Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

Part 1 is entitled, "Aversion." Chapter 1 deals with "War: Earth of Brass." It opens with a depiction of spring's brief flowering in Israel and the Jews' two-day celebration of the Day of Remembrance, honoring the country's war dead, and Independence Day. War, Shipler states, has produced sorrow and glorification on both sides. Open warfare waged in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1969-71, 1973 and 1982. In general terms, Israeli Jews have mixed feelings about war's morality, whereas Arabs allow the Islamic concept of jihad (holy war against the infidel) to set their focus.

A series of touching personal narratives develops the theme. An Auschwitz survivor who flourished in academia in Israel only to perish in the1967 war leads to Shipler's conclusion that where one side celebrates the "liberation of Jerusalem," the other laments and condemns its "conquest." He relates several incidents where humanity - even humor - survive, here...