The Yellow Wind

This account of the struggle by David Grossman, a secular Israeli Jew who's lived on the occupied territories for his entire life, is shockingly representative of the real lives of the Palestinians under occupation. And to the same degree, the grievances of the Israelis, who I choose to give less of my attention to (*I don't dehumanize them and try to take in their struggles). For the simple fact that most of the Israelis discussed in this book are not only colonizers, but to further make matters worse, were, in the time of publishing, illegal settlers in the West Bank. Before I delve a bit more into the actual content of the book, I'd like to address the introduction written in 1998, a year after the publishing. In 1998, the first Intifada erupted, Palestinians took to the streets and expressed themselves in various ways against the brutal occupation. Grossman writes the introduction with these events in mind, he tells the reader that the purpose of this book is to “shatter stereotypes”. Yet he reminds the reader of the history of Israel, and in doing so displays plenty of times the subconscious grip that the Israeli propaganda machine holds on its people. He speaks of the first “democracy” in the Middle Eastern region, and quotes other “great” things the underdog government accomplished, “created flourishing agriculture”. He speaks of the middle eastern tendency of creating “terrorist” organizations (Israelis create, Arabs destroy), of Israel being “a peace-loving country”, and says “left no doubt as to what Arab armies intended to do to Israeli women and children” after the 1967 attack on the nation by neighbouring Arab countries... Also, he mentions Egyptian president Sadat as a “daring” and “courageous” man who payed with his life for trying to assess peace in the region. His murderers? Muslim extremists. But, what is a Muslim extremist, why do they kill, what do they want? Further down, he states that his solution to the conflict would be a two-state solution. A coexisting Palestinian nation next to the Israeli one. All in all, the introduction left a bitter taste in my mouth, the cherry topping it all being the mention of a two-state solution. Such a “peace” proposal is disingenuous to the actual autochthonous people of Palestine. Israel gets away with being colonizers and the Palestinians have to just accept their suffering at the hand of imperialism and colonization. He mentions the sacrificial reality of such a solution, but from the view of the Israeli occupants! They unfortunately have to “sacrifice” parts of “their” land, and how many of them would be willing to? So unfortunate for the colonizers, let us pay no mind to the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their lands because that is simply “history”. And as we can tell the consensus seems to be that “history” is a positive force working for Israel. Therefore them ceding land is unimaginable and comes at a great cost.

Yet, beyond the introduction is a myriad of authentic stories of struggle from Palestinians in the West Bank. The author does a great job conveying a lot of heartfelt emotions and grief from Palestinians, and dare I say does a decent job at humanizing them. I think it's a great book for Israelis to read because it opens up their realities to that of their neighbours, but at the same time doesn't villainize them too much. Which is, unfortunately, needed for them to allow themselves to feel bad for their occupation. It critiques well the government and the powers in place, as well as the systemic abuse. The author even admits that at times he finds it hard to understand the grief of Palestinians, in one of the best chapters in the book: The Terrorist's Father. Another great chapter Sumud introduces one of the most interesting and revealing testimonies from a certain Raj'a Shehade, that I would quote entirely if I could.

My overall thoughts on this book are positive, I'm left with hope that their can be occupiers that genuinely want to look for peace and progress in understanding their position. Grossman sounds genuine in his attempt to explore the Palestinian struggle and come to terms with the violent nature of his occupation. He ends with “The history of the world proves that the situation we preserve here cannot last for long. And if it lasts, it will exact a deadly price.” A very understanding position taken against the Israeli government, and in which keeping up with recent events has shown to be true. No real progress has been made ever since the first Intifada erupted, and Israeli politicians have yet to genuinely understand the evil nature of their country. “Peace” processes are always at the benefit of Israel, and the more this goes on the worse their reality becomes.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!