Our Way to Fight: Israeli and Palestinian Activists for Peace

Riordon (An Unauthorized Biography of the World) presents lyrical portraits of nonviolent peace activists from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide. From Israeli draft refusal to Palestinian opposition to Israel's security wall, the efforts to circumvent the occupation and bridge the gaps between the peoples are many and varied, though activists are often forced to retreat in the face of forces in both societies that see cooperation as capitulation. Critically, Riordon includes many representatives of Israel's own Palestinian community—the 20% of Israel's population who are Palestinian but have Israeli citizenship, and are only rarely considered in any treatment of the conflict. Even while maintaining a sober assessment of the difficult road activists face, simply by demonstrating that Israelis and Palestinians can and do work in common cause, Riordon offers an important corrective to the standard tale of an intractable conflict. (May)