Reviewed Book: Jonathan Garfinkel, Ambivalence: Adventures in Israel and Palestine. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2008, 352 pages, $25.95
Few places can stir such deep emotions as the New Jersey-sized state of Israel. Whether or not one has visited the Jewish homeland, all have strong opinions on how it should behave. For many in the West, Israel is a country that exists in either dreams or nightmares so the state is either above rapprochement or is evil.
Many Jews come from abroad to visit the land they read about in the Torah; the city of Jerusalem to which they face in prayer; where for centuries the Passover meal concludes with the phrase, “Next year in Jerusalem.” They stay in fancy West Jerusalem hotels, tour the Old City, kiss the Wailing Wall, and walk through Mea Sharim and marvel at the near replica of a nineteenth century Polish shtetl recreated in a Jerusalem suburb. They return home with hundreds of pictures testifying to their visits, secure that Israel and the Jewish people are thriving and need think no further.
For others, this small country is seen in the news nightly and not because the hibiscus are again blooming. Israel appears to constantly be involved in raising a death toll, leveling homes, building settlements where they shouldn’t, hurling tank shells, and killing Arabs who are the majority occupants of the wider region. For most Arab states and Iran, Israel is high on the leader’s list of what’s wrong with their state – a domestic concern.
Israel is what is seen on the news and the news is never good. Surely, Israel is the cause of all regional problems, its existence is evil, its birth was in sin, and all its actions should be criticized.
Within the two extreme narratives lies the basic assumption that whatever is good for Israel (their independence on May 14, 1948) is bad for the Palestinians (Israel’s independence is called al-Nakba – the catastrophe). Of course, the truth is not so black and white and in a conflict containing so many layers and narratives, it takes a creative and exploratory mind to write a book on a journey of discovery in Israel and make covering the conflict a joy to read. Jonathan Garfinkel has done it with his book, Ambivalence.
Jonathan, a Toronto poet and playwright, is a bit of a loner who is deeply affected by his parents’ separation and is having a premature midlife crisis of identity. He grew up with Jewish ideals firmly implanted and attended a fiercely Zionist grade school. However, like many Jews of his generation, he felt disconnected and ambivalent about his Jewish roots and connection to Israel. He asks the questions that most Jews would prefer remain unasked.
His friend from Israel’s Habima Theater asks Jonathan to write a play but a case of writer’s block has him coming up empty. While attending a Toronto film festival, he meets an intriguing Palestinian girl, Rana, who tells him a story about a house she used to live in while in Jerusalem. It was shared by an Israeli and Palestinian – Shimon and Abu Dalo. The idea that such a thing could happen sends Jonathan on his first trip to Israel to explore the story with the hope that it will inspire his play. It would be a strong metaphor for the Palestinian-Israeli problem: two peoples trying to live in the same disputed land. That they share it despite rival claims would make a great story about peace. His perception of Judaism and Zionism, however, is shattered on his first visit to Israel when he realizes it does not match the rosy descriptions he grew up with.
Once in Jerusalem he discovers that the address Rana gave him does not exist. When he finally tracks down Abu Dalo and Shimon, he realizes that he had apparently misunderstood the story. They don’t live in the same house but rather, across the street from one another. Moreover, they hate each other. A few additional trips to Israel yields the Palestinian narrative and Jonathan begins to confront the truths and myths of his upbringing.
Ambivalence is a deeply engaging, thought-provoking, personal account about a Jewish journey of self-discovery and reflection. On one hand, it is about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; on the other, it is about life. Written in the first person and present tense, everything unfolds in the here and now. As the subject of his own book, Jonathan is just so darn likeable – like a child whose cheeks deserve an approving pinch. Terrifically descriptive and extraordinarily compassionate, this thought provoking book is also full of comedy and drama, and a healthy dose of Yiddish phrases that would please the great-grand parents.
His Jewish conscience and guilt is played by Mrs. Blitzkrieg, a composite character, and teacher representative of his grade school past. She appears like the angel or devil familiar to the shoulders of cartoon characters. She reminds him of his roots and prefers that he does not ask questions, dig too deeply, or rock the boat. Mrs. Blitzkrieg represents many Jews in the West who like their story and would prefer not to think in terms of the Palestinian narrative. Other childhood flashbacks punctuate the book, filling in his past as he searches for the present.
His innocence and naïveté make this book interesting and apolitical but his ambivalent nature can leave a reader frustrated at the end. Since he professes to be no expert on the topic, he refrains from answering the myriad of questions he asks. Therefore, the book is more about the journey than it is about reaching a destination or conclusion. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian action, event, or experience seems to get under his skin. One can already imagine the droves of Israeli or Palestinian supporters or detractors yelling, “why don’t you see it my way?!” Instead, he sees it his way – intrigued but noncommittal.
Ultimately, Jonathan’s search for the truth again yields more questions than answers. Is he searching for the truth or searching for a narrative? The guidebook he brings to Israel is his fourth grade journal on Jerusalem – a strange point of comparison to begin with. That life contains more nuances and shades of grey in an adult life when compared to grade school should not be surprising. When leaving the airport in Tel Aviv, he decides that he wants to meet a real Israeli – not the fake kind – so he befriends Yonni, a colorful character and whiskey drunk: “I need something from Yonni. I want real things to happen. Stuff not found in guidebooks, tour groups or media images. I want an authentic Israel, not the one from the maps of my childhood.” Is Yonni the authentic Israeli representative? Like most places and cultures, if one chooses to explore a specific slice of life, they can. Whether or not that slice represents all slices is a different story.
Jonathan appears eager throughout to both challenge the narrative he grew up with and to debunk many aspects of it. He is far more eager to explore Palestinian towns in the West Bank than he is to visit the Jewish holy sites he grew up reading about. While in Israel during Passover he elects to go to the Sinai in Egypt. True, many authentic Israelis may do this but it is the exception, not the rule – and it’s hard to do something less Jewish than trek to Egypt on a holiday that celebrates the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery and ultimately, their redemption in the Promised Land – Israel. Nonetheless, it is his decision to experience this side of Israel and he is as free to do so as any Chassidic Jew from America is free to shun Tel Aviv and experience only the Old City of Jerusalem.
In an interview shortly after the book’s release in Canada, Jonathan explained, “I didn't write this like a Norman Finkelstein or Noam Chomsky, saying Israel is a part of some evil network. For me it came from a place of caring and concern.” Nevertheless, it is Finkelstein’s Palestine and Israel: The Myths and Realities that he chooses to read before taking his first trip to Israel. Finkelstein is known well for his anti-Zionist and Holocaust-minimizing stance.
A glance at Jonathan’s appendix on “Sources and Suggested Readings” reveals an emphasis on revisionist historians and those with axes to grind – far more so than one would see in a list of material attempting to dispassionately explain the history of the conflict. In covering history, the truth lies in the correct context and focus. The revisionist historians – many of whom are Jews – set out to debunk the orthodox history written in the past and ditch the context in favor of selective focus. They could write about the sinking of the Titanic without mentioning the iceberg. Jonathan’s curiosity to discover the truth is also guided by a desire to debunk what he learned and silence his conscience as represented by Mrs. Blitzkrieg.
The most interesting of Jonathan’s many encounters is with Eytan from Zochrot in Tel Aviv. His mandate is to re-educate Israelis on the atrocities they committed when they built their country. Eytan explains that while Israel was born “The Nakba is the other side of the coin. The death of Palestine is as much the truth as the birth of Israel.” Is it? Many Palestinians today realize that the birth of Israel could have also come with the birth of Palestine next door in territory larger than what is on the table today. That would have meant accepting the United Nations partition proposal in 1947 - instead of launching the war - and accepting Israel’s existence in the region. Are Palestinians merely victims or were they also an important party responsible for their actions?
Jonathan appears to draw the line at Eytan’s desire to grant the nearly four and half million Palestinian refugees and their descendents the right to return to their home and land in Israel. For Jonathan, “Importing Jews from Siberia and Assam to combat a rising Palestinian birth rate seems, well, completely bizarre and unnatural.” Is it? Are Jews really moving to Israel to combat the Palestinian birth rate or are there other reasons? Weren’t all Americans who are not Native American Indians imported from other parts of the globe?
At several points during his journeys he remarks, “There is so much I’d rather not know,” or “who wants to deal with the ugly legacies of his or her country?” In this sense, many Jews may be turned off by Jonathan’s selective focus on Israeli actions and selective application of historical lessons. Nevertheless, he raises legitimate questions and thinking deeper about history is a good thing, regardless of whether the other side is thinking in congruent terms. Ambivalence is about Jonathan Garfinkel’s journey and what he learns about himself and the conflict. It is well-written and raises questions worth considering.
Few places can stir such deep emotions as the New Jersey-sized state of Israel. Whether or not one has visited the Jewish homeland, all have strong opinions on how it should behave. For many in the West, Israel is a country that exists in either dreams or nightmares so the state is either above rapprochement or is evil. Many Jews come from abroad to visit the land they read about in the Torah; the city of Jerusalem to which they face in prayer; where for centuries the Passover meal concludes with the phrase, “Next year in Jerusalem.” They stay in fancy West Jerusalem hotels, tour the Old City, kiss the Wailing Wall, and walk through Mea Sharim and marvel at the near replica of a nineteenth century Polish shtetl recreated in a Jerusalem suburb. They return home with hundreds of pictures testifying to their visits, secure that Israel and the Jewish people are thriving and need think no further.
For others, this small country is seen in the news nightly and not because the hibiscus are again blooming. Israel appears to constantly be involved in raising a death toll, leveling homes, building settlements where they shouldn’t, hurling tank shells, and killing Arabs who are the majority occupants of the wider region. For most Arab states and Iran, Israel is high on the leader’s list of what’s wrong with their state – a domestic concern.
Israel is what is seen on the news and the news is never good. Surely, Israel is the cause of all regional problems, its existence is evil, its birth was in sin, and all its actions should be criticized.
Within the two extreme narratives lies the basic assumption that whatever is good for Israel (their independence on May 14, 1948) is bad for the Palestinians (Israel’s independence is called al-Nakba – the catastrophe). Of course, the truth is not so black and white and in a conflict containing so many layers and narratives, it takes a creative and exploratory mind to write a book on a journey of discovery in Israel and make covering the conflict a joy to read. Jonathan Garfinkel has done it with his book, Ambivalence.
Jonathan, a Toronto poet and playwright, is a bit of a loner who is deeply affected by his parents’ separation and is having a premature midlife crisis of identity. He grew up with Jewish ideals firmly implanted and attended a fiercely Zionist grade school. However, like many Jews of his generation, he felt disconnected and ambivalent about his Jewish roots and connection to Israel. He asks the questions that most Jews would prefer remain unasked.
His friend from Israel’s Habima Theater asks Jonathan to write a play but a case of writer’s block has him coming up empty. While attending a Toronto film festival, he meets an intriguing Palestinian girl, Rana, who tells him a story about a house she used to live in while in Jerusalem. It was shared by an Israeli and Palestinian – Shimon and Abu Dalo. The idea that such a thing could happen sends Jonathan on his first trip to Israel to explore the story with the hope that it will inspire his play. It would be a strong metaphor for the Palestinian-Israeli problem: two peoples trying to live in the same disputed land. That they share it despite rival claims would make a great story about peace. His perception of Judaism and Zionism, however, is shattered on his first visit to Israel when he realizes it does not match the rosy descriptions he grew up with.
Once in Jerusalem he discovers that the address Rana gave him does not exist. When he finally tracks down Abu Dalo and Shimon, he realizes that he had apparently misunderstood the story. They don’t live in the same house but rather, across the street from one another. Moreover, they hate each other. A few additional trips to Israel yields the Palestinian narrative and Jonathan begins to confront the truths and myths of his upbringing.
Ambivalence is a deeply engaging, thought-provoking, personal account about a Jewish journey of self-discovery and reflection. On one hand, it is about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; on the other, it is about life. Written in the first person and present tense, everything unfolds in the here and now. As the subject of his own book, Jonathan is just so darn likeable – like a child whose cheeks deserve an approving pinch. Terrifically descriptive and extraordinarily compassionate, this thought provoking book is also full of comedy and drama, and a healthy dose of Yiddish phrases that would please the great-grand parents.
His Jewish conscience and guilt is played by Mrs. Blitzkrieg, a composite character, and teacher representative of his grade school past. She appears like the angel or devil familiar to the shoulders of cartoon characters. She reminds him of his roots and prefers that he does not ask questions, dig too deeply, or rock the boat. Mrs. Blitzkrieg represents many Jews in the West who like their story and would prefer not to think in terms of the Palestinian narrative. Other childhood flashbacks punctuate the book, filling in his past as he searches for the present.
His innocence and naïveté make this book interesting and apolitical but his ambivalent nature can leave a reader frustrated at the end. Since he professes to be no expert on the topic, he refrains from answering the myriad of questions he asks. Therefore, the book is more about the journey than it is about reaching a destination or conclusion. Neither Israeli nor Palestinian action, event, or experience seems to get under his skin. One can already imagine the droves of Israeli or Palestinian supporters or detractors yelling, “why don’t you see it my way?!” Instead, he sees it his way – intrigued but noncommittal.
Ultimately, Jonathan’s search for the truth again yields more questions than answers. Is he searching for the truth or searching for a narrative? The guidebook he brings to Israel is his fourth grade journal on Jerusalem – a strange point of comparison to begin with. That life contains more nuances and shades of grey in an adult life when compared to grade school should not be surprising. When leaving the airport in Tel Aviv, he decides that he wants to meet a real Israeli – not the fake kind – so he befriends Yonni, a colorful character and whiskey drunk: “I need something from Yonni. I want real things to happen. Stuff not found in guidebooks, tour groups or media images. I want an authentic Israel, not the one from the maps of my childhood.” Is Yonni the authentic Israeli representative? Like most places and cultures, if one chooses to explore a specific slice of life, they can. Whether or not that slice represents all slices is a different story.
Jonathan appears eager throughout to both challenge the narrative he grew up with and to debunk many aspects of it. He is far more eager to explore Palestinian towns in the West Bank than he is to visit the Jewish holy sites he grew up reading about. While in Israel during Passover he elects to go to the Sinai in Egypt. True, many authentic Israelis may do this but it is the exception, not the rule – and it’s hard to do something less Jewish than trek to Egypt on a holiday that celebrates the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian slavery and ultimately, their redemption in the Promised Land – Israel. Nonetheless, it is his decision to experience this side of Israel and he is as free to do so as any Chassidic Jew from America is free to shun Tel Aviv and experience only the Old City of Jerusalem.
In an interview shortly after the book’s release in Canada, Jonathan explained, “I didn't write this like a Norman Finkelstein or Noam Chomsky, saying Israel is a part of some evil network. For me it came from a place of caring and concern.” Nevertheless, it is Finkelstein’s Palestine and Israel: The Myths and Realities that he chooses to read before taking his first trip to Israel. Finkelstein is known well for his anti-Zionist and Holocaust-minimizing stance.
A glance at Jonathan’s appendix on “Sources and Suggested Readings” reveals an emphasis on revisionist historians and those with axes to grind – far more so than one would see in a list of material attempting to dispassionately explain the history of the conflict. In covering history, the truth lies in the correct context and focus. The revisionist historians – many of whom are Jews – set out to debunk the orthodox history written in the past and ditch the context in favor of selective focus. They could write about the sinking of the Titanic without mentioning the iceberg. Jonathan’s curiosity to discover the truth is also guided by a desire to debunk what he learned and silence his conscience as represented by Mrs. Blitzkrieg.
The most interesting of Jonathan’s many encounters is with Eytan from Zochrot in Tel Aviv. His mandate is to re-educate Israelis on the atrocities they committed when they built their country. Eytan explains that while Israel was born “The Nakba is the other side of the coin. The death of Palestine is as much the truth as the birth of Israel.” Is it? Many Palestinians today realize that the birth of Israel could have also come with the birth of Palestine next door in territory larger than what is on the table today. That would have meant accepting the United Nations partition proposal in 1947 - instead of launching the war - and accepting Israel’s existence in the region. Are Palestinians merely victims or were they also an important party responsible for their actions?
Jonathan appears to draw the line at Eytan’s desire to grant the nearly four and half million Palestinian refugees and their descendents the right to return to their home and land in Israel. For Jonathan, “Importing Jews from Siberia and Assam to combat a rising Palestinian birth rate seems, well, completely bizarre and unnatural.” Is it? Are Jews really moving to Israel to combat the Palestinian birth rate or are there other reasons? Weren’t all Americans who are not Native American Indians imported from other parts of the globe?
At several points during his journeys he remarks, “There is so much I’d rather not know,” or “who wants to deal with the ugly legacies of his or her country?” In this sense, many Jews may be turned off by Jonathan’s selective focus on Israeli actions and selective application of historical lessons. Nevertheless, he raises legitimate questions and thinking deeper about history is a good thing, regardless of whether the other side is thinking in congruent terms. Ambivalence is about Jonathan Garfinkel’s journey and what he learns about himself and the conflict. It is well-written and raises questions worth considering.