MANEUVERING BETWEEN THE HEADLINES: An American Lives Through the Intifada

Despite a rather gimmicky title, Motro's book is a lucid and heartbreaking account of what has happened to "everyday life" in Israel in the years since the eruption of the "Second Intifada" in 2000. Motro was a self-described idealistic member of Tel Aviv's liberal intelligentsia: a journalist and teacher at the University of Tel Aviv's faculty of law. For her, the escalating violence began as a series of brutal shocks. The first child killed in the Intifada is the son of a Palestinian man she had known for many years. Her cardiologist husband escapes a bomb only through a last-minute change of plans. Once friendly neighborhoods become no-go zones. Though Motro and her family (including a young daughter) live in a comparatively safe area, the climate of fear and suspicion become pervasive. While she still pursues her activities as a writer and peace activist (which earns her the 2001 Common Ground Award for Journalism in the Middle East), the shock of the beginning soon gives way to a weary, numb acceptance. More than simply an account of lives devastated by an endless cycle of bombing and recrimination, the book records in detail the way in which violence has eroded Israel's civil society, whether wielded against it or in its support. (July 19)