Terrorists are plotting to set off a bomb on Easter Sunday to protest the horrendous conditions in the Palestinian territories, where farmers and workers are unable to drive through the military blockades to sell their tomatoes or travel to work where the only work to be found is available. An Israeli leader, Major Yakov Levy, orders the border posts closed so that Palestinians cannot enter Israeli territory while Levy’s son works for an elusive “peace” that can never happen, as one violent act after another forces even harsher conditions on the Palestinians. David Kessler, an AP journalist, becomes a hero when he sees a Palestinian boy shot and attempts to rescue him, resulting in a photograph running on the front page of The New York Times that earns him fame abroad but not in Israel. Another plot involving Kessler will have disastrous repercussions for many families, horrifying even more on both sides of the animosity.
This novel can be classified as a thriller and yet that word is chilling because it refers to a book based on actual events. Torture, bombs, abuse by military and civilians, talk galore to stretch the patience of all sides, political machinations, and so much more fill these pages. The story presents the sides and choices — to carry on with the interminable confrontation or work toward the commonalities that alone can create peace. Read it and wonder what the future holds beyond what the comment on the book jacket calls a “modern passion play.”
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