In the Land of Israel

Essays

Amos Oz

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780156481144
• eBook ISBN: 9780547540771
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

A snapshot of Israel and the West Bank in the 1980s, through the voices of its inhabitants, from the National Jewish Book Award–winning author of Judas.
 
Notebook in hand, renowned author and onetime kibbutznik Amos Oz traveled throughout his homeland to talk with people—workers, soldiers, religious zealots, aging pioneers, desperate Arabs, visionaries—asking them questions about Israel's past, present, and future. Observant or secular, rich or poor, native-born or new immigrant, they shared their points of view, memories, hopes, and fears, and Oz recorded them.
 
What emerges is a distinctive portrait of a changing nation and a complex society, supplemented by Oz's own observations and reflections, that reflects an insider's view of a country still forming its own identity. In the Land of Israel is "an exemplary instance of a writer using his craft to come to grips with what is happening politically and to illuminate certain aspects of Israeli society that have generally been concealed by polemical formulas" ( The New York Times) .

Glossary

Agnon, Shmuel Yosef (1880–1970)

Israeli Hebrew novelist who won the 1966 Nobel Prize for literature.

Agudat Yisrael

International ultraorthodox political and religious movement founded in 1912. Originally opposed to the establishment of the State of Israel, it later became one of Israel’s political parties. The small minority among the ultraorthodox that refuses to recognize the State of Israel condemns Agudat Yisrael for having “sold out” to the Zionists.

Alignment (Labor Alignment)

Alliance of the Israel Labor Party and the left-wing socialist Mapam, formed in 1969. It was the ruling alliance of the State of Israel until its defeat in the election of 1977.

Alton, Yigal (1918–80)

Israel’s minister of Labor under Premier David Ben-Gurion and foreign minister under Premier Yitzhak Rabin.

Almogi, Yosef Aharon (1910– )

Former Israeli cabinet minister and mayor of Haifa, past chairman of the Executive of the World Zionist Organization.

Altennan, Natan (1910–70)

Hebrew poet and translator whose poetry had a powerful impact during the period of Palestine Jewry’s struggle against British rule.

Amidar

Israeli national housing company, founded in 1049 to construct housing for new immigrants.

Ashkenazim

Jews of German and Eastern European descent.

Bar Kochba, Shimon (died A.D. 135)

Leader of a revolt in Judea against the Roman emperor Hadrian. He was lolled when his last stronghold fell.

Betar

Formerly the international youth movement of the Revisionist Party, now the youth branch of the Herut Party; founded in 1923. The major tenets of Betar’s founders included military preparedness for self-defense, a strict code of personal behavior, and the primacy of the Zionist idea without the admixture of any other political ideology.

Bloc (Hebrew gush)

A political group (as in “Gush Emunim”) or a cluster of settlements (as in “the Tel Mond bloc”).

Bnai Akiva

International religious Zionist youth movement founded in Palestine in 1922.

Buber, Martin (1878–1965)

Internationally known religious philosopher, a member of a small group of Jewish intellectuals who advocated a binational Arab-Jewish state in Palestine.

Bubkes (Yiddish)

“A big nothing.”

Burg, Shlomo Yosef (1909– )

Longtime Knesset member and cabinet minister. The small minority among the ultraorthodox that refuses to recognize the State of Israel regards Burg and his National Religious Party as little better than apostates.

Chich

Popular nickname for Shlomo Lahat, the mayor of Tel Aviv.

Ein Hilweh

Arab refugee camp in Sidon, Lebanon, that was largely leveled by Israeli artillery fire in June 1982.

Eitan, General Raphael (1929– )

Chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 1978 to February 1983, when he retired in the wake of criticism following the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla, Lebanon.

Eliav, Arie (Lyova) (1921– )

Former secretary-general of the Labor Party who advocated Arab rights and insisted that there is room in Palestine for both the State of Israel and a Palestinian-Jordanian Arab state.

Eretz Yisrael

Land of Israel.

Etzel

See Irgun Zvai Leumi.

Etzion Bloc Yeshiva

One of Israel’s foremost Talmudical academies.

Ceva, Eli

Israeli colonel who asked to be relieved of his command during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (1982) because he was opposed to the army’s taking Beirut by force.

Golani Brigade

One of the seven brigades of the Israel Defense Forces during the War of Independence.

Gordon, Aharon David (1856–1922)

Ideological leader of the Jewish workers’ movement in Palestine, who believed that labor, particularly the tilling of the soil, held the essence of Jewish and universal values.

Goyim naches (Yiddish)

“Gentiles’ delight”—activities or amusements considered un-Jewish or more typical of gentiles than Jews.

Greater Land of Israel Movement

Movement advocating Israel’s retention and annexation of Arab territories occupied during the Six-Day War of 1967.

Green Line

The armistice lines between Israel and its Arab neighbors, 1948–67.

Greenberg, Uri Zvi (1895–1981)

One of Israel’s greatest poets, regarded as a nationalist extremist.

Grunzweig, Emil (1950?–83)

Young scholar killed in Jerusalem in February 1983 when a grenade was thrown into a group of Peace Now demonstrators calling for the dismissal of Defense Minister Ariel Sharon.

Gur, Mordechai (“Motte”) (1930– )

Chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces from 1974 to 1978, later a Labor member of the Knesset.

Gush Emunim

Spiritual-political movement that seeks to build Jewish settlements throughout the Israeli-occupied territories.

Haddad, Major Saad

Leader of Christian military formations in southern Lebanon.

Haganah

Semiunderground, semiofficial self-defense force of Palestine Jewry from 1920 to 1948, when it was transformed into the Israel Defense Forces.

Hammer, Zevulun (1936– )

Minister of Education and Culture, one of the leaders of the National Religious Party.

Hasidim

Adherents of a Jewish religious movement founded during the eighteenth century in opposition to ritual laxity and what was considered the arid, hairsplitting study of the Talmud among other Orthodox Jews. They rallied around rebbes and tzaddikim (“righteous ones”), whom they regarded almost as intermediaries between themselves and God.

Hazaz, Hayim (1898–1973)

Hebrew novelist whose works dealt in part with Palestine Jewry’s underground struggle against British rule, and the life and customs of the Yemenite Jews.

Hazon Ish (Hebrew “Man of Vision”)

Name given to Abraham Yeshayah Karelitz (1878–1953), an influential rabbi who settled in Palestine in 1935 and was widely consulted on questions of Jewish law. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion once met the Hazon Ish on the position of Jewish religious law regarding the conscription of young women.

Herat

The right-wing party led by Prime Minister Menachem Begin, which in 1973 became part of the right-wing Likud bloc.

Histadrut

Israel’s general federation of labor and the country’s most powerful organization.

Huleiqat

Abandoned Arab village on Israel’s southern coastal plain, near the site of Israel’s first oil field.

Irgun Zvai Leumi (also known as Etzel)

Palestine Jewish underground military organization active from 1937 to 1948, led most of the time by Menachem Begin, originally founded to retaliate against Arab attacks. It was opposed to the Haganah.

Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Zeev) (1880–1940)

Russian-born writer, orator, and Zionist leader whom Prime Minister Menachem Begin considered his spiritual mentor.

Jewish Agency for Israel

Originally the intermediary between Palestine’s Jewish community and the British Mandatory government and now synonymous with the World Zionist Organization, working as a liaison between the State of Israel and world Jewry.

Jewish Legion

Jewish military units formed during World War I to f...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Author’s Note to the Original Edition
• Author’s Note to the Harvest Edition
• Translator’s Note
• Map
• Thank God for His Daily Blessings
• The Insult and the Fury
• The Finger of God?
• Just a Peace
• The Tender Among You, and Very Delicate
• An Argument on Life and Death (A)
• An Argument on Life and Death (B)
• The Dawn
• On Light and Shade and Love
• A Cosmic Jew
• At the End of That Autumn: A Midwinter Epilogue
• Some Reactions to In the Land of Israel
• A Postscript Ten Years Later: The Middle East Between Shakespeare and Chekhov
• Glossary
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH
• Footnotes