The reader experiences all the natural beauty of the holy land, the purity of its rightful inhabitants, and the many textures of history wound into its surroundings. The other reviewers are right that the prose is excellent, and the reader feels as though he is right there with Shamir, walking among Galilee's flowers.
But a sinister force interrupts these otherwise placid, comforting scenes. A mechanical, artificial menace uproots the land's natural beauty, displaces its people, and creates havoc for all. But weary warriors wage on, and our tranquil walk sometimes becomes a noble march, with Shamir as our regiment leader on the side of justice.
I would recommend this book for all those who are curious about a forgotten beauty and a forgotten people.
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Galilee Flowers, or Flowers of Galilee Paperback – September 20, 2005
by
Israel Shamir
(Author)
| Israel Shamir (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Price | New from | Used from |
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This controversial bestseller about an Israeli's love to Palestine and Palestinians, composed during the hard days of Palestinian rising, the Intifada. The war in the Holy Land is presented as the centre-stage of the world-wide struggle of ideas. Israel Shamir went as far as one could in order to understand the enemy of his tribe, and to join him.
- Print length432 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateSeptember 20, 2005
- Dimensions5.25 x 0.98 x 8 inches
- ISBN-101419613510
- ISBN-13978-1419613517
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Product details
- Publisher : BookSurge Publishing (September 20, 2005)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1419613510
- ISBN-13 : 978-1419613517
- Item Weight : 15.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.98 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,687,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #575 in General Israel Travel Guides
- #125,600 in World History (Books)
- #231,274 in Social Sciences (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
8 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2015
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Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2006
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It's books like this that remind you some things definitely need to be put into book form to be properly appreciated. I remember reading it sitting outside of a Starbucks several nights in a row and having revelation after revelation alter my perception of the world - and for the better, I knew as one who experiences an epiphany.
The beautiful essays in this book show the heart of someone who truly loves Palestine and its people and makes the reader share that love. I'm ashamed to think of how I used to fall for the portrayal, by "the masters of discourse," of the Palestinians. Shamir, through this book, most certainly helped wise me up.
Shamir has been accused of being anti-Semitic, but actually this formerly Jewish convert to Orthodox Christianity is not against any innocent people, be they Jewish or non-Jewish. He is against the ideology of Judaic Supremacism, and God bless him for that.
Reading this book is so rewarding that I can't even come up with words to explain how I feel about it. Divinely inspired, for the most part, I scarcely think are words of hyperbole.
The beautiful essays in this book show the heart of someone who truly loves Palestine and its people and makes the reader share that love. I'm ashamed to think of how I used to fall for the portrayal, by "the masters of discourse," of the Palestinians. Shamir, through this book, most certainly helped wise me up.
Shamir has been accused of being anti-Semitic, but actually this formerly Jewish convert to Orthodox Christianity is not against any innocent people, be they Jewish or non-Jewish. He is against the ideology of Judaic Supremacism, and God bless him for that.
Reading this book is so rewarding that I can't even come up with words to explain how I feel about it. Divinely inspired, for the most part, I scarcely think are words of hyperbole.
21 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2011
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This is a brilliant collection of essays by Israel Adam Shamir, an Israeli journalist and ex-paratrooper. It has the same power of Dances With Wolves to change an entire generation's perception of the Israel/Palestine conflict and shed light on the machinations of Israeli apartheid. This is why Zionists and their apologists were quick to label Shamir an antisemite (he is a former Jew) and wield the ultimate weapon of excommunication - "Holocaust denier" (although many of his family perished in the Holocaust).
Shamir does not mince words. He describes the Zionist enterprise in Palestine for what it is: a brutal project of ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinians, supported by many misinformed people throughout the West. He laments the Zionist transformation of the Holy Land from a land of olive trees and the people who tend to them, into a giant military base with barbed wire and walls and steel machines imported from the US to raze villages and confine the natives of the land in ghettos. Palestine, which for centuries embodied the spirit of religious coexistence and is central to Christianity, Islam and Judaism, is now a nuclear volcano at the hands of a supremacist state, ready to erupt and rain destruction on the entire region and beyond.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the forces that are shaping today's world, as Mr. Shamir makes clear: the struggle for Palestine goes far beyond the land itself. Whether you are a layman who was told that it is "a fight between Jews and Muslims for land" or an erudite who believes that a Palestinian "state" (as the definition of "state" varies widely) is the prized elixir, this book is bound to enlighten and inform and reshape your opinion on what is happening in the Holy Land.
I highly recommend.
Shamir does not mince words. He describes the Zionist enterprise in Palestine for what it is: a brutal project of ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinians, supported by many misinformed people throughout the West. He laments the Zionist transformation of the Holy Land from a land of olive trees and the people who tend to them, into a giant military base with barbed wire and walls and steel machines imported from the US to raze villages and confine the natives of the land in ghettos. Palestine, which for centuries embodied the spirit of religious coexistence and is central to Christianity, Islam and Judaism, is now a nuclear volcano at the hands of a supremacist state, ready to erupt and rain destruction on the entire region and beyond.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the forces that are shaping today's world, as Mr. Shamir makes clear: the struggle for Palestine goes far beyond the land itself. Whether you are a layman who was told that it is "a fight between Jews and Muslims for land" or an erudite who believes that a Palestinian "state" (as the definition of "state" varies widely) is the prized elixir, this book is bound to enlighten and inform and reshape your opinion on what is happening in the Holy Land.
I highly recommend.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2017
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There is no one in scoop and wide outlook like Shamir. What about his later essays? Any more collection to the three already published?
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017
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Painful to read but informative. Moneta S. Prince
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2006
With every word, every phrase, Israel Shamir displays his love
of the holy land. I've read lots of books on the Middle East,
but this is - by far - the most compelling. I really cannot
express how important this book is to me, so I'll include a
quote from Nick Pretzlick, which I agree with wholeheartedly:
"Israel Shamir is in love with the Holy Land. He has a
passion for the land and its people; he believes the
two are umbilically linked. For him there is only one
viable solution to the conflict that has ravaged the
region for so long and that is the one state solution.
Shamir is a humanist and although he is scathing about
Palestine's enemies - the Jewish elite - he takes
pride in and writes lovingly about the courageous
Jews, who resist Israeli crimes.
Flowers of Galilee is a collection of essays, so full
of affection - such an elegy of love - that, reading
it for the first time, I felt impelled to delay the
turning of pages, preferring instead to linger over
images - to savour the sentiments.
Shamir does not pull any punches. He challenges
conventional thinking, but he does so with honesty,
affection and such thorough understanding and
knowledge that his outspokenness is reasonable and
rational. Flowers of Galilee is an eye opener - a
learning experience. It is also enchanting."
of the holy land. I've read lots of books on the Middle East,
but this is - by far - the most compelling. I really cannot
express how important this book is to me, so I'll include a
quote from Nick Pretzlick, which I agree with wholeheartedly:
"Israel Shamir is in love with the Holy Land. He has a
passion for the land and its people; he believes the
two are umbilically linked. For him there is only one
viable solution to the conflict that has ravaged the
region for so long and that is the one state solution.
Shamir is a humanist and although he is scathing about
Palestine's enemies - the Jewish elite - he takes
pride in and writes lovingly about the courageous
Jews, who resist Israeli crimes.
Flowers of Galilee is a collection of essays, so full
of affection - such an elegy of love - that, reading
it for the first time, I felt impelled to delay the
turning of pages, preferring instead to linger over
images - to savour the sentiments.
Shamir does not pull any punches. He challenges
conventional thinking, but he does so with honesty,
affection and such thorough understanding and
knowledge that his outspokenness is reasonable and
rational. Flowers of Galilee is an eye opener - a
learning experience. It is also enchanting."
17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries
D. Flack
3.0 out of 5 stars
Leider etwas einseitig
Reviewed in Germany on February 6, 2013Verified Purchase
Israel Shamir, wiewohl ursprünglich wohl Jude, beschreibt die Situation in Palästina aus dem Blickwinkel der Palästinenser. Die Berichte, wortreich und mitunter fast lyrisch, sind beeindruckend und informativ. Seine Lobpreisung, ja fast Verherrlichung, des palästinensischen Widerstandes und seiner Kämpfer allerdings geht mir entschieden zu weit. Wie verständlich gewaltsamer Widerstand von Seiten der Palästinenser auch sein mag, zu rechtfertigen ist Gewaltanwendung nicht, da sie nur zu mehr Gewalt führt. In diesem Sinne ist das Buch leider etwas einseitig.