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Inheriting the Holy Land: An American's Search for Hope in the Middle East

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Jennifer Miller grew up in a family where the politics of the Middle East consumed the dinner table conversation. AS a teenager, she became involved in Seeds of Peace, an organization dedicated to conflict resolution by bringing young Israelis and Palestinians together each summer for two weeks of often wrenching dialogue at a camp in Maine. This book is her tribute to Seeds the group, and to the seeds, the young people on both sides of the tragic struggle, whom she has come to know and love. She wants their voices, rarely if ever heard, to become a part of the discussion among the elderly men who time and again, have led their nations into battle and death.

A lunch scene with Yassir Arafat is worth the price of admission to Jen Miller's book alone. And I think that scene is emblematic of the difference in perspective of generations. Most cynical old-timers would have waved the episode away as "typical Arafat, what would you expect?" etc. We might never even mention the dissimulation and lies in our own narratives. But so much is still fresh and new to Jen, including her sense of outrage, which I hope won't abrade too much over the years. We need to be reminded again that leaders of all stripes try to literally feed us a line, and we simply accept this shabby reality as one of the axioms of modern politics. But Jen won't be pushed off her stride by the Palestinian brand of baloney, and is willing to call them as she sees them.

Frankly, it also takes someone of youthful age to use "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" as a metaphor for the Middle East conflict. Some people might consider it a blasphemous stretch, but my 21-year-old son got it right away. And, frankly, when a conflict has been going on this long, you do begin to look for the absurdist side of it.

When I was growing up, my family's involvement in Israel was limited to the purchase of a couple of Israel Bonds and the presence of a tin United Jewish Appeal pushke (collection box)on a table near the front door. I learned much of what I know about Israel in somewhat the same way Jen did, minus the globetrotting parents, by which I mean I was indoctrinated in Sunday school and Jewish youth organizations. As I grew older, I read less and less about the Middle East except in the daily papers and weekly newsmagazines - maybe a book every other year. So I found that even in the short compass of fewer than 250 pages, Jen has some interesting and useful things to say about topics I should know more about but haven't bothered to acquaint myself with further, the issue of Palestinian textbooks being a prime example. And the fact that she writes as one separated by only a few years, not decades, from the readers of those texts makes her contribution all the more worthwhile. That is true in terms of the specific topic, and true as well for the entire book.

Inheriting the Holy Land by Jennifer Miller is simply an amazing story and synthesis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on her experience with Camp Seeds of Peace, relationships with young people from a wide variety of viewpoints, and interviews with regional leaders young and old. It also illustrates how important a sense of identity is to people who must make peace. How does the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in an oil-less part of the Middle-east, and involving only a couple million people, attract so much attention and passion worldwide? Besides the ramifications of this conflict across the muslim world, I believe there is something more. If Israelis and Palestinians can resolve their problems and achieve peace, it would give such hope that larger societies in the world might also be able to resolve other conflicts across cultural and ethnic divides now and in the future. Miller's perspective and analysis is not available in the daily and brief newspaper reports on this conflict. Although I have read a few other books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I now feel much more educated and updated than before having read Miller's balanced, critical and brilliant book.

I've read a lot of books on the Arab-Israeli conflict and have even written one myself. It's fair to say that some set out to be biased (and are) while others try not to be biased (but still are). While there is no gold standard for objectivity on such an emotional and contentious issue, if there were, I'd have to say that Jennifer Miller's book comes pretty damn close. For that reason alone I recommend people from all levels of interest and background in the Middle East read this first-rate, well-written book.

Inheriting the Holy Land really does seek out the narratives, hopes, fears, and aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians--young and old--by allowing their unique voices to be heard. The author does intrude in the narrative, but then again, this is her story (and it is an interesting one at that) of her own journey from Washington, DC to Israel and Palestine.

And she tells that story with a rare clarity and honesty, which makes this book an accessible entry point for experts and non-experts alike. We learn much here about the educational systems for young Israelis and Palestinians and a great deal more about the Israeli Defense Forces and what it is like to be Palestinian living under Israeli occupation. Every time I began to think Miller's prose was edging toward unfairness or bias, I turned the page only to (surprisingly) find she had conveyed the other side's point of view on these issues with a remarkable objectivity rare in someone so young (no doubt the influence of her father, Aaron David Miller, who negotiated with the confidence of both Arabs and Israelis and served as an advisor to six secretaries of state until his 2003 retirement from the State Department).

Miller's journey makes for a great story, too, which she tells quite well: from her experiences interviewing Arafat in his headquarters (the lunch scene is priceless) to her interview with the family of a suicide bomber to her discussion with the former Israeli head of Shin Bet.

Finally, Miller leaves the reader and all Americans interested in self-introspection on this issue with plenty to learn and think about. Steering clear of politics and diplomacy, Inheriting the Holy Land is an American story of how optimism and pragmatism confront the sober realities of an existential conflict driven by religious ideology, the struggle over land, and the search for national identity. While I would have liked to have heard more about how domestic American politics and biased/one-sided American diplomacy have facilitated this human calamity, that is another story to be told, perhaps by her father.

For now, students of the conflict can finally hear Miller's story of the grassroots "next generation" of Israelis and Palestinians. It is they, after all, who will ultimately have to live with, deliver, and implement any peace agreement.

No matter what the reader's age or background, Miller is able to reach a wide audience with her balanced and incredibly wise outlook on this issue. She has commited so much of her life to understanding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that her knowledge base and understanding are way beyond her years. I have recommended this book to young adults and older individuals; some barely knew where the Gaza Strip was while others had a deep-seated interest in this issue. All of them, however, have found this book refreshingly insightful and captivating.

This is a very readable and fascinating personal account of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fantastic. I found it balanced, and it gave me real insight into the difficult human sides of what has been happening there. Well written and well researched, in lively prose which contribute to a real fresh perspective. We all need to think more about what we can do to improve the world, and peace around ourselves, rather than joining into choruses of facile criticisms. It is nice to see the younger generation, represented in this book, working toward such an admireable goal. Highly recommended.

Jennifer Miller's "Inheriting the Holy Land", is a wise and humane piece of literature addressing the needs and interests of the people in the Middle East. Her special attention to the young community that will lead our world to a better and peaceful place, is sensitive and rewarding. This is a book I will share with friends and family seeking a meaningful understanding of how peace can be accomplished between different cultures.

Inheriting the Holy Land is a novel that inspires one to really uncover what is commonly overlooked: the young people in the world today. Jennifer Miller, age 24, sheds light on the young adults trying to work their way towards reconciliation of long conceived judgments and hostilities, yet finding many obstacles along the way. Miller, a graduate of the International Seeds of Peace camp, traces her way back to other campers presently living in Israel, whether they be Israelis, Arabs, or even Israeli-Arabs. Regardless of their background, she acts as the mediator, trying to bring a hope for peace to the people that will be shaping the future conflicts and agreements. Overall, Miller provides a great deal of historical information to back up her story and gives us hope for a peaceful future for the Middle East and its people.

Jennifer Miller writes that Palestinian history goes back 400 years. Really? Can Ms. Miller give us the name of a Palestinian leader who lived in the 1800s or any other vestige of pre-1940s Palestinian identity or nationhood for that matter? She would be the first. Understandably the Palestinians have become a people in the last century and deserve a state of their own, but leave it to a Jew to give the Palestinians the historical legitimacy they do not rightfully own.
Ms. Miller begins the book by giving us "a word about Palestine." She mentions that Roman Emperor Hadrian "adopted" the term "Palestine." What a distorted way of saying that the Romans wanted to wipe out the memory of the Jews, who had fought for many centuries against their human-worshipping oppressors with such determined conviction, much as the Romans tried to wipe out the memory of ancient Carthage in centuries before. She mentions that Muslims have biblical rights to Israel. You mean the fact that Mohammedian armies conquered the territory in centuries past and later built a mosque on top the remains of the Jewish Temple? I guess that means that Muslims have biblical rights to Spain as well.
And here's a last point I'd like to make. In the 1950s and 60s, the French killed over a million Algerians in that country's war of independence and the Chinese usurped the proud Tibetans to the tune of an estimated million dead. We Americans carpet-bombed our way to a million Vietnamese civilian deaths during the Vietnam War. While far from perfect, if Israel handled its enemies the way others in the world do, we wouldn't have a conflict to talk of and the Miller's would be out of work.

The book was full of factual inaccuracies, as well as non-objective opinions that cannot be supported by fact. It began in the introduction, where Miller states that a certain movie that portrays Islam in a negative light "has more to do with Islam's view of women." In fact, if Miller were familiar with Islam, she would realize that sexism within Islamic societies has nothing to do with Islam's view of women, and everything to do with traditional male interpretation of a religion that is not in any way biased against women. Another blatant misfact is on pg. 167, where Miller states that because the Hamas charter states that '"The Koran is its constitution....Jihad is its path...'", then Hamas "will employ violent methods of Jihad...to create an Islamic state in all of historic Palestine." In fact, Hamas has publicly stated multiple times that it does not wish to create an Islamic state, but a state that allows the free worship of all religions - the Koran guides the path of Hamas members, but not that of all Palestinians, much the same way that the Bible may guide the US President's decisions, but not the decisions of all his constituents. Furthermore, the "greatest" jihad is translated as a struggle within one's self - it does not necessarily translate as the violence that Miller states as fact that Hamas will employ. In yet another example, on pg. 186, Miller states that a Gazan explaining an idea about Zionists paying off American congressmen is a conspiracy theory that is blatantly false; however, yet again, if she looked up the facts, a number of Zionist groups do in fact pay large sums of money to congressmen in order to ensure support of Israel. This theme of presenting an opinion without any factual support continues throughout the book.

The one redeeming quality about the book is that it does provide a fairly thorough image of the opinions of Israeli youth and the way they think.

Golly, it is frustrating to be poor. And it certainly degrades the quality of one's life. I sure wouldn't blame someone for wanting to be richer. And it is frustrating not to be at peace. That also degrades the quality of one's life. And I certainly applaud Jennifer Miller for wanting peace, and for being impatient about it. Nobody wants to live in a war-torn region.

Yes, Miller wants peace. That's good. But I feel she is not making any progress towards achieving it. She discusses some of the problems with the education of Arab schoolchildren, which I feel is a major reason why peace is so tough to attain right now. But she is simply too timid to fight back against these problems. For her to do so, she would have to risk breaking the ties she has made to various Arabs. It isn't easy to do that.

The author acknowledges the fact that there are quite a few anti-Zionist lies in print. But what ought to be done about them?

I'll tell you my answer to that one. No matter what is done, if the lies stay, there will not be peace. Arab leaders will have to stop engaging in such stuff, win or lose, if they want peace.

Peace is such a benefit that I feel it makes little sense to describe the prerequisite for it as painful concessions. It would not be a painful concession to stop hitting one's head against a wall. Nor would it be a painful concession for both sides to abide human rights for everyone. But I do think that prerequisites for peace include sincerity, truth, and justice. And I think that Miller simply can't figure out how to ask for such things, let alone get them.

Miller makes it appear that Israel is important, and that by changing its ways, it can make peace far more likely. I disagree. Israel is a small nation which has been depicted as very important by the international community. But it is still just Israel, a nation of a few million people and of about 10,000 square miles (the Arabs have 5,500,000 square miles). Israel can indeed change some of its behavior. But its behavior hasn't been the cause of the Arab war against it, so I very much doubt that anything Israel could do will bring about peace. I even doubt that dissolving Israel would bring about peace, given that the causes of the strife would still be there.

Of course, Israelis can be accused of being paranoid, and of being unfairly afraid that if they lose a war, the Arabs will slaughter them. But I think that this accusation is false. We saw Israelis agree to try Oslo, and Camp David. And even if the Israelis were afraid of what could happen to them were they overrun, that would in no way make it wrong for them to defend themselves against aggression and terror.

I think that there is always a reasonable argument for staying out of foreign wars, or getting out of foreign wars. Troops may be needed elsewhere, maybe at home! Such arguments have been applied to the American war in Viet Nam, and to the use of our troops in Iraq. But this argument can't be applied to Israel: the Israeli troops are fighting for their homeland. Miller implies that the Arabs are doing the same thing. But they aren't. They are the aggressors. No one is demanding to attack them. And until this basic asymmetry is addressed, there won't be progress towards peace.