Customer Reviews

The Time of the Burning Sun: Six Days of War, Twelve Weeks of Hope

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

 

 

I remember the excitement and optimism as a young Israeli teenager in the summer of 1967. Venturing across the "green line" to meet with people my age in Eastern Jerusalem and Ramalla. I was filled with awe at the prospect of peace and coexistence.
Jews and Arabs got together like long-lost cousins, rejoicing in the rapid end to the war, learning to understand and accept each other, seeking channels for cooperation in education, health, commerce, democratization.
This book takes me back to those optimistic euphoric days and sheds some light on the reasons why we are now at such a dead-end...

Re-reading the book after many years brings up poignant reveries of what could have been if it had only succeeded. The heady optimism, the potential for a true peace, for harmony. Michael Bernet captures the human story of arab and jew, soldier and civilian during the brief days of war.

The Six Day War of 1967 was perhaps the last war of the old era, before media technology developments facilitated bringing the gory truth into our living rooms and rendered all operations seemingly transparent. Michael Bernet, with this excellent book, sheds light on what really happened to the people involved. He does this like a good documentary director, with parallel editing and surprise twists in the 'plot' of fascinating real life stories, and with his own refreshing insights.
I am eagerly waiting for Michael Bernet's new book on the psychology of the Middle East.

Most of us are too young to recall Israel's stunning Six Day War of 1967 against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Most of those who were then old enough, seem to have forgotten the details of that earthshaking event, and have been taken in by decades of Arab lies and deceit. Michael Bernet was there and recorded the events from the points of view of both Israelis and Arabs, warriors, politicians, soldiers and civilians. It was not a war of aggression by Israel but an unexpected unnecessary war that was forced on her. It was also not a war of conquest: the Israelis were hoping to speedily give back all the territory they had captured in return for a genuine peace.

What is even more surprising, at the end of the war Arab and Jew treated each other as long-lost brothers. There was genuine hope and excitement on both sides, an expectation of peaceful, productive and synergetic coexistence. That hope was dashed twelve weeks later when the Arab states met in conference and vowed never to negotiate with Israel, never to recognize the Jewish state, never to permit peace. Now, forty years later, the Islamist warmongers have won out, as we see tragically from Iraq to Afghanistan, Spain and Bali, and New York and the Pentagon.

Bernet is a brilliant writer. His book is gripping, the personal details he recounts bring the participants to life with all their fears, their courage, their hopes and the flow of their emotions.

A must reading for anyone interested in the shape and future of today's world.