The Review: How To Understand Israel in 60 Days Or Less

In the time I had allotted to read How To Understand Israel in 60 Days Or Less by Sarah Glidden, I was also able to read Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan. (There's another great reason to love graphic novels. I get the feeling of accomplishment that comes with completing a book FAR more often.) More on Exit Wounds in a future post.

I liked How To Understand Israel. Instead of reading a comprehensive history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it gave me a sense of what specific topics I might be interested in learning more about. Now I want to find a biography of Yitzhak Rabin. Or something on the Six Days War (especially those last few days with Syria). Put another way, I no longer have to commit myself to a feast of reading. I have the knowledge to more carefully select a few appetizers and then see how hungry I remain.

Glidden is convinced that she'll be fed all sorts of pro-Israel propaganda on her Birthright trip, and steels herself with a lengthy and seemingly balanced book list prior to leaving. Ultimately, she experiences plenty of the propaganda she expected to, as well as Israelis who equate sympathies with Palestianians with national (and, oftentimes, personal) certain death. But she's surprised by the number of people who, like her, just don't know what to think or do. If the status quo feels unbearable, and solutions impossible, then. . . What next?

In doing follow up research on some of the topics covered in the book, I've been concerned at the degree to which certain historic events are simplified. (The aforementioned fighting between Syria and Israel during the Six Days War is a great example of this.) However, I think this represents more a challenge with the medium than an intentional bias on the part of the author. I'm a bit surprised that someone who pored through some of the weighty books she did would be comfortable with much of this glossing over, but perhaps, especially when writing a graphic novel on such a controversial topic, the good cannot be the enemy of the perfect.

So, the final verdict? If you know very little about the conflict and want something to whet your appetite, definitely pick up How To Understand Israel. If you already consider yourself well versed in the issues and historic timeline, however, you may be disappointed.