Customer Reviews

LETTERS FROM TEL MOND PRISON: An Israeli Settler Defends His Act of Terror

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I note that some other reviewers have tended to ignore the content of Rapaport's book for the barbed cliches they read in newspaper articles about the incident. In choosing to dismiss him as a fanatic, they avoid the necessity of dealing with the very complex and subtle issues this book raises, and they also attempt to convince the reader that he has no commonality with Rapaport and therefore nothing to gain. The reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. Rapaport represents the typical civilized Western man: he marched for civil rights with blacks in the 60's, earned a living as a social worker, fervently believed in negotiation and cooperation as the key to problem-solving.

And the reality that he quickly learned was that Western culture could not, still cannot, come to grips with the culture of the Middle East. Rapaport learns, through conversations with Arab friends and neighbors, that in the Arab world, negotiation is a sign of weakness: only the power of the hand brings respect.

That is the first aspect of Rapaport's story: the tale of an individual committed to Western ideaology who finds that all attempts to hold fast to that culture leave him naive and defenseless in his new environment. The book follows Rapaport as he first argues with his neighbors and colleagues against the use of any violence whatsoever, painfully learns the futility of negotiations and polite requests, learns - with disbelief and dissappointment - that retaliation brings periods of quiet, and finally, resorts to the only methods which he can be sure will protect the family for whom he so poignantly expresses his love page after page.

The second story in these pages is the story of the Arab-Israeli conflict; not painted in broad strokes and generalizations, not conveyed in communiques and press releases about the desires of the Arab people or the will of all Israelis, not in bold, macrocosmic words like occupation and nationalism, but told in the simple desires and thoughts of an Israeli fa! mily man, of the Arab farmer who is his neighbor. It depicts a reality that is less about seething hatred or religious fundamentalism than it is about deep personal attachments to this valley or that stream, emotional bonds with grandparents, Arabs and Jews, who tilled rocky soil, sowing heritage and history along with the grain.

There is also a sub-text, and the sub-text carries perhaps the most important message of all. We find, before and even after his act of violence, that Era has warm, open relationships with many of his Arab neighbors. They are guests in his house, he attends their family affairs. And one suddenly understands that Arabs and Jews can, indeed have, lived together in tranquility, not only co-existing but cooperating and sharing in the rewards of the ongoing development of the land and its infrastructure.

If you want to understand the realities of one of the Middle East's many conflicts with a level of insight you will never cull from the pages of the New York Times or 30-minute special reports on CNN, this book is an absolute must-read.

Mr. Rapaport's book is one of the few honest accounts of life in Israel today. Unlike reporters who have very little understanding of the complexities of life in Israel, Mr. Rapaport lives in the heart of Israel, and has a great understanding of the problems his country encounters daily. You can't go wrong reading this book.

this book is intriging. it makes you wonder about the other side of the media. letters from tel mond prison is a book written by a man who lives his life with such pupose, meaning and honesty you wonder some times who you feel bad for - the "terrorist" or the "victim"

The four published reviews of this book are rather biased and show that the reviewers did not internalize what the author wrote. They stand in stark contrast to the 7 personal reviews. I couldn't put this book down. In a very personal way the author and his real experiences embody the reality of the co-existence, or lack thereof, in judea and samaria today. Stangely enough, shortly after a friend insisted I read this book I have shared tea with Era in his home and with his neighbors in Turmis Aya that he descibes in the book and to independently hear them tell the same stories he tells in the book.

This book should be required reading for anyone that wants to offer an opinion about the future of Samaria.

Era Rapaport effectively communicates the highs and lowes of being a settler in the land of Israel today. He is a modern day Zionist who gave up a life of comfort to face ridicule, persecution and imprisonment to stay true to his faith in the resettlement of Eretz Israel. I highly recommend this book to all who love Zion and believe in the restoration of Israel.

This book takes what has become a controvertial impersonal topic and turns it into a tale of the human spirit. Era was an the average American. He had the normal life, but he choose to follow the path G-d choose for him. His acts of desperation would be called terrorism by the media, but it is only after reading this book that one understands he was an everday guy defending his family. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a true first hand perspective of life in the West Bank.

This compelling portrait of an idealistic movement helps us to
understand the mind-set of the settlers in Judea & Shomron.
As Americans we are not subjected to the terror and fear that
the Jews of Israel face every moment of every day. This fear
takes on new meaning when it involves the very survival of
yourself, your family and friends. A great read and highly
recommended for anyone interested in what makes men's minds
tick under adverse conditions.

This compelling real-life story takes the reader through the extreme circumstances that turned a social working humanist to the bombing of an Arab mayor in Israel. I know the author personally, and he and his story are extremely powerful, tragic, and touching.