Flowers of Galilee: The Collected Essays of Israel Shamir [Paperback]

Israel Shamir (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Dandelion Enterprises (March 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893302784
• ISBN-13: 978-1893302785
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,720,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A holy book of the Holy Land, March 23, 2005

By 

Ian Buckley "IB" (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flowers of Galilee: The Collected Essays of Israel Shamir (Paperback)

Many of us - and this specially applies to the allegedly democratic and prosperous West - have come to realise that there is something deeply amiss with our societies. Our leaders seem strangely alike, bland corporation men in suits, who blindly lead us into wars against popular will, at the same time as they slash away at social provisions that have stood and served us well for decades.

Ordinary people too have come to understand that the mainstream media only provides a slick but highly slanted view of world events. We hear much talk of Palestinian terrorists, but never of Palestinian poets. Alternative viewpoints are desperately required in times like these. Such a new outlook is provided by Flowers of Galilee.

Its author, Israel Shamir, is a true Palestinian poet, though an adoptive son of Palestine, rather than a native. Gently Shamir leads us from the local and the particular, to the global and universal. The olive trees and blossoms of Palestine lead in an entirely natural and unforced fashion to the great questions.

Why do we stand - apparently - on the very brink of World War III? Why is the Left fading away into 'business friendly' neo-liberalism? What about the increasing brutalisation of society, and growing gulf between rich and poor?

Reading Shamir's analysis of Palestine and the world is like seeing a metaphorical onion being peeled away, till you finally come upon the kernel of truth. This stripping away of the layers of illusion is bound to be an almost painful and traumatic process for many readers, so it's good that Shamir's friendly tone is there to guide you through. The example of the British Prime Minister is always there to warn of the dangers of believing your own falsehoods and illusions.

It's unfair, perhaps, to categorize any author in terms of his peers, but those who are unfamiliar with Israel Shamir's writings might imagine something of a combination of Lawrence Durrell and John Pilger. It would be out of place for this brief review to attempt a detailed description of the collected essays that comprise Flowers of Galilee : all however make fascinating reading and re-reading. Individually, the essays vary in overall tone from the largely amusing such as 'Up to a Point', to at least one - 'Cornerstone of Violence' - that will scare the hell out of its reader.

But amid all the moving or philosophical passages, there remains a gentle vein of serious humour :

'The instant recovery of a hijacker's passport, intact on the scene of jet crash, should be counted among the most spectacular miracles of all times, well ahead of Daniel's trip into the fiery furnace. The old Babylonian furnace surely had not built up to the temperature of burning jet-fuel. Arab-language flying manuals in the trunk of a car,
inaudible videotapes and other conveniently recovered exhibits make of the Moscow trials of 1937 a shining example of justice uncorrupted. The Afghani prisoners of war have been kept away from prying eyes, in the limbo of Guantanamo Bay, lest they disclose the greatest secret of all: their innocence.'

Despite the fact that the collection was written during 2001-2002, Flowers of Galilee retains an absolute contemporary immediacy.

For example, he leaves us in little doubt what a victory for the 'Mammonites' of the USA would mean for the world :

'Their programme of globalisation would eliminate all beauty and specific quality of the world, kill the spirit, undermine art, wipe out spirit, destroy nature, undo social achievements, divide mankind into Masters and Slaves. Wherever they go, old cafès and restaurants disappear and Starbucks and McDonalds take over. Workers lose their working places, museums are filled with trash, art is replaced by TV. Still, they should be contained, not destroyed.'

Shamir seems to imply that an alliance of the outsiders of far left, far right and Muslims could defeat the forces of Mammon and the globalisers. But above all, he is convinced that the future of the world will be settled, one way or another, by the struggle for Palestine : 'The fall of the Holy Land would create a point of no return for mankind and signify Man's total enslavement by the forces of domination. Our victory will set the world free.'

11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This man loves the holy land, May 4, 2004

By 

P. BENNETT (Glendale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flowers of Galilee: The Collected Essays of Israel Shamir (Paperback)

With every word, every phrase, Israel Shamir displays his love
of the holy land. I've read lots of books on the Middle East,
but this is - by far - the most compelling. I really cannot
express how important this book is to me, so I'll include a
quote from Nick Pretzlick, which I agree with wholeheartedly:

"Israel Shamir is in love with the Holy Land. He has a
passion for the land and its people; he believes the
two are umbilically linked. For him there is only one
viable solution to the conflict that has ravaged the
region for so long and that is the one state solution.
Shamir is a humanist and although he is scathing about
Palestine's enemies - the Jewish elite - he takes
pride in and writes lovingly about the courageous
Jews, who resist Israeli crimes.

Flowers of Galilee is a collection of essays, so full
of affection - such an elegy of love - that, reading
it for the first time, I felt impelled to delay the
turning of pages, preferring instead to linger over

images - to savour the sentiments.

Shamir does not pull any punches. He challenges
conventional thinking, but he does so with honesty,
affection and such thorough understanding and
knowledge that his outspokenness is reasonable and
rational. Flowers of Galilee is an eye opener - a
learning experience. It is also enchanting."