Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism

Book Description

When peace talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders collapsed at Camp David in 2000, a conflict as bloody as any that had ever occurred between the two peoples began. Now David Horovitz—editor of The Jerusalem Report—explores the quotidian and profound effects this conflict and its attendant terrorism have had on the lives of ordinary men, women and children.

Horovitz describes the “grim lottery” of life in Israel since 2000. He makes clear that far from becoming blasé or desensitized, its citizens respond with deepening horror every time the front pages are disfigured by the rows of passport portraits presenting the faces of the newly dead. He takes us to the funeral of a murdered Israeli, where the presence of security personnel underlines that nowhere is safe. He describes how his wife must tell their children to close their eyes when they pass a just-exploded bus on the way to school, so that the images of carnage won’t haunt them.

He talks with government officials on both sides of the conflict, with relatives of murdered victims, with Palestinian refugees, and with his own friends and family, letting us sense what it feels like to live with the constant threat and the horrific frequency of shootings and suicide bombings. Examining the motives behind the violence, he blames mistaken policies and actions on the Israeli as well as the Palestinian side, and details the suffering of Palestinians deprived of basic freedoms under strict Israeli controls.

But at the root of this conflict, he argues, is terrorism and Yasser Arafat’s deliberate use of it after spurning a genuine opportunity for peace at Camp David, and then misleading his people, and much of the world, about what was on offer there. He describes how the world’s press has too often allowed prejudgment to replace fair-minded reporting. And finally, Horovitz makes us see the vast depth and extent of the mistrust between Israelis and Palestinians and the enormous challenges that underlie new attempts at peacemaking.

Human and harrowing—and yet projecting an unexpected optimism—Still Life with Bombers affords us a remarkably balanced and insightful understanding of a seemingly intractable conflict.

Customer Reviews:

Phenominal look at the current situation.......2006-11-13

Mr. Horovitz has written an excellent account of both the personal side to living in a time of constant terrorist attacks as well as a factual account of the detail that have been overlooked or misreported by most of the world's press outlets. Included in this book are some brief analyses of the political climate in Israel before, during and after some of the more violent bombings as well as Israel's responses. At times the author disagrees with the government's decisions, and is not ashamed to say it. In general, an excellent read and a good look into the facts of the situations as seen by a reporter who has to raise his family while enduring these terrible bombings.

Incredible eye opener!.......2005-07-31

This book is absolutely incredible! Thank you so much David Horovitz! I want to read your day-to-day accounts of life in Israel beyond the end of this book.

I have been a religious right-wing supporter of Eretz Israel, anxiously awaiting the time that I am in a financial position to make aliyah. I have strongly supported the anti-disengagement fighters.

Your book has made me think. It has opened my eyes to the Arab side of the story, as well as details of politics on both sides that I was not previously aware of.

This book has filled me with hope of someday living in the holy land and at the same time has made me cry, and evoked terror. Reading the chapter on Yussuf makes me wonder if there is ever any hope for peace - on the political side there is, but on the religious side it seems hopeless, as religious Jews can never voluntarily relinquish the Temple Mount or any of Jerusalem.

There have been times that I have had to put it down and walk away for a while to digest what I have just read (and cry) - and I'm only on page 166!

For a long time I have thought the solution to this problem was for millions of North American religious Jews to make aliyah and change the government in Israel, now I'm not so sure... More to come...

The Fault is Arafat's.......2005-06-15

Reading through a volume of literature having to do with the Arab-Israeli Conflict, one is sooner or later impressed (or depressed)in realizing how little new ground is ever, really covered by the defenders of Israel, and by those of the Arabs. The same ground is laboriously traversed, over and over and over; the same charges thrown at the opponent, the same anger and outrage, the same impossible hopes floated. To paraphrase an unnamed British military man from Mandate days, "and Jew will kill Arab, and Arab will in turn kill Jew, now unto the end of time."
Horovitz's book, written by an Englishman who emigrated to Israel in the early 1980's, belongs to the Arab-bashing, or in his particular case, Arafat-bashing variety of books in this genre. He soon dispenses with his worm's eye view of fellow Israelis in the midst of the horror of the al Aqsa Intifada, perhaps the strongest and most interesting part of the book, and gets to his main argument.
To wit: all the violence that has afflicted Israel since the collapse of the Camp David Summit in 2000 can be left at the door of Yasir Arafat, who opted, at Camp David as after, to ignore substantive negotiations, even with a negotiation-mad Israeli leadership, and to proceed with the bombing.
Well, yes, this argument is possible, but Horovitz dins it into the reader's memory, again and again and yet again. There is nothing, he argues, that might explain Arafat's evident loathing for dealing responsibly with Israel save his long-harbored malificent desire to wipe out the Jewish state, by short range suicide bombings, or long-term Palestinian overbreeding. I resent propaganda, especially from a side I would otherwise support, and Horovitz's so-evident desire to "put the account straight" makes for a tedious, maddening reading, where objectivity is thrown out the window when it might uncomfortably intrude into his little truth.
How might he improve his work? Well, here is one way: tell the reader why so many Palestinians are willing to strap explosives under their belts and assure their own extinction, along with those of so many complete strangers. What, in other words, has Israel done to the Palestinians to make them so desirous of death?
I do not expect Mr. Horovitz to pick up the cue on this one. Whether or not he admits it, his political sentiments are that of the political right. He might have been a wet-behind-the-ears liberal naif back in the later 1980's or early 1990's, when he was still finding his feet on the treacherous Israeli soil, but he now, in this book, shows himself to be a Likudnik back to front. He never, ever, finds fault with the Israeli policy of saturating the Territories with Jewish setlements, depriving Palestinians of their land, their water, and their hopes of national sovereignity. He doesn't note the right wing religious-nationalist Jewish psychotics (Baruch Goldstein, Meir Kahane and his "Kach" neo-fascist thugs) whose own merry band of terrorists have further poisoned the atmosphere between Palestinian and Israeli. He doesn't talk much, most importantly, about the atmosphere of everyday Israeli inhumanity that makes Palestinian life so tedious and hard. But he does blame, vociferously,monotonously and uncritically, the string of Palestinian terror bombings, that he, again,views as Arafat's mark of Cain.
He forgets that Israel herself bears the mark of Cain, in bloodying the Palestinians, in taking their land, in treating them as second or third-class citizens of "Greater Israel".
In short, Horovitz's book is propaganda, not a study of history or current events; comforting for die-hard supporters of Israel, but in the end answering no new questions, breaking no new ground.

Shows how Israelis are coping with terror.......2004-12-27

After the collapse of the Camp David talks in 2000, Arabs launched a wave of terrorist attacks on Israel. And while some people in faraway nations may have failed to see just who the aggressors were, those who lived in Israel could not avoid noticing.

Horovitz does a superb job of describing living with the threat of terrorist attacks. We see how both Jews and Arabs react to all the fighting. And he also explains the extent to which the conflict is misdescribed by many in the media. I was shocked to discover that several star reporters were under the misimpression that the West Bank and Gaza had been some sort of independent sovereign territory prior to 1967. Other disturbing signs were the reluctance of reporters to believe Israelis who disagreed with Arab lies, the eagerness of reporters to believe that Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was some sort of wicked war criminal, and the "conventional wisdom" that Israel was to blame for the conflict since it was holding territory that it did not stake a sovereign claim to. In addition, I was puzzled by the fact that a reporter insisted that Israel had to be held to a "higher standard."

The author explains how the Big Lie technique was used to accuse Israel of war crimes at, of all places, Jenin (where Israel went in with ground troops, dramatically sacrificing the lives of many soldiers to reduce Arab civilian casualties). And he quotes Kofi Annan, who maliciously asked "Can the whole world be wrong (in condemning Israel)?" Horovitz has a one-word answer. Yes. Any reasonable person would, if shown the facts that European Union officials were demanding to punish Israel for trying to thwart terrorist bombings and simultaneously shown that the EU was supporting the bombers financially, letting them buy explosives with its money, would see that the EU is wrong. His point is that a misinformed world will indeed be wrong.

For me, the mangling of truth by the media stood out in this book as the most serious aspect of the fighting. It is sad that Arabs are attacking Israeli civilians. It is good that the media are positioned to report on this. I think even vaguely honest reporting would bring enough political pressure to bear so that the attacks would stop. That is why it is such a pity that we are seeing nothing of the sort.

There are many other regions in the world where there is plenty of violence. They don't have anything like the media coverage we see in the Levant. If the media are failing so utterly in covering the Arab-Israeli conflict, one has to doubt their ability to get anything right.

I highly recommend this book.

A survey of life in Israel since 2000.......2004-12-08

When peace talks at Camp David collapsed in 2000, a conflict began which was stronger than any previously: Jerusalem Report editor and author David Horovitz considers the effects of this latest conflict and its terrorism in Still Life With Bombers, a survey of life in Israel since 2000. Israeli experience is the focus in a survey of daily lives, violence, and politics, with chapters juxtaposed between interviews with government officials on both sides of the conflict to experiences of relatives, refugees, and his own friends and family, creating an intimate social and political portrait of a country at war within its own boundaries.

Babies and bombers.(Books)(Book Review): An article from: Policy Review

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Excellent reviews of two fine books

Babies and bombers.(Books)(Book Review): An article from: Policy Review
Claire Berlinski
Manufacturer: Hoover Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Policy Review, published by Hoover Institution Press on October 1, 2004. The length of the article is 3256 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Babies and bombers.(Books)(Book Review)
Author: Claire Berlinski
Publication: Policy Review (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 2004
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
Issue: 127 Page: 82(8)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

Excellent reviews of two fine books.......2006-04-19

Claire Berlinski has written a very powerful essay. I was especially impressed with her review of "Babe in Arms" (by Judith Wrubel Levy).

As Berlinski explains, the Arab aggression against Israel not only failed to convince Wrubel Levy to flee Israel, it also "cemented her Zionism." Never before had she been so convinced of the necessity of Israel's existence. Sometimes when she heard European "statesmen" apologizing for Arab outrages against people exactly like her, she heard "not just the voices of benighted, distant nitwits talking out of their depth but old-school Europeans who feel, when Jews die, that all's right with the world." And after a bombing just 15 minutes away from her apartment, Wrubel Levy noticed the following juxtaposed headlines: "POOL HALL SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS AT LEAST 16 IN ISRAEL/ U.N. Assembly chastises Israel 74-4"

Berlinski includes a fine review of "Still Life with Bombers" by David Horovitz. And she notes some similarities between the two books. Both are depressing. Both show some heroism in the face of vicious aggression by arrogant enemies. And both use similar language "to describe the international condemnation of the alleged massacre in Jenin." Wrubel Levy asks "who else would wait for 23 suicide bombers from a single city to assault civilian populations for years on end before taking serious action?" I think that's a very good question.

Horovitz is quoted as saying (about Jenin) "Israel could, of course, have bombed the camp, or at least the core of the terrorists' hideouts, and spared all its dead soldiers" but it wanted to cause fewer Arab casualties. "The gunmen, of course, could have surrendered and saved everybody's spilled blood." Horovitz also mentions that the United Nations General Assembly voted 74-4 to condemn Israel just hours after an Arab suicide bomber killed 15 Israelis in a billiard parlor-cafe. And that the condemnation made no mention "of the two dozen suicide bombers dispatched from Jenin." Horowitz concludes that "Yes, the whole world can be wrong."

There are, of course, differences between the books. A major one is that Horovitz's book was published, while Wrubel Levy's was not. Berlinski congratulates Knopf for publishing Horovitz's book and wishes that Wrubel Levy's had been published as well. After reading Berlinski's essay, so do I.

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Hunting Wild Life with Camera and Flashlight: A Record of Sixty Five years' Visits to the Woods and Waters of North America Two Book Set; Violume I Lake Superior Region AND Volume II Wild Life of Coasts Islands and Mountains

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Hunting Wild Life with Camera and Flashlight: A Record of Sixty Five years' Visits to the Woods and Waters of North America Two Book Set; Violume I Lake Superior Region AND Volume II Wild Life of Coasts Islands and Mountains
George Shiras III
Manufacturer: National Geographical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FMKBJI

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Lake of the Woods II
Duane R. Lund
Manufacturer: Duane Lund
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 093486036X

Beyond Moosehead II: The story of the great north woods of Maine from pre-history through the lumbering era

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Beyond Moosehead II: The story of the great north woods of Maine from pre-history through the lumbering era
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Manufacturer: Moosehead Communications
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Binding: Unknown Binding

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Lake of the Woods II: Earliest accounts
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Manufacturer: Adventure Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006YJK5G

PICTURESQUE AMERICA; or, The Land We Live in. A Delineation By Pen and Pencil of The Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Forests, Water-Falls, Shores, Canyons, Valleys, Cities, and Other Picturesque Features of Our Country. Vol II.

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PICTURESQUE AMERICA; or, The Land We Live in. A Delineation By Pen and Pencil of The Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Forests, Water-Falls, Shores, Canyons, Valleys, Cities, and Other Picturesque Features of Our Country. Vol II.
William Cullen (edited) Bryant
Manufacturer: D. Appleton and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TTIJU0

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