Customer Reviews

The Yellow Wind: With a New Afterword by the Author

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An excellent read, and certainly the least biased book on the subject I've ever read. I was introduced to this book while reading a passage in THE OTHER ISRAEL written by Assaf Oron, a Sergeant Major in the Israeli Defense Force Reserves. Assaf is one of the reservists who has refused to serve in the occupied territories after years of serving there.

In THE OTHER ISRAEL, Assaf wrote, "A copy of THE YELLOW WIND..., which had just come out, crossed my path. I read it, and suddenly it hit me. I finally understood what I had done over there [in the occupied territories]. What I had BEEN over there."

This powerful passage taken in context moved me to buy and read the book that moved a soldier to completely change his outlook on the conflict, and I am so fortunate I did.

Grossman's book is written from a uniquely humanist point of view in regard to what life is like for both Palestinians and Israeli citizens since 1967.

He spent 7 weeks in the occupied territories, both in the camps and in the settlements to make a genuine attempt to see the immediate world around him through the Palestinian and Gush Emunim settlers' eyes.

This book does not bog down with the intricacies and interpretations of various peace agreements, nor does it bother to delve into the well-known positions held by political leaders on both sides as so many other books on the subject do. Rather, Grossman focusses entirely on those who are most affected by the situation in the region: the people.

The book was written originally in 1988, and has an afterward by the author written in April 2002. As Grossman says in his afterward, "Nothing has changed." This book is as fresh and revealing today as it was 15 years ago. I really gained a lot by reading this book. You will too.

This is a good book providing good insight into the human dimension of the conflict. Well worth reading. I found two chapters particularly striking. First one is about a Palestinian village divided in two after a Jordanian and Israeli border agreement, and how members of the same family could grow differing identities (and even come to be not so fond of each other) due to such cruel separation for years. Second one is about a terrorist's father. Grossman gives this poor man's account as he told him, without adding his own commentary. Briefly, the son, who was grown up and living in another town away from the father's home, got involved in a terrorist act that took innocent Israeli lives. The father was subsequently picked up from work by the Israeli authorities, and pressured to disclose whereabouts of his son, which he maintained he didn't know (of the son's whereabouts and his alleged terrorist act). Torture and all sorts of humiliation were used, including threats of rape of his wife and daughters. His house was bulldozed to ground on fifteen minute's notice. He lost his work permit, and reduced to wander as a beggar from one village to another, avoiding his own out of shame. He and his family ended up living in one bedroom at a neighbor's house, without kitchen or bathroom. The son was found and killed eventually without the help of any of this effort on the father. After telling this story, Grossman says something like (paraphrasing), "of course, one's heart doesn't go out to this man's suffering and pain" vis-a-vis, I guess, the pain suffered by the Israeli victims of the son's act. And he continues (still paraphrasing), "but I guess, it is such instances where we have to be more rational and measured." Well, maybe this was all my misreading Grossman, but why wouldn't one's heart go out to this man? Mine did. And I thought modern states and tribes would have to differ a bit in such law enforcement and crime investigation matters. What is new about this? Maybe this (i.e., Grossman's slip, as I see it) too is an indication of how tough and convoluted the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has become. Actually, throughout the book, Grossman seems to respect and listen more to those Palestinians who manage to maintain their honor and dignity no matter what, and who therefore arouse curiosity and would impress anyone. Those who are truly wretched seem to barely touch him, if they do at all. I guess such condition of theirs is their own fault, or their parents' or sons' and daughters'. In any event, the book is free from preaching; it's not like the author's value judgments will get in the way of your reading. By all accounts, Grossman did a commendable job, and my little critique is, well, mine only.

David Grossman manages to do the seemingly impossible as he humanizes the conflict between the Jews and Arabs in Israel. An outstanding picture is drawn that shows the humanity of the conflict, both the ugly and beauty involved without any bias. A brief historical perspective is included to help further illustrate the ongoing problem. Grossman interviews and paraphrases his discussions along the way of his journey, seeking the truth without politicians interference from either side. The stories are for the most part heartbreaking, as Grossman explores and tells his revealed stories of the never ending conflict. Although written "early" on in the conflict, the issues and people are the same. Palestinians dispossesed, turned to bitter anger, further escalated by a Jewish authority that tries to mantain some order between the now, old adversaries. The book is insightful and unfortunatly prophetic of the current situation that now calls for a murder by one side in retaliation for another murder. The cycle is unending, the faces on the news all to real and Grossman revealed the faces long ago. He traveled throughout the country to gather the stories of those most affected by war. He talks to old and young alike as they complain and show their disdain, their fears and their little hope for a workable solution. The books raises many questions, often going deeper than the conflict itself, obviously there are no easy solutions.The cruely inflicted upon each group is part of the problem but the roots of the conflict date back to the partioning of the land and the changing landscape of the geography and it's inhabitants. This book is a very worthwhile read that is a fast page turner. Highly recommended for those interested in the conflict of the Middle East that seems to be the fuse of the powder keg.

David Grossman's "Yellow Wind" is superb with a richness and texture to his writing that is honesta nd sincere. Grossman was highly criticized for providing the Palestinian story but when one reads this text, it is all sides that he lies within and one can hear the injustices of both the Israeli and the Palestinian.
I think this text is wonderful and easy to read!

This book is more important today than when it was orginally written, in 1988. It contains a new afterward by the author. The author, a journalist, gives his impressions, and relates various converstaions, as he travels all over the West Bank, and through parts of both Israel and Palestine.

He presents views from both sides of the issue very well. The book is not about politics, or various peace agreements. It is about individual people's feelings. I have read many books on this topic, and this is one of the BEST. I feel that I understand MUCH better why all the peace agreements come to nothing. To sum it up in a nutshell, the extremists on both sides will EACH never accept less than ALL of the land-that is why nothing works.

Israeli novelist David Grossman spent time on the West Bank talking to Palestinians and Jews about how their lives have been affected by a constant state of hostility and frustration. He doesn't waste much ink on the complex political forces at work; instead, he gives the issues a human face. He visits refugee camps, radical Zionist settlements, universities and kindergartens; he describes the humiliating searches at the Allenby Bridge (and how necessary they are); he interviews a Jewish lawyer who defends Palestinians caught in a Kafkaesque legal system. He finds people on both sides who want to listen to each other but never seem to connect, despite their best efforts. He asks the question, Can an occupying army also be moral, or does the act of occupation contradict morality?

This book offers no easy solutions to the problems in that part of the world. In fact, although the book was written more than a decade ago, the situation has only gotten worse. But these essays remind us that there is always more than one side to a story, and that not every story has a happy ending.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Arab/Israeli relations; Grossman fleshes out the raw statistics we hear on the nightly news. I hope he eventually writes a follow-up that is more optimistic.

David Grossman is one of the three top Israeli novelists. Each tries to resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict and bring peace. The other two are Amos Oz and A. B. Yehoshua. Grossman wrote his book to show the agony suffered by both sides. The volume is vivid and disturbing. It made Grossman one of the leaders of Israel's left. It caused many Israelis to hate him, hatred that continues today. He still receives threats from fellow Jews. Readers may want to read the excellent analysis of Grossman and his writings in George Packer's article "The Unconsoled," in the September 27, 2010 edition of The New Yorker.

Grossman visited the west bank and listened to men and women, Jewish and Arab, students and teachers, old and young, and reported the bitterness of Israelis and Arabs. He tells how Arabs live, their aspiration, frustrations, bitterness, and rage. He reveals how Arab students are stopped repeatedly from attending school by Israeli soldiers. He reports how Israeli judges judge Arabs and how they are afraid to release Arabs who are obviously innocent lest they appear overly lenient to the Arab people and encourage more violence. He writes of incidences where Israeli soldiers mistreated Arabs, physically and psychologically. He gives examples of how the Israeli presence in the west bank is breeding contempt and hatred.

He recalls the statement of Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz immediately after the 1967 war. Leibowitz said that it is impossible to be occupiers and remain moral. Grossman emphasizes that "today the real enemy is not the Palestinian or the Israeli but the extremist and the fanatic on either side." Yet, these extremists have infected Israelis and Arabs, like a spreading black plague that is savaging the morality and the future of both people.

Grossman describes his meetings with Arabs at a refugee camp on the west bank, the frustrations of the women, and how the men are afraid to talk, afraid of Israelis, spies, and fellow Arabs. The women speak of returning to parts of Israel where their grandparents once lived, land they never saw. Grossman is struck by how the Arabs remind him by their looks, words, aspirations, and actions of Jews that he knows, as well as Jews in ancient and near ancient history.

He cites a scientific study of the dreams of Israeli and Arab children. Seventeen percent of the dreams of the Jewish children had meetings with Arabs; thirty percent of the Arab children dreamed of encounters with Jews. The Jewish children saw the Arabs in their dreams as criminals. The Arab children dreamed of conflicts and battles with the Israelis. "(A)mong some thousand dreams of Jewish and Arab children, there is not one which indicates a longing for peace."

He reports on his visit to a Jewish settlement on the west bank. All of the inhabitants are militants. Some tried to plant bombs and kill Arab leaders, mayors and other politicians. He met with some fifty inhabitants in a room and asked them over and over again, very politely, can you tell me how you think the Arabs feel about you settling in the west bank? They could not answer his question. They refused to consider the feelings of the Arabs. They wanted to discuss their rights. Even a so-called moderate and well-respected rabbi had strong anti-Arab views. Grossman encountered other rabbis in other settlements with similar strong destructive anti-Arab feelings. He tells of psychological studies of the adverse affects of these settlers' attitudes upon them. They want to be pious. They see themselves as following the dictates of Torah. But they are destroying themselves and chances for peace. They are demolishing the goal of Torah. They have set a cancer within their souls.

He tells what an old Arab said about a yellow wind "that will soon come, maybe in his lifetime: the wind will come from the gate of Hell." It will set "the world afire, and people will seek shelter from its heat in the caves and caverns, but even there those it seeks, those who have performed cruel and unjust deeds, there, in the cracks in the boulders, it exterminates them, one by one. After that day, Abu Harb says, the land will be covered with bodies."

...that is what the recently departed Robert McNamara said that the leadership of the United States needed to have for their Vietnamese adversaries. McNamara was wrong about so much, thus achieving this bit of wisdom late in life is a small act of atonement to the many on both sides who were not able to live to his ripe old age. David Grossman is an Israeli, a "Sabra," one who was born in Israel, and he has been blessed with empathy, much insight, and a wide-ranging inquiring mind that he brings to bear on one of the most intractable problems facing humankind, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I just finished re-reading Grossman's classic work. One reviewer said that it is "dated," and that it might be, since it was written more than 20 years ago, yet sadly it is even more relevant today, since the conditions are even worse. No political solution has been achieved, and the tit for tat violence continues unabated, reflecting a further hardening of the hearts.

The book is composed of 18 vignettes. Most take place on the West Bank, and most involve his discussions with Palestinians, though perhaps his strongest one involves a meeting with the "settlers" of Gush Emunium. But I did not find a single one weak or irrelevant. In his first story he is in the Deheisha refugee camp in the West Bank, and each of the people he interviews tells him that they are from a village within the "Green Line," of Israel proper, and they describe their homes there, now long demolished. In terms of "consciousness raising," he quotes one of the residents: "Before I went to jail, I didn't even know I was a Palestinian." And jail is the most likely "career path" for Palestinian males. In the same camp, in a different story, he goes to a school, and how the teachers have to be ever so cautious about what is taught. In a third he addresses what Jewish and Palestinian children dream; not one indicated a longing for peace. In this section he quotes from South African (now, Nobel Prize winning) author J. M. Coetzee on similar difficult circumstances in that country: "In South Africa there is now too much truth for the art to hold."

In other stories he examines the village of Barta'a, which was split when the border line between Israel and Jordan was drawn, and serves as a microcosm for the differences between Arabs who live in Israel, and those who live on the West Bank. In another story he visits Bethlehem University. "Catch -44" is a story about a Palestinian boy who was innocent of any crime, but had to be convicted of something; otherwise the occupying power would have to admit it was wrong, and look "weak." Shades of American reason regarding Gitmo. Another story involves Gidi, an Israeli intelligence officer, who controls a Palestinian village through the issue of political favors and permits, and is proud that: "My Arabs are quiet," but has profound angst about his actual work. Grossman takes a harsh look at the Arabs who benefit from the occupation by collaboration in the story "The Wastonaires," and in another, tells the heart-breaking story of the demolition of a family's house, under the policy of collective reprisals, in "The Terrorist's Father."

Perhaps his strongest story, where Grossman's anger will burn white hot, is "Don't pity them too much." He goes to the settlement at Ofra, and is hosted by Gush Emunim, who know that "he will have the last word, and write against them." Grossman says "Their houses are almost bookless, with the exception of religious texts, and, in general, they have little use for culture." And in the various discussions on the settlers in the American media, you do not find a forthright statement as Grossman gives: "And it gapes when Yoel Ben-Nun tells me that, in his eyes, we are not yet in Greater Israel--because the Jordan River is not the border for Greater Israel, but flows down its center." (!) (Explanation point added). The author follows with his Cri de Coeur: "Who are these people who claim that they are acting in my name, and in the name of my future (and who actually influence it decisively against my will), who are able to harden their hearts so much against others and against themselves... What do I have to do with them?" Yes, indeed.

Twenty years on, and the settler's have "their man" as Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and he continues to let the settlements metastases, further reducing the hopes of a political solution.

As Grossman says on several occasions in the book - where do we go from here? More so than ever, his book deserves 5 plus stars.

The Yellow Wind is nonfiction. The title refers to what is described in the book as the wind that comes out of Hell to consume everything in its path. It fits the message of the text. The way the yellow wind from Hell consumes everything in its path, is just like the way the cycle of violence and revenge in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

The introduction runs through some things that have happened after the book was written. Then it goes on to talk about Grossman's meetings with a group of Israel and Palestinian writers.

The book's cover has a picture of a man with angry look on his face with one of his fists raised slightly, as if to strike out at the object of his focus. The fist is set apart from the rest of the picture by black lines. I think it's symbolic of the cultures' focus on their hatred for enemies, that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has turned the people to thoughts of revenge.

The book doesn't really have proper characters. It has characters, but none other than the author really come up more than once. The characters affect the story by living out the cycle of revenge and hate because the reader is meant to see the need to bring it to an end. I think a lot of the characters are easy to empathize with because no one is indifferent to being oppressed and injustice generally offends the moral sensibilities of readers.

Fear, hatred, and the power struggle between the Israelis and Palestinians are big themes in the book. I'd say they help drive home the point I think the book is trying to make. They are very effective. His style is a little odd. At first the events seem a little muddled and disjointed. That might have been because I wasn't used to his style. I think very accessible. Those with strong religious opinions about the things in the book might not find it so, but I think it works for almost anyone who would decide to read the book.

A quote that I think does a good job of capturing the thought of the book, "And the children listen, and are meant, it seems, to patch together some sort of philosophy and system of moral values in which one attempted murder is acceptable and another is not." I think this quote shows that things need to change because the way they are is unacceptable.
The book is set in Israel during 1980's. The author travels around and talks to people about their lives. I think the text reaches the reader easily but that's intended because the real purpose lies in the answer that it seeks.

A minor theme he did a good job was the theme of homeland. He brings it up and shows us that both people groups have very similar values because there are different stories with the different people groups that revolve around a loss of their h

Grossman's message in The Yellow Wind is simple, and has been declaimed in other situations, at other times: occupation of one people by another degrades the moral and political life of both occupied and occupier. In The Yellow Wind Grossman allows both Arabs and Jews to speak their own opinions about the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in their own words, although there is a significant authorial intrusion at various times. Grossman's analysis is penetrating, deep and involved. His command of the political situation of the first 20 years of Israeli occupation of the Territories is multifaceted, his perspective humane and intense, and as his forward and afterward show, the essential themes of the book are still relevant, twenty years after its publication. In the end, it is the common people, both Jews and Arabs, who lose from 100 years of conflict. The cycle of violence and fear without end becomes a kind of tragic nexus for Israelis and Palestinians which no one is capable of resolving, which only worsens with time, every attempt at a solution only highlighting the complexity of the conflict. Everyone in the region, Grossman explains, is touched by this conflict. David Grossman's son was killed in the 2006 Lebanon war. Knowing this, and then reading this book, adds to the pathos and veracity of his claims.