CHAPTER 1
Before I start this book, I want to say who I am and why I write it.
I don't pretend to be objective about Israel. I don't believe anyone is, or can be. There is something in the air of our country that leads to extremes. The light of summer is extreme. So are the rains of winter. The prophets were extreme people indeed, who did not believe in subtle hints. The Hebrew language itself is not given to understatement. Today nearly everything written about Israel is propaganda. Israel is either a holy place, full of upright pioneers, heroic warriors and virtuous maidens, or it is a den of robbers, cruel adventurers and shameless women, who have fallen upon an innocent people and raped a country.
I shall try, in this book, to present a different picture. I believe both sides are human, partly right and partly wrong. I want to show how two great historical movements, both authentic, both imbued with high ideals, clashed on the ancient battlefields of Palestine, vainly trying to destroy each other, suceeding only in twisting each other's souls.
Yet, while trying to do justice to both, I know that, belonging to one side, I shall not be objective. I am an Israeli. Like most of us, I am immensely proud of the achievements of my people in many fields. Like some of us, I am also acutely aware of our shortcomings and failures.
I am an Israeli who believes, passionately, in peace-