Customer Reviews

Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide

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"Prisoners" is an engrossing book on many levels. It is a personal story about the author's evolution from an idealistic adolescent into a realistic, principled man, while simultaneously serving as a lucid chronicle of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Historical references abound, written clearly so that the reader does not need extensive background in order to understand complex issues. The writing is wonderful, with vivid scenes, memorable characters, and quite a bit of humor. The book begins in 2001, and after a suspenseful end to Chapter I, flashes back to the first Gulf war when the author, serving in the Israeli army, guarded Palestinians in an Israeli prison camp. The narrative moves seamlessly through time and across continents, detailing the tenuous friendship between the author and one of his former prisoners. I had to keep reading, and found the ending hopeful and very moving.

All in all, it is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is Mr. Goldberg's first book, and I hope he writes many more.

Self-categorized on the book jacket as "Current Affairs," this book had me expecting an analysis of Israeli-Palestinian relations, the word "prisoners" in the title no more than a metaphor. In fact, a large part of the book takes place in an actual prison, and while it has much to say about Israeli-Palestinian relations, it is more correctly a memoir of an American Jewish journalist attempting to understand the nature of the conflict that has prevailed in that part of the Middle East since 1948. Finding the political in the personal, he tells of his own beginnings as a youthful Zionist living on Long Island and his years in Israel as his ideals are put to the test working on a kibbutz and then serving in the military police at a desert prison, where he first meets and attempts to befriend a Palestinian prisoner, Rafiq.

Later, working as a journalist based first in Jerusalem and then in Washington DC, the author travels often to Gaza and the West Bank to talk with Palestinians, many of them released prisoners, including his friend Rafiq. His conversations with Rafiq become a commentary on an accompanying account of the interlude of hope for resolution in the Oslo talks, the eventual collapse of the peace process, and the rise of suicide bombings. On both levels, it is a search for common ground that is as elusive as peace itself. The author clings to the hope that where friendship is possible between two men who cannot agree on anything else, coexistence is possible between Arabs and Jews.

This is a well written book that immerses the reader in the deeply bitter and violent conflict that has raged in this corner of the world for decades. The greater part of the book is peopled by Palestinians, each specifically drawn as they reveal themselves to the author, and representing a host of political points of view, from the reasonable to the extreme. Meanwhile, as the author's initial Leon Uris-fed idealism fades, the Israelis themselves are often portrayed as far less than admirable. Leavening the darkness inherent in his subject, the author often finds a kind of grim humor, frequently at his own expense, as he struggles to bring the light of reason to what becomes increasingly a litany of folly on all sides. Very much New Yorker style writing in its use of a personal perspective and its slow-moving, meandering structure, "Prisoners" makes for fascinating and rewarding reading. However, do not expect to be uplifted or reassured by its vision of a world mired in mutual distrust and hatred.

not only is this book deeply personal to the author but also to this reader.He put into the words that I never could the feeling that I have for Israel and the Jewish People.He explains Zionism for what it really is and means and not for what the pc crowd has twisted it to be.
Having also had dialogue with a muslim that I called friend for over more than 40 years I can attest to the great divide between us.it is hard for most people to understand that different cultures do not think alike regardless of what facts are presented.
other readers have found hope in this book which I am afraid I do not share.

This is a great book if you want to know why the Middle East is the way it is. Jeffrey Goldberg is a great writer. He's funny, but he also explains everything about both Arabs and Jews in a serious way. He knows so much about Israel, the Palestinians and the Bible, and he talks about all of that in this book. I also thought it was a great adventure story! Amazing how much he has seen and been through. A definite must-read.

You always read about how people read a book in one sitting but it never happens to you. Well it did with "Prisoners." I literally read it over a single day. It is such a compelling story that I couldn't put it down. It is not a subject that people often find easy, but Jeffrey Goldberg makes the Middle East so understandable, and so accessible, that this book is amazing.

Jeffrey Goldbergs' deep personal reflections about his experiences as a soldier in the IDF and his impossible friendship with one Palestinian prisoner he guarded provide lessons about religion, politics, redemption and one person's willingness to always believe in the possible. Despite their differences and the circumstances that brought them together, a friendship was forged that defied all expectations and reason. Goldberg shares his ambivalence, doubts and hopes with a poingiency and pathos the jumps off the page, grabs the reader by the shoulders and doesn't let go until the last page. For anyone who cares about the future of the Middle East, Prisoners is an unforgettable read.

Jeffrey Goldberg has written an absolutely facinating book. His unique perspective and the access that has been granted him to interview Muslim leaders, makes his book a "must read" for all those interested in Middle East tensions and problems.For the people, like myself, who are despairing of ever seeing peace in that region, Mr. Goldberg brings back hope that we can learn to understand and appreciate our differences and celebrate our similarities.

This is a must for anyone Jew, Muslim gentile (like me) who despairs at the Israeli/Palestinian problem to be confirmed in the view that there are people of good will on both sides where common humanity exists but unfortunately frustrated by those in power who believe that force is the only way forward

Brilliant...Prisoners is a stunningly personal, humorous and poignant memoir that is rare in its scope and reach. In the book, Goldberg deftly presents both his own breathtakingly honest and bittersweet life history as well as the story of his close friendship and kinship with Rafiq - a Palestinian prisoner he was once charged with guarding while in the Israeli army. This account of their conversation through the years explores the possibility of peace in an area of the world fraught with strife throughout the millennia.

Goldberg is a seasoned journalist who masterfully presents the extremely complex situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians in a way that facilitates understanding and renders it accessible to everyone - from novices of the region to experts in geo-politics. Of note, he is fair-minded and even handed in his approach describing the tense conflict between the two sides. Goldberg's deep knowledge of and experience in the Middle East coupled with his evocative writing style produces an exciting and immensely satisfying read. Overall, Prisoners is at times hilarious and others heart-wrenching but ultimately it is a story of hope measured with an experienced and realistic perspective.

I read it in 2 nights. It is truly brilliantly perceptive and indescribably sad - he, like so many, see no solution, not really, despite his theme of coexistence. By now there's so much hatred on both sides, so much misunderstanding, so much blood shed unnecessarily, that any happy end is virtually impossible.
Ruth Weiss, Author, Germany