Violence in the Holy Land: Witnessing the Conflict in the Middle East

Violence in the Holy Land was written primarily by Israelis and Palestinians in writing workshops in New York and New Jersey the summer of 2002, with additional stories solicited from Israel and the West Bank. Following an introduction by Robert Wolf that gives the historical background to the ongoing conflict, the stories alternate between Palestinian and Israeli perspectives, point and counterpoint, culminating in a personal essay by Marcia Kanry, leader of the New York Dialogue Project, in which she brings together Jews and Arabs to listen to each other’s stories. The structure of Violence in the Holy Land mirrors the structure of successful dialogue and illuminates, from multiple perspectives, the issues and tensions of ensnaring the opposing sides.