idols, Solemn Dreams) explores the mutual stereotypes and the corrosive effects of terrorism practiced by Arabs and Jews on each other. He offers "an important contribution to the literature on the Middle East," PW found.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Rev Upd edition (December 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142002291
• ISBN-13: 978-0142002292
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David K. Shipler

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author and Former Foreign
Correspondent of The New York Times
Writes online at The Shipler Report, http://shiplerreport.blogspot.com/

Born Dec. 3, 1942. Grew up in Chatham, N.J. Married with three children. Graduated from Dartmouth in 1964. Served in U.S. Navy as officer on a destroyer, 1964-66.

Joined The New York Times as a news clerk in 1966. Promoted to city staff reporter, 1968. Covered housing, poverty, politics. Won awards from the American Political Science Association, the New York Newspaper Guild, and elsewhere.

From 1973-75 served as a New York Times correspondent in Saigon, covering South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Reported also from Burma.

Spent a semester in 1975 at the Russian Institute of Columbia U. studying Russian language and Soviet politics, economics and history to prepare for assignment in Moscow. Correspondent in Moscow Bureau for four years, 1975-79; Moscow Bureau Chief from 1977-79. Wrote the best-seller Russia: Broken Idols, Solemn Dreams, published in 1983, updated in 1989, which won the Overseas Press Club Award in 1983 as the best book that year on foreign affairs.

From 1979-84, served as Bureau Chief of The New York Times in Jerusalem. Was co-recipient (with Thomas Friedman) of the 1983 George Polk Award for covering Lebanon War.

Spent a year, 1984-85, as a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington to write Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land, which explores the mutual perceptions and relationships between Arabs and Jews in Israel and the West Bank. The book won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction and was extensively revised and updated in 2002. Was executive producer, writer and narrator of a two-hour PBS documentary on Arab and Jew, which won a 1990 Dupont-Columbia award for broadcast journalism, and of a one-hour film, Arab and Jew: Return to the Promised Land, which aired on PBS in August 2002.

Served as Chief Diplomatic Correspondent in the Washington Bureau of The New York Times until 1988. From 1988-90 was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writing on transitions to democracy in Russia and Eastern Europe for The New Yorker and other publications.

His book A Country of Strangers: Blacks and Whites in America, based on five years of research into stereotyping and interactions across racial lines, was published in 1997. One of three authors invited by President Clinton to participate in his first town meeting on race.

His book, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, was a national best-seller in 2004 and 2005. It was a finalist for the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award and the New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Award. It won an Outstanding Book Award from The Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights at Simmons College and led to awards from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, the New York Labor Communications Council, and the D.C. Employment Justice Center. He has written two books on civil liberties, the first published in 2011 (The Rights of the People: How Our Search for Safety Invades Our Liberties) and the second scheduled in 2012.

Shipler has received a Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award from Dartmouth and the following honorary degrees: Doctor of Letters from Middlebury College and Glassboro State College (N.J.), Doctor of Laws from Birmingham-Southern College, and Master of Arts from Dartmouth College, where he served on the Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2003. Member of the Pulitzer jury for general nonfiction in 2008, chair in 2009. Has taught at Princeton and American University, as writer-in-residence at U. of Southern California, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow on about fifteen campuses, and a Montgomery Fellow and Visiting Professor of Government at Dartmouth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deep, Insightful and Informative, January 5, 2003

By 

TheHighlander (Richfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land (Paperback)

This was an outstanding book. Over 500 pages packed full of information and insight. The book goes in depth on the problems in Israel and the Middle East. Not just the problems that we hear about on TV. But the people problems. The author goes to the deep underlying problems. The people and their customes and beliefs. Covering the stereo types, the religious differences, their histories. The book interviews people about their fears. The author talks to both Arabs and Jews. He talks to Christians, Muslims and Jews. He reviews incidents of terrorism on all sides of the conflict.

This is a must read book if you are interested in understanding the problems of the Middle East. Although it is full of information it is not hard to read. It goes a long way at explaining things. We all know that the problems in the Middle East are not easy to solve but this book showed me how truly deep the problems run. The prejudices from all sides are astounding.

This is an outstanding piece of writing and research! Read it and enjoy.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goes beyond the facts and lets us meet the people., July 6, 2002

By 

Linda Linguvic (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land (Paperback)

Subtitled "Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land", the author won a Pulitzer Prize for this book in 1987. He's a journalist for The New York Times and was assigned to Jerusalem from 1979-1984. The book has been updated in May of 2002 and now includes references to 9/11 as well as other more recent events in the Middle East. Now, more than ever, this book is relevant for an understanding of what is going on today. Mr. Shipler, who makes a point of saying that he is neither Jewish nor Arab, has an impartial American's point of view. The book is dense with facts and I found his explanations of the history of the region clear and balanced.

The major part of the book, however, is devoted to a great many interviews of both Arabs and Jews. And, through their eyes, the reader is thrust into the human element of the conflict. Often, it is repetitive as over and over again he makes his point of contrasting the viewpoints from the different sides. But that only added to the intensity of the experience of reading this book, which was assigned as required reading for a course I am taking at NYU about the Middle East. I've taken other courses that dealt with the facts, but this book goes well beyond the facts. It goes into the hearts and minds of the people.

In contrasting chapters he brings out the viewpoints of the opposing groups. The Arabs view the Israelis as violent, craven, and alien with a superior attitude. The Israelis view the Arabs as violent, craven, primitive and exotic. Both have fears and fantasies regarding seduction and intermarriage, and even though sometimes there is a mingling of cultures, fear and distrust usually prevails. The first edition of the book seems to end with a bit of hope as there are visits back and forth between Arab and Jewish schools, and some group activities inspired by the human potential movement. Some young people were even sent to camp together in Maine, and friendships were forged. However, by 2002, all this had turned to ashes as the last few years have again divided people and left each group with hatred for the other. Now I understand the reasons why.

Reading this book was uncomfortable at times, but I'm well aware that it is more than merely uncomfortable for the people involved. Mr. Shipler has given me the opportunity to appreciate an experience that has always seemed strange and distant to me. It is not light reading. It's 531 pages of well-written prose that manages to unravel the threads of complexity and make it all seem real. I applaud Mr. Shipler for writing this book.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Israeli resident, November 12, 2001

By A Customer

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This review is from: Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land (Paperback)

As someone who is neither Arab nor Jew and who has lived in Israel for a few years, I can say that this book pretty much mirrors my experiences. If you want an objective view (which is pretty hard to get in mainstream media these days) this book is a must read. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand more about what the real situation is like in Israel.