Summary

Friedman has been a civilian for a few months by the time the last soldiers cross back into Isreal from the security zone in May 2000. He works in a greenhouse, looks forward to the future, and tries to get used to life outside the military. At University that fall, he occasionally runs into fellow students who he had served with on the Pumpkin. They share a history and memories, but the broader Israeli society "hardly paid a thought to the security zone ware once it ended" (178).

That same fall, suicide bombings begin happening in Israeli cities, and the population realizes that peace has not been reached after all. Palestinians are now advocating strongly for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank and Gaza, just as they had recently withdrawn from Lebanon. Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon continue to attack Israel...