Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation [Paperback]

Osie Gabriel Adelfang (Editor), Cindy Sheehan (Foreword), Amira Hass (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2010

In 1949, a young Jewish girl instinctively knows not to ask about the sudden darkness that's descended on a nearby Palestinian village. Why is Lifta no longer filled with the calls of stone-cutting men or the bustle of women in beautifully embroidered dresses? Sixty years later, she finally answers her own unspoken question. In 2009, and 85-year-old Holocaust survivor who once worked at the Nuremburg trials (and still has nightmares about the concentration camp photos she once filed) dreams of the day she can sail to Gaza and stand in solidarity with her brothers and sisters. Reading like a memoir, Shifting Sands combines 14 women's stories into a collage of unbearable loss, incredible strength, and a belief in the unwavering power of truth. The collection invites readers to enter into these women's journeys and join them in the quest for justice and a lasting peace. Contributing Authors: Anna Baltzer, Sandra Butler, Tomi Laine Clark, Linda Dittmar, Kim Goldberg, Susan Greene, Hedy Epstein, Maia Ettinger, Jen Marlowe, Hannah Mermelstein, Emma Rosenthal, Alice Rothchild, Starhawk

Editorial Reviews

Review

Throughout history, women's stories have played a key role in drawing attention to social injustices and human rights violations. Indeed it is stories that have shaped the Jewish-American experience and collective memory. Yet, amid stories of suffering and triumph, so many nations, races, borders and enemies have been defined, that it demands the grueling work of unlearning preconceived notions in order to uncover the other stories that parallel these. This anthology contains Jewish-American women's stories spanning generations, life experiences, and means of questioning the status quo and making room for more than one victim. Their bravery in speaking out against the injustices perpetuated by our own people (this time) is not the main story here--the legacy they will create is through their acts of witnessing the truth, swallowing its ramifications and exposing stories too often untold to Jews worldwide. If there is ever to be true, just peace and reconciliation in Israel/Palestine, it must start with embracing our traditions and stories enough to depart from them and teach new ones. --Emily W. Schaeffer, American-Israeli human rights lawyer and anti-occupation activist

Writing with personal modesty yet great humanity, these courageous women offer richly textured, revelatory accounts that will grip the reader's thoughts and feelings. All the selections are finely rendered, insightful, and endowed with a determined sense of justice and compassion. --Michael Parenti, author of Contrary Notions and God and His Demons

This is a moving collection of readings by Jewish women writers who are committed to the quest for justice and compassion in Palestine and Israel. They powerfully articulate, in their different ways, the axiom of our common humanity. It may have taken our whole life to reach that place (as one contributor put it), but those who are finally able to see, must stand up and advocate for sanity now, today. --Deb Reich, translator, Abu Ghosh, Israel/Palestine

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Whole World Press; First Edition edition (May 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984512810
• ISBN-13: 978-0984512812
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,191,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravely Speaking Truth, May 14, 2010

By 

Darlene Jonesowens "D. Jones-Owens" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation (Paperback)

There are millions of Americans like me. I urge you all to read Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation.

As a Christian born and raised in the United States, I was always told that Israel was a "land without a people for a people without a land". I was told that supporting Israel would bring blessings and not supporting Israel would bring curses. I readily believed the media's one-sided representation of the conflict through the lens of my Christian beliefs.

After 9/11 and all that has happened since, I wanted to discover the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My journey has been a very difficult and painful task and throughout I have yearned to know other people who feel as strongly as I do about the injustices done to the Palestinians. Through this book, I have now come to know sixteen women who bravely share the truth with the world. The women who contributed to this book are my heroes for they are willing to speak the truth that no one wants to hear. They will be shunned and verbally attacked for their truthful words, but they are willing to take this "punishment" and I hold each of them in highest regard.

Each essay conveys a strong voice for peace and justice for all humanity. Their words renew my hope that voices throughout the world will be encouraged to shed their timidity and demand a change in US support of Israel and recognition of human rights for Palestinians.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly touching, an amazing anthology, May 14, 2010

By 

Emman Chehade "Mikeybaby" (Chicago, Il.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation (Paperback)

"Throughout history" writes American Israeli activist Emily Schaeffer, "women's stories have played a key role in drawing attention to social injustices and human rights violations". This book, edited by Osie Gabriel Adelfang is just that: A collection of essays of 14 Jewish women who collectively say, 'Not in my name'. It is prefaced by Amira Hass, an Israeli journalist who routinely writes about the horrors of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank as well as the inherent inequalities in Israel amongst Jews and Palestinians. The forward is written by Cindy Sheehan, no stranger to pain herself.

Then there is Osie's essay in the book, reading it will provide the entire motivation behind this beautiful book. It was her cousin Haim who refused to serve in the Israel Defense Force, inspiring her to edit this book and to open her eyes to the true and harsh realities that exist in Israel and the occupation. Hedy Epstein is also a contributor. A Holocaust survivor who writes, "The Israeli government's arrogance, its chutzpah, and its violent practices stand in the way of accomplishing the peace Israelis say they want. It stands in the way of Palestinians having the same rights all human being s deserve. The Palestinians will not go away. They are a resilient, ever-hopeful people. They are my brothers and sisters".

Buy the book. Read it. Recommend it. It is a powerful combination of pain, loss, empathy, compassion and razor sharp reasoning on why Israel must, for the sake of Jews and Palestinians, cease its violent and racist policies, and enter into a meaningful and just peace based on equality and fairness for everyone.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jews and Israelis against Israel's occupation of Palestine, May 10, 2010

By 

Anis B. Salib "Anis Salib, Retired Professor" (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation (Paperback)

Honest and brave Jewish women express their outrage against Israel's treatment of the same Palestinians whom it dispossessed and expelled in 1948, then resumed the process of ethnic cleansing since it occupied their remaining lands and refugee camps in 1967 to this day. These graceful women, including the book's editor who was inspired by her cousin's moving letter to his commander declaring his refusal to be a soldier enforcing occupation, and along with thousands of other Jewish and Israeli human rights activists and hundreds of Israeli soldiers refusing to serve the occupation, are a living testimony that genuine humanitarian feelings go across the superficiality of ethnic and religious barriers.

Anis Salib, May 10, 2010