Customer Reviews

My War Diary: Lebanon, June 5-July 1, 1982

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

 

 

Dov Yermiya's account of his time in Lebanon during Israel's invasion is an important perspective. This account and any other first hand accounts need to be read to give people interested in the history of this conflict a richer perspective that is not so abstract or clinical as most histories tend to be. Instead this book gives readers a birds eye view of what war really is for the soldier, civilian and for the occupied. War is a ghastly business that takes its toll on the combatants, but all too often tends to disproportionately affect the innocent. This is the nature of war, and this is evidenced by Yermiya's account here.

The problem with any work of this nature is the tendency for the author to possibly embellish his own part in the story to shine a more positive light on themselves. It is impossible for readers to know for sure just how truly accurate the description here is. All any reader can do is read as many other histories and different accounts they can find to compare with this one so they can get a better idea of how true the account sounds. For me, some of the story seemed to paint the author as too good to be true, and seem to ring of someone who has decided to embellish somewhat. I have no way to know for sure, but that was my general impression.

The reason why the book still gets a good rating and my recommendation is because on the whole the account seems consistent with what I know about conflicts such as this one. This consistency leads me to believe that the overall story is accurate with some distortions, possibly, on the personal level. Also the rarity of good first hand accounts from soldiers within the zone of conflict means that almost any account is going to add some important perspective for the reader. So to close, this is an important book that should be read if you are interested in this conflict or area.

Dov Yermiya's observations of the 1982 Israeli war with Lebanon are saddening. It is not just the descriptions of hardship, brutality and injustice wreaked upon a civilian population that saddens, but the actions of high ranking Israeli military commanders and senior level Israeli government leaders who perpetrate these hardships while assuring their own citizens that everything possible is being done to alleviate the plight of innocent civilians.

If this was only an Israeli phenomenon it could possibly be dismissed as shocking, but not of great moment in the world at large. But, can we as Americans continue to overlook what the world says of our own military actions and government leaders. Why is this book not reviewed in the press? Why is it not available in libraries? Are the parallels between Israel and the United States uncomfortably close? They certainly are for me.

I strongly recommend the purchase and reading of this book by all American citizens.

The book is not a mover in any sense, the author makes it painstakingly clear that he was not responsible for the IDF's mistakes. The reader is left with either pronouncing him an unrecognized hero or a coward who would not go through with his pasifistic inclinations. Which ever the case it still lives as aliving document of a person who refused to march to the drum beat that was offered at the time. for those who have been to Israel you are aware of the bravado that is placed on their soldiers and this man was in the autumn of life and had seen enough tradgedy from the second world war to fill a life time. Don't go into it expecting to much and you won't be disappointed.