Reviews
…Of Witness In Palestine
Even those who are familiar with the grim reality of the occupied territories will quickly be drawn into a world they had barely imagined by these vivid, searingly honest, intensely acute portrayals of unflagging courage, wanton cruelty, and enduring faith that through non-violent resistance fundamental decency will somehow prevail -- an outcome that lies very much in our hands. I cannot find words to express my admiration for the solidarity workers and peacemakers, international and Israeli, and the people of Palestine whom they are supporting in their struggles to survive and to overcome.
With photos, maps and exquisite prose, Anna Baltzer's memoir transports readers into the unfathomable reality of occupation, while inspiring hope for the future of Palestine. Baltzer's dedication and steadfast commitment are evident in the breadth of her encounters with various forms of the Occupation. From settlement violence and wanton arrests of young men to environmental destruction, she interweaves her personal chronicles with astute analysis of the larger context in which these assaults are taking place. Her profound and penetrating insight offers an important and timely perspective on the role internationals have in Palestine's struggle.
Anna Baltzer makes the bitter medicine of truth more palatable for an audience not accustomed to it, while adhering to as accurate an account of reality as possible. Baltzer is a true gem for the growing Palestine solidarity movement in the U.S.
Anna Baltzer has endeavored to know and understand the suffering of Palestinians under occupation, and the fear of Israelis in search of security. Her conclusions are for individuals to debate, but the essential truth of her journey cannot be denied.
Eloquent, sincere and powerful.
Baltzer has a true passion to educate and act for justice in Palestine.
Perhaps the most comprehensive and accessible in-print collection of an international’s experience in the West Bank, Witness in Palestine combines Baltzer’s compelling first-hand accounts with her prolific photography, maps, and detail. An essential resource that documents her experiences between 2003 and 2007, made more powerful by her own narrative as a Jewish-American.
Scores of beautiful and heartbreaking color photographs accompany Baltzer’s lively and detailed journal entries, which take the reader through the hardship and horror of the occupation… Baltzer also writes with respect and admiration for the Palestinians who practice nonviolent direct action every day of their lives. Further, she candidly details several encounters she has with Israeli soldiers, at times remaining calm and at others becoming infuriated by their words and actions. Baltzer herself exhibits commendable courage in choosing to walk with Palestinians in difficult and even life-threatening situations, including nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall. In addition to her reports on the day-to-day life of an activist in Palestine, Baltzer writes on broader issues such as nonviolence and Zionism.
To read Anna Baltzer's searching, passionate, intelligent memoir is to understand the occupation of Palestine—it is to experience its resonance back to the generation of the Nakba and forward to today's growing movement of nonviolent resistance. You meet the people she has met—loving, stirring portraits of mothers, fathers, farmers, activists—all warriors for peace. To accept Baltzer's invitation to accompany her on this journey is to be challenged, enriched, and changed forever.
Anna Baltzer's groundbreaking book, Witness in Palestine, is one of the most comprehensive, moving and informative accounts of daily life for Palestinians living under the Israeli Occupation. With vivid photographs to complement her riveting text, Baltzer's outstanding and handsomely-produced book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know what is really going on in the Holy Land.
Anna Baltzer's Witness in Palestine is a profoundly solemn and courageous work. In clear-eyed, riveting prose and photos, she reveals both the unrelenting oppressions that Palestinians continue to endure under occupation and their implacable resistance to dehumanization. Seeing Palestine through Baltzer's eyes should move us all to follow her example: to join the international struggle to end Israel's occupation and ensure justice for all.
Witness in Palestine is an inspiring account of a courageous truth-seeking journey. Anna Baltzer exemplifies strength and hope through her passion and commitment for human rights and the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Anna Baltzer is among the most remarkable people I've had the good fortune to meet while writing and speaking on the Israel-Palestine conflict. She's smart, she's genuine and she's indefatigable. Her personal odyssey of discovery and commitment chronicled in Witness in Palestine is also the story of many young Jews who now find it impossible to defend the indefensible in Israel and Palestine. This honest, engaging and at times provocative memoir is a call to action for us all at a time when it is more critical than ever to end the occupation and Israeli impunity.
Whether you have been to Palestine or watched the reality from afar, this book is a must-read. It is deeply engaged with the suffering of the occupied Palestinians, while at the same time it is an accurate, informative, and incisive report of the reality on the ground. It is more than anything else a humane perspective on the evils that decades of occupation have inflicted on the people of Palestine. Anna's humanity corresponds constantly and movingly with real people in their daily struggle for freedom, dignity, and hope. Whether you are well-versed on the subject or new to it, you cannot allow yourself to skip this compassionate analysis, assisted by invaluable statistics, maps, and facts that make one feel, once more, bewildered by how this monstrosity can still continue today.
Anna Baltzer's Witness in Palestine has been a crucial reference work for me for many years. Well-written, thorough, and searingly detailed, its words, maps and photos are an extraordinary resource for learning and teaching about what is happening in Palestine. Entirely rooted in what she has seen with her own eyes, with a deep respect for the reader's process of discovery, it nevertheless blazes with her passion for justice. Through her example, and that of so many courageous Palestinians, Israelis, and international activists that are described in the book, it is also an inspiring call to action.
Baltzer's moving and vivid memoir tells the story of the daily struggle along the Wall in the West Bank, with stories and pictures that capture not just the hardships, but also the resilience of the Palestinian people. It also tells the story of courageous internationals like Baltzer, dedicating their time and energy to the struggle of the suffering, who give many of us hope that, with the people of the world working together, justice and peaceful coexistence in Israel/Palestine are possible.
By combining a lucid and captivating text with artistic photography, this book draws you into the life of an average Palestinian living under exceptional circumstances of occupation, oppression, and colonization. This vivid account is also a deeply personal story that will inspire you not only to have hope but to actively seek and work for peace and justice.”
Anna Baltzer's Witness in Palestine is a firsthand account of the devastating details of Israel's myriad of occupation policies. The severe violations of human rights detailed in this account summon readers to join the movement for change. Along with a compassionate account of Palestinian suffering under policies of dispossession and ethnic cleansing, Baltzer shares her experience of hundreds of acts of nonviolent resistance that provide great hope for change.
If you want to know what life is like in the Occupied Territories, read Witness in Palestine! This book is so alive and in-the-moment, do not be surprised if you suddenly find yourself sitting in a home having tea with a Palestinian family or demonstrating for the most basic of human rights against a powerful military. Radiating immense integrity and honesty, this is one of the most informative books ever written on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Numerous photographs add to a truly courageous work. A magnificent achievement that will take you on a journey uniting your thinking mind with your feeling heart!
As Anna Baltzer confronts the reality of the Israeli Occupation on the pages of Witness in Palestine, she is forced to reevaluate the blind allegiance to Israel that is the political orthodoxy of her Jewish American roots. In her steadfast stand for the universal human rights of all people, she serves as an example of how we can work together as one international community to create a shared future of justice and peace for us all.
Witness in Palestine is a classic of the western struggle to understand the Israel/Palestine conflict; it has a place on my shelves alongside Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pappe, Shlomo Sand, and Avi Shlaim. The greatness of this book is that it offers a pathway to all those who feel overwhelmed by the complications and emotions surrounding the conflict but still want to understand; for they can walk in Baltzer's shoes as she sets out to document Palestinian conditions with patience and devotion and unending compassion. In the process, we get to see Baltzer's transformation from a youthful believer in the virtue of the Jewish state to an intellectual critic of the role of Zionism in Jewish, American, and Palestinian life. When people ask how and why the American conversation on these issues has changed, Baltzer¿s book is a big part of the answer.
Anna Baltzer epitomizes the most salient qualities of the effective peace-maker: commitment backed up by hard-won analysis; an ability to translate experience ‘on the ground’ into visual imagery and compelling narrative; advocacy based on a deep passion for justice; and, most importantly, an ability to humanize both Palestinian suffering and resistance. Her book, Witness in Palestine, like the rest of her work, is indispensable.
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