Next Year In Jerusalem: Everyday Life In A Divided Land [Hardcover]

Daphna Golan-Agnon (Author), Janine Woolfson (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2005

From a pioneering Israeli human rights activist, a stirring memoir on life in the troubled region.

Though brought up in a right-wing Israeli household as the daughter of a former member of the Stern Gang, Daphna Golan-Agnon has become one of Israel's most outspoken activists for the rights of Palestinians. In this moving memoir, she writes of the struggle of everyday life in a state edging ever closer to apartheid.

Through anecdotes, interviews, and letters, Next Year in Jerusalem provides an insider's view of the milestones of the Israeli peace movement, drawing on Golan-Agnon's experience as co-founder of the human rights organization B'Tselem and the feminist peace group Bat Shalom. From the efforts to draw attention to the Ansar III desert prison, where Palestinian political prisoners once languished without trial, to the 1999 Israeli High Court victory abolishing torture, to the many misunderstandings that arise even among like-minded Palestinian and Israeli activists, Golan-Agnon candidly portrays the challenges of being part of a growing movement of Israelis who refuse to participate in the persecution of Palestinians. Confronting the Palestinian-Israeli dilemma in all its complexity, Next Year in Jerusalem gives readers a unique, personal view of the joint struggle for peace.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At once a memoir and a plea for a better understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian dilemma, this poignant offering from Golan-Agnon, instructor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and co-founder of the human rights organizations B'Tselem and Bat Shalom, decries human rights violations perpetrated against Palestinians. "The most frightening similarity" between the apartheid in South Africa and the Israelis' persecution of Palestinians, she writes, is "the precise and consistent use of the legal system to normalize the abnormal state of discrimination." The author describes how many of her Palestinian friends and interview subjects have faced the demolition of their homes by Israeli authorities, the reduction of funding for their children's schools and abrupt, unexplained deportations that separate husbands and wives. Regardless of whether Palestinians or Israelis have the right to claim Jerusalem as their own, Golan-Agnon asserts that it is unacceptable that, "in the realpolitik of the Middle East, the validity of international laws and resolutions" meant to ensure human rights "seems not to apply to Palestinians." Golan-Agnon relates the tragic stories of several Palestinians and candidly shares her own heartbreak in having to raise her two children in a land ruled by fear, violence and discrimination. In so doing, she delivers her humanitarian message in a deeply moving, meaningful way.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A manifesto that should be read out every morning in every classroom, at every cabinet meeting. -- Gal Karniel, Ha' aretz

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565849302
• ISBN-13: 978-1565849303
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,273,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An insider view of an ongoing drama, July 9, 2005

By 

Haver - See all my reviews

This review is from: Next Year In Jerusalem: Everyday Life In A Divided Land (Hardcover)

This is a personal account of a tragic reality of the people in the Middle East. One can argue with the political axioms underlying the author's approach, but the first hand account of the events on the public as well as the private spheres is a must to anyone who wants to educate themselves on the issue.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heartfelt Plea for Israel's Future, August 15, 2005

By 

Jamie (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Next Year In Jerusalem: Everyday Life In A Divided Land (Hardcover)

Reviewers who dismiss with one star every book and article remotely critical of Israeli policies are too blinded by their own prejudices to understand this complex and beautiful book by a proud and patriotic Israeli who is nevertheless troubled by her own country's actions. Daphna Golan-Agnon, the daughter of a Lehi fighter and the wife of Israeli Nobelist S.Y. Agnon's grandson, stands squarely in a great tradition of critical Zionists, whose love for Israel is matched by high expectations for its conduct. As a founder of B'Tselem, the highly acclaimed Israeli human rights organization, Golan-Agnon has devoted her life to ensuring that Israel uphold standards of international law.

Criticism of Israeli actions in the occupied territories, which is a commonplace in Israel's own lively public discourse, has been sharply stigmatized in the United States--Golan-Agnon's touching and personal account is a necessary corrective to the broken American discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Those Americans who preach about Israeli politics would be well-served to listen carefully to the heartfelt concerns of Israelis themselves.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Next year in Jerusalem, June 26, 2005

By 

Ben - See all my reviews

This review is from: Next Year In Jerusalem: Everyday Life In A Divided Land (Hardcover)

A terrific book full of insights and humor. I LOVED IT. Couldn't put the book down.