What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less
A stunningly accomplished debut graphic novel, HOW TO UNDERSTAND ISRAEL IN 60 DAYS OR LESS is Sarah Glidden's charming and funny travel memoir of her trip through Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Masada and other historic locales, brought to life with lush watercolors in all of their quirky and breathtaking detail.
At the same time, ISRAEL is a sensitive, deeply thoughtful and personal examination of a highly charged issue, an account of a journey Sarah never expected to take. Her experience clashes with her preconceived notions again and again, particularly when she tries to take a non-chaperoned excursion into the West Bank. As she struggles to "understand Israel," Sarah is forced to question first her beliefs, then ultimately her own identity.
Sarah Glidden won the prestigious Ignatz Award for "Most Promising New Talent" as well as the Masie Kukoc Award for Comics Inspiration. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies.
At the same time, ISRAEL is a sensitive, deeply thoughtful and personal examination of a highly charged issue, an account of a journey Sarah never expected to take. Her experience clashes with her preconceived notions again and again, particularly when she tries to take a non-chaperoned excursion into the West Bank. As she struggles to "understand Israel," Sarah is forced to question first her beliefs, then ultimately her own identity.
Sarah Glidden won the prestigious Ignatz Award for "Most Promising New Talent" as well as the Masie Kukoc Award for Comics Inspiration. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
91 people are currently reading
4019 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Glidden
9 books195 followersSarah Glidden was born in 1980 in Massachusetts and earned a BFA in painting at Boston University. Her first graphic novel, How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, was published by Vertigo Comics in 2010 and was featured in the Best American Comics series. It is now published by Drawn and Quarterly, as is her second book, Rolling Blackouts, which will be released in October, 2016. Glidden has created comics for The Guardian, Ha'aretz, and the Nib. She currently lives in Seattle.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 557 reviews
August 28, 2016
Stylistically the book is well made, but the political message you get from it is distorted. The author went on a free Birthright trip to Israel, organised by the Israeli state. Her guides on this tour turn out to be less biased than she thought beforehand and therefore she thinks they are credible. Almost everyone she talks to during this trip gives her a better understanding of why Israel is not a racist state (the apartheid laws which deny basic rights to Palestinians are not mentioned) why occupation and the wall are pittyful but necessary (the fact that Israel is violating 65 UN-resolutions in doing so is not mentioned) and so on. The worst thing is : in this book the Palestinian side of the story is never heard. Since i travelled to both Israel and the Westbank myself, i know that the security issues of Israelis compare to nothing when confronted with the horror of Palestinian reality.
August 26, 2016
This is a really good little memoir of a trip to Israel by a what you might call “conflicted” 26 year old American Jewish woman of the liberal-left persuasion. It’s a meditation and an anguished mulling on all things Israel. Permit me, then, to co-mull.
When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 called for Israel to be wiped off the map, it wasn’t an original thought, he was quoting Ayatollah Khomeini. But the Ayatollah wasn’t the first either, not by a long way. The dramatically-named Tiglath-Pileser III, King of the Assyrians, decided to do just that and then went right on ahead and did it in 750 BC – zap, no more Israel. There one minute, gone the next.
But in around 140 BC Israel came back again and lasted under the Greeks, Macedonians, Persians and Romans as a little bitty client state until they got on the nerves of another potentate who thought Israel should be wiped off the map, and it was so wiped in 70 AD by the Roman Emperor Vespasian. And stayed wiped until 1948.
During that long period, a phrase was invented by Christians and later taken up by Jews :
A land without people for a people without land.
That was a description of Palestine. And alas, there’s the rub. The country wasn’t without people. Whoever came up with that idea?
The tumultuous events of 1947/48 were not the first time that an indigenous population living in Palestine was expelled by Jewish insurrectionists. In the Bible we read that Yahweh (Jehovah) promised the land of Canaan to the Israelites – they had escaped from bondage in Egypt but had no place of abode, they had been wandering in the desert. The whole story is in Joshua. You get verses like this :
And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
Some major ethnic cleansing, right there, all approved by God.
Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State in 1896. At first, he wasn’t immediately attracted to the idea of creating a state for Jews in Palestine. He was thinking – Argentina sounds nice. Thirty years later, Adolf Eichmann and Heinrich Himmler were kicking around the idea of a Jewish state too, somewhere to ship these Jews off to. They thought : maybe Madagascar. That sounds do-able.
As Sarah Glidden is shepherded on her (very) guided tour, she’s fed what she immediately labels “propaganda” by the guides. E.g. she huffs on p 95:
Another speech about the poor victimized Jews who bravely built something out of nothing.
She can be quite scathing and dismissive. (And so can I.)
Er.
Let’s backtrack, just like Sarah Glidden’s book keeps doing. You have to, you start thinking about this big problem, and you get all tangled up. You have to keep starting again.
The way the problem is often stated is like this – in 1947 the UN plan was a Two State Solution. The UN Palestine mandate (maybe I should say that the UN got their hands on Palestine because after WW1 the Ottoman Empire collapsed, I hope that makes sense) would be partitioned between Israel and Palestine. But the Palestinians rejected that. (Well-worn Jewish comment : “the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity”). Now, you know, what could be fairer? The territory is disputed? Civil war? Okay, one part will be for you guys, and the other part for you guys. How could the Palestinians be so self-destructively blind as to reject this?
Ha.
Well, imagine you have a house and you take in lodgers. Then the lodgers sub-let. They say they have an extended family who need a place to stay. They say they’re going to need most of the house. In fact, they say they have some documents somewhere which prove the house is actually theirs. Outrageous! So you all go to court. The judge regards both groups and says – “you will now own one half of the house, and these guys will own the other half. Now stop all this squabbling. Case dismissed.”
That’s fair isn’t it? Well, no – it really isn’t – it was your damned house!
By what right did the Jews declare an independent state of Israel in 1948? There are three answers:
a) It was realpolitik – they seized the moment, they succeeded by force of arms; might was right (this “might” proceeding from a bunch of refugees from the Holocaust, a very extraordinary circumstance). By what right did any King or Emperor claim to rule? By force of arms.
b) This was always their land, God gave it to them, it’s in the Bible
c) They had no right. This was somebody else’s country! (Jews in Palestine, 1947 : 608,000; Arabs in Palestine, 1947 : 1,292,000 i.e. nearly 70% of the total population).
But after dossing around in other people’s countries for 1,878 years and being tolerated at best and massacred at worst, after all that, and then the United Nations says yes, we agree, you should get your own country and it should be right there, do you think the Jews in Palestine in 1947 are going to say well, we’re not sure about this, maybe later, we’ll get back to you.
And round and round and round we go
To weave a wall to hem us in
(Neil Young)
The amusingly ironic title of this memoir tells you that of course Sarah is not going to be able to untangle this most Gordian of geopolitical knots. Right now, I don’t think there’s a solution. But – hey, at one time I said the same thing about Northern Ireland, and look what happened there. And also I thought you’d never get majority rule in South Africa without a bloodbath, and I was wrong about that too. My previous pessimism sometimes makes me cautiously optimistic.
When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 called for Israel to be wiped off the map, it wasn’t an original thought, he was quoting Ayatollah Khomeini. But the Ayatollah wasn’t the first either, not by a long way. The dramatically-named Tiglath-Pileser III, King of the Assyrians, decided to do just that and then went right on ahead and did it in 750 BC – zap, no more Israel. There one minute, gone the next.
But in around 140 BC Israel came back again and lasted under the Greeks, Macedonians, Persians and Romans as a little bitty client state until they got on the nerves of another potentate who thought Israel should be wiped off the map, and it was so wiped in 70 AD by the Roman Emperor Vespasian. And stayed wiped until 1948.
During that long period, a phrase was invented by Christians and later taken up by Jews :
A land without people for a people without land.
That was a description of Palestine. And alas, there’s the rub. The country wasn’t without people. Whoever came up with that idea?
The tumultuous events of 1947/48 were not the first time that an indigenous population living in Palestine was expelled by Jewish insurrectionists. In the Bible we read that Yahweh (Jehovah) promised the land of Canaan to the Israelites – they had escaped from bondage in Egypt but had no place of abode, they had been wandering in the desert. The whole story is in Joshua. You get verses like this :
And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
Some major ethnic cleansing, right there, all approved by God.
Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State in 1896. At first, he wasn’t immediately attracted to the idea of creating a state for Jews in Palestine. He was thinking – Argentina sounds nice. Thirty years later, Adolf Eichmann and Heinrich Himmler were kicking around the idea of a Jewish state too, somewhere to ship these Jews off to. They thought : maybe Madagascar. That sounds do-able.
As Sarah Glidden is shepherded on her (very) guided tour, she’s fed what she immediately labels “propaganda” by the guides. E.g. she huffs on p 95:
Another speech about the poor victimized Jews who bravely built something out of nothing.
She can be quite scathing and dismissive. (And so can I.)
Er.
Let’s backtrack, just like Sarah Glidden’s book keeps doing. You have to, you start thinking about this big problem, and you get all tangled up. You have to keep starting again.
The way the problem is often stated is like this – in 1947 the UN plan was a Two State Solution. The UN Palestine mandate (maybe I should say that the UN got their hands on Palestine because after WW1 the Ottoman Empire collapsed, I hope that makes sense) would be partitioned between Israel and Palestine. But the Palestinians rejected that. (Well-worn Jewish comment : “the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity”). Now, you know, what could be fairer? The territory is disputed? Civil war? Okay, one part will be for you guys, and the other part for you guys. How could the Palestinians be so self-destructively blind as to reject this?
Ha.
Well, imagine you have a house and you take in lodgers. Then the lodgers sub-let. They say they have an extended family who need a place to stay. They say they’re going to need most of the house. In fact, they say they have some documents somewhere which prove the house is actually theirs. Outrageous! So you all go to court. The judge regards both groups and says – “you will now own one half of the house, and these guys will own the other half. Now stop all this squabbling. Case dismissed.”
That’s fair isn’t it? Well, no – it really isn’t – it was your damned house!
By what right did the Jews declare an independent state of Israel in 1948? There are three answers:
a) It was realpolitik – they seized the moment, they succeeded by force of arms; might was right (this “might” proceeding from a bunch of refugees from the Holocaust, a very extraordinary circumstance). By what right did any King or Emperor claim to rule? By force of arms.
b) This was always their land, God gave it to them, it’s in the Bible
c) They had no right. This was somebody else’s country! (Jews in Palestine, 1947 : 608,000; Arabs in Palestine, 1947 : 1,292,000 i.e. nearly 70% of the total population).
But after dossing around in other people’s countries for 1,878 years and being tolerated at best and massacred at worst, after all that, and then the United Nations says yes, we agree, you should get your own country and it should be right there, do you think the Jews in Palestine in 1947 are going to say well, we’re not sure about this, maybe later, we’ll get back to you.
And round and round and round we go
To weave a wall to hem us in
(Neil Young)
The amusingly ironic title of this memoir tells you that of course Sarah is not going to be able to untangle this most Gordian of geopolitical knots. Right now, I don’t think there’s a solution. But – hey, at one time I said the same thing about Northern Ireland, and look what happened there. And also I thought you’d never get majority rule in South Africa without a bloodbath, and I was wrong about that too. My previous pessimism sometimes makes me cautiously optimistic.
September 15, 2017
"In Israel, every person is a soldier, it's true. But every soldier is a person. And maybe we make mistakes. And maybe we do things you don't like, but we love this country. It has problems, yes, but we want to solve them."–Tour Guide at Independence Hall, Tel Aviv
This was an interesting travelogue and graphic memoir. Israel is a subject that has always baffled me. I just don't get it all. There are so many components to why it is in the state that it's in today. Glidden decides to take a "Birthright Israel" tour of Israel to learn about her roots and where she stands on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. She's determined not to come home a convert to Zionism, and throughout this book we are subjected to her inner struggle to accept that each side of the conflict has its points. It's not black and white. This very thing grated on my nerves eventually. This is a slim but dense comic. It tackles some tough subjects, but I didn't emerge with a full sense of understanding. Debating whether to pick up her sequel: Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Hmm...
This was an interesting travelogue and graphic memoir. Israel is a subject that has always baffled me. I just don't get it all. There are so many components to why it is in the state that it's in today. Glidden decides to take a "Birthright Israel" tour of Israel to learn about her roots and where she stands on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. She's determined not to come home a convert to Zionism, and throughout this book we are subjected to her inner struggle to accept that each side of the conflict has its points. It's not black and white. This very thing grated on my nerves eventually. This is a slim but dense comic. It tackles some tough subjects, but I didn't emerge with a full sense of understanding. Debating whether to pick up her sequel: Rolling Blackouts: Dispatches from Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Hmm...
June 20, 2020
I was excited to read this book because my college-age daughter will be traveling to Israel over the summer.
This is a graphic travelogue of a 60 day trip to Israel by a young female hipster from Brooklyn NY (Williamsburg). The narrator is a progressive, liberal 26-yr-old. A secular Jew with antagonistic feelings towards Israel. Concerned for the plight of Palestinian people and critical of the Jewish state, she takes this free trip to Israel, in part to reaffirm her opinions.
I really really wanted to love this book but jeez, this author has to be one of the most irritating, smug personalities. She is so self-righteous, intolerant and judgemental to the point of ad nauseum. She feels compelled to make everyone she comes into contact with agree with her opinions in a condescending, preachy attitude, because, after all, her opinions are the right ones. Other parts were just long-winded and boring.
By the end of the book she is in the same place that she started. No deeper understandings, nothing new to offer us, just her still conflicted thoughts, only written out in comic book form.
Disappointing.
This is a graphic travelogue of a 60 day trip to Israel by a young female hipster from Brooklyn NY (Williamsburg). The narrator is a progressive, liberal 26-yr-old. A secular Jew with antagonistic feelings towards Israel. Concerned for the plight of Palestinian people and critical of the Jewish state, she takes this free trip to Israel, in part to reaffirm her opinions.
I really really wanted to love this book but jeez, this author has to be one of the most irritating, smug personalities. She is so self-righteous, intolerant and judgemental to the point of ad nauseum. She feels compelled to make everyone she comes into contact with agree with her opinions in a condescending, preachy attitude, because, after all, her opinions are the right ones. Other parts were just long-winded and boring.
By the end of the book she is in the same place that she started. No deeper understandings, nothing new to offer us, just her still conflicted thoughts, only written out in comic book form.
Disappointing.
August 2, 2012
I'm torn over whether I prefer self-reflective to personally obtuse autobiography. Authors of the former recognize the deep fictionality involved in autobiography at a foundational level and tend to play with such self-cognizance. Readers are then saved some of the work1 of discovering author bias and framing their interpretive grid around that. The story becomes less an exploration of a personal history and more an invited journey into the way a particular person perceives the world they inhabit. The non-self-aware autobiography, on the other hand, still in some sense features those same details and the questions they raise—only in a hidden or secretive way. Rather than actively promote self-evaluation, these other brands of autobiography drive the reader to focus on the romance of events instead.
So while I'm not sure which type I prefer generally, I'm glad that Sarah Glidden decided to write the self-reflective autobiography How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less. As it's a book about the instability of opinion based on ignorance and complexity, Glidden's ability to focus on her own re-evaluations and conflicting emotions helps sell the narrative she's chosen to put forth. No one will come away from her book understanding Israel or its place on the world stage; but they will be left with a powerful explanation of why people have a hard time knowing what to do with a nation that is simultaneously despicable, noble, ancient, racist, beautiful, ugly, and deeply and abidingly ethnocentric.
If I wrote a memoir about my experience as an American, it might play off similarly. Only maybe with less crying.2
Birthright is a ten-day, organized tour of Israel offered to young adults of direct Jewish decent. Its proposed purpose is to foster comfortability between the Jewish inhabitants of Israel and the ethnically Jewish in foreign nations. Over 80% of birthright participants are Americans. Sarah Glidden was one of these—though she only agreed to participate reluctantly.
[Israel would undoubtedly be able to garner much more affection for their little imperialist endeavors if they rode into battle on the backs of dinosaurs. Get on that, Israel.]
Glidden, as she reveals herself in the character of Sarah, sees international politics from a leftist or progressive perspective. Before travelling to Israel, she becomes well-acquainted with the nation's human-rights record (especially in regard to what she considers their foul treatment of the Palestinian people). Before her trip, she's very antagonistic and cynical toward the whole endeavor—and views birthright as a propagandistic means of brainwashing the young Jewish into adoring a fundamentally broken imperialistic system. Before her trip, she reads up as much as she can about birthright trips, so she'll know what to expect and how to best guard against the poisoning of her mind/heart/soul. (Sarah has a lot at stake. Beyond her political convictions, her boyfriend is Arabic.) How to Understand Israel is somewhat the story of whether Sarah will succumb to the charms and emotional resonance of the birthright trip.
Glidden illustrates her story in a loose, crumbling style of pen-work that, if intentional, adds to the story-like quality of her recollections, pushing the reader to further see her memoir as a fictionalization of reality. Her colouring is all watercoloured (or some digital approximation thereof) and adds further to the dreamlike quality inhabiting her narration. This is fitting as Sarah, from almost story's beginning, meanders through her ten-day tour as some kind of somnambulist. Much of her trip is built out of warm dreams and crisp nightmares. She's never in any real danger, but we do get the sense that despite her vigilance she could at any step fall to the narrative her minders hope to sell her on: that the situation is more complicated than she believes.
[Murky presuppositions: they'll get you every time.]
While Sarah finds herself well-guarded against the corny, overt propaganda of some of the museums and demonstrations her tour group encounters, she has less defense against the hearts of the proletariat. It's the reasonable tour guide who thinks Israel's treatment of Palestinians is deplorable; it's the empathetic young Israeli soldier who thinks Israel's treatment of Arab people is inherently racist; it's all those Israelis she encounters who don't come off as fundamentalists but still have reasons they believe they need walls and guns and curfews that really threaten to erode Sarah's clear moral high ground.
How to Understand Israel isn't a book intending to answer or solve any questions for the reader. It's simply an exploration of Sarah's (and perhaps even Glidden's) reaction to (and interaction with) a series of perceptions that run counter her expectations. How will she respond? Will her convictions crumble? Will she embrace Israel? Will she forgive Israel the abusive identity it's molded for itself? Will she concede that the nation has a right to exist as a Jewish state? Will her cynicism poison her friendships? Will it poison even her own soul?
This is where the book's value lies—as the story of an individual stuck by the arbitrary caprice of genetic fate into the middle of a ridiculous international-historical Situation. If people (and the method by which people live in the world) are of any interest to you, then How to Understand Israel will at the least provide fascinating reading. It may even offer more: an education in empathy? a lesson in historical complexities and narrative ambiguity? an encounter with people you might not otherwise understand? So much the better.
Notes
1. "We're saved some of the work of discovering author bias."
Of course, just because an author makes a play at self-awareness, that doesn't mean she is perfectly so. Even her self-awareness must be read as biased and narrowly perspectival.
2. "Only maybe with less crying."
Glidden cries a substantial amount of the time. This is not a judgment. I merely found it remarkable (i.e. something to remark upon) and wasn't sure whether to read it as Glidden being a very emotional person or as the birthright trip being a powerful catalyst for emotional release. Quite probably, the truth lies somewhere between those two things (we aren't privy to seeing many other traveller's tearful breakdowns).
_____________________
[Review courtesy of Good Ok Bad]
January 17, 2025
Review to come :)
April 26, 2018
How to understand Israel? Talk to actual Palestinians.
November 21, 2011
If you're a progressive secular American Jewish woman from the east coast in her late 20's who is inquisitive and socially aware, who is struggling with the classic American dichotomy of how to criticize conservative American foreign policy while "sticking up for Israel" (a philosophical conflict that eventually gave the US the Neoconservative political movement) then this is probably your book. Sarah seems like the stereotypical eastern liberal elite, hating George W. Bush enough to leave the US after his re-election to live in Spain for a year, and despite realizing she had no reason to actually be there, still feels like she has no place in the US because--I dunno, because George W. Bush was just so not her, I guess, or whatever the Bushaters had fueling them. She has a Muslim boyfriend and lives in the too-cool Williamsburg neighborhood--where she's an artist, natch. She is Jewish, albeit secular. As such she feels a kinship with Israel. But as a "progressive" she feels the usual pull of arguments about Israel being an occupying, aparthied-like aggressor suppressing the rights of the native Palestinians. It's unsettling for her. So she takes advantage of the Birthright program to spend a few weeks in Israel on someone else's nickel, in hopes it will help her un-muddle her thinking. She talks a good friend into going who has never been out of the US before. And she steels herself for a brainwashing, expecting to be bombarded with propaganda at every corner designed to turn her into a raging Zionist by trip's end.
What she finds, apparently, is the same thing that anyone who's been to Israel says: it's not that simple. There is a complexity to the situation she cannot really grasp. She realizes she isn't so high-and-mighty herself despite what she thought; that she's not above simple prejudices, that, for example, keep her from following up on a planned tour of the West Bank (you know, to see "behind the curtain"). She sees that there's a diversity of opinion, too, even among Israelis, on what's right and what's not. Perhaps she matures a little and gives up her Young Turk standoffishness, realizing that it's easy to form such neat and clean opinions while living in a bubble of like-minded people, but that real life is far messier. Along the way she makes some interesting observations, especially about the youth of the early chalutzim and how they could have just as easily been kids from her high school.
Despite her self-deprecating tone, there's still a preachiness to this that I wonder betrays whether she really did "transform" much. She tries to present an historical background to frame her experience, explaining the context in which things came about, occasionally trying to separate those historical facts from the rhetorical spin of her tour guides. This is a great idea, but history isn't unbiased, either. One of her stated references for her background research (she provides citations in the back) comes from The Guardian, not generally known as a nice middle-of-the-road newspaper with an even slant towards Israel. Other sources sound a bit too much like Wikipedia or random Googling. She makes some strange statements that I'm not sure are correct, like her assertion that the early settlers must have been shocked to see Hebrew characters used outside of practiced Torah reading in schul. I guess she never heard of Yiddish...?
But I'm hardly an expert on these things myself and have never traveled to Israel. I am also neither Jewish nor an east-coast progressive (thought I live amongst them ;) So it's possible this book's navel-gazing, coupled with some subtle historical spin, wasn't really meant for me. I will say she did capture well the essence of being young, confused, and inquisitive, and how that mix affects the experience of traveling during that time of life. The loose-associations that come and go, the missed opportunities because your mind wasn't in the moment, the peripheral crises of those around you (she picks up, then drops, a thread about how that friend that's never been out of the US before is very sensitive to that fact--if this was a novel, I'd say dropping the thread would seem sloppy, but in real life that is exactly how these things happen, so it's probably accurately represented here) and the false starts and cul-de-sacs that ultimately mean nothing (her after-Birthright experience just peters off into a somewhat meaningless blob of touristy wandering, ultimately ending up in Istanbul, for no apparent reason)--these things seem unsettled, but I'm sure that's exactly how they played out. This isn't a screenplay, so there isn't a guarantee that we'll have neat resolutions.
In fact it's clear at the end nothing was resolved, and some things are left completely unanswered--like, did she and her Muslim boyfriend stick it out, or did they wind up fighting because he suspected she was "brainwashed" since she was no longer so one-sided in her criticisms of Israel? Probably these things aren't even resolved yet in her own life. I think capturing that, while making for a confusing tour for a reader used to there being "a point," is a nice thing since this, again, is how such a trip really goes.
What that leaves us with, then, is what exactly this book is: a little travel memoir. Nothing earth-shattering, no great epiphanies, no deep understanding; just a conversation captured in graphic form, of one woman's trip to Israel and some of its impact on her then-current thinking. Whether you'd consider this "essential reading" or not, or somehow any different than anything else penned by Birthright alumni, I guess ultimately depends on who and what you are and what you're struggling with. The closer you are to Sarah's situation, the more this will probably hit home. For most of us, though, it's probably not at all essential reading; my suggestion is to take it or leave it.
What she finds, apparently, is the same thing that anyone who's been to Israel says: it's not that simple. There is a complexity to the situation she cannot really grasp. She realizes she isn't so high-and-mighty herself despite what she thought; that she's not above simple prejudices, that, for example, keep her from following up on a planned tour of the West Bank (you know, to see "behind the curtain"). She sees that there's a diversity of opinion, too, even among Israelis, on what's right and what's not. Perhaps she matures a little and gives up her Young Turk standoffishness, realizing that it's easy to form such neat and clean opinions while living in a bubble of like-minded people, but that real life is far messier. Along the way she makes some interesting observations, especially about the youth of the early chalutzim and how they could have just as easily been kids from her high school.
Despite her self-deprecating tone, there's still a preachiness to this that I wonder betrays whether she really did "transform" much. She tries to present an historical background to frame her experience, explaining the context in which things came about, occasionally trying to separate those historical facts from the rhetorical spin of her tour guides. This is a great idea, but history isn't unbiased, either. One of her stated references for her background research (she provides citations in the back) comes from The Guardian, not generally known as a nice middle-of-the-road newspaper with an even slant towards Israel. Other sources sound a bit too much like Wikipedia or random Googling. She makes some strange statements that I'm not sure are correct, like her assertion that the early settlers must have been shocked to see Hebrew characters used outside of practiced Torah reading in schul. I guess she never heard of Yiddish...?
But I'm hardly an expert on these things myself and have never traveled to Israel. I am also neither Jewish nor an east-coast progressive (thought I live amongst them ;) So it's possible this book's navel-gazing, coupled with some subtle historical spin, wasn't really meant for me. I will say she did capture well the essence of being young, confused, and inquisitive, and how that mix affects the experience of traveling during that time of life. The loose-associations that come and go, the missed opportunities because your mind wasn't in the moment, the peripheral crises of those around you (she picks up, then drops, a thread about how that friend that's never been out of the US before is very sensitive to that fact--if this was a novel, I'd say dropping the thread would seem sloppy, but in real life that is exactly how these things happen, so it's probably accurately represented here) and the false starts and cul-de-sacs that ultimately mean nothing (her after-Birthright experience just peters off into a somewhat meaningless blob of touristy wandering, ultimately ending up in Istanbul, for no apparent reason)--these things seem unsettled, but I'm sure that's exactly how they played out. This isn't a screenplay, so there isn't a guarantee that we'll have neat resolutions.
In fact it's clear at the end nothing was resolved, and some things are left completely unanswered--like, did she and her Muslim boyfriend stick it out, or did they wind up fighting because he suspected she was "brainwashed" since she was no longer so one-sided in her criticisms of Israel? Probably these things aren't even resolved yet in her own life. I think capturing that, while making for a confusing tour for a reader used to there being "a point," is a nice thing since this, again, is how such a trip really goes.
What that leaves us with, then, is what exactly this book is: a little travel memoir. Nothing earth-shattering, no great epiphanies, no deep understanding; just a conversation captured in graphic form, of one woman's trip to Israel and some of its impact on her then-current thinking. Whether you'd consider this "essential reading" or not, or somehow any different than anything else penned by Birthright alumni, I guess ultimately depends on who and what you are and what you're struggling with. The closer you are to Sarah's situation, the more this will probably hit home. For most of us, though, it's probably not at all essential reading; my suggestion is to take it or leave it.
July 4, 2011
Wait, really?!
Ms. Glidden reluctantly heads to Israel on a Birthright trip, eager to explore (if not confirm) her antagonistic views of Israeli policies.
Initially concerned about the plight of Palestinians and critical of the Jewish state, Ms. Glidden's preconceptions are slowly but steadily put to the test during her time in Israel. Through a series of emotional events, the author is led to reevaluate how she understands Israel, its people and its history.
Despite setting out on this journey anxious to visit the West Bank and peek behind the 'veil,' Ms. Glidden never gets a chance (or takes the chance) to venture out of Israel proper.
So, she leaves Israel with just as many questions as she arrived, but, now fully equipped with the Israel narrative.
Too bad she didn't take the time to hear both sides.
Ms. Glidden reluctantly heads to Israel on a Birthright trip, eager to explore (if not confirm) her antagonistic views of Israeli policies.
Initially concerned about the plight of Palestinians and critical of the Jewish state, Ms. Glidden's preconceptions are slowly but steadily put to the test during her time in Israel. Through a series of emotional events, the author is led to reevaluate how she understands Israel, its people and its history.
Despite setting out on this journey anxious to visit the West Bank and peek behind the 'veil,' Ms. Glidden never gets a chance (or takes the chance) to venture out of Israel proper.
So, she leaves Israel with just as many questions as she arrived, but, now fully equipped with the Israel narrative.
Too bad she didn't take the time to hear both sides.
November 17, 2011
What a weird book for me to read.
If not for Alaina, this wouldn't have even touched my radar.. at all. For starters, I'm not religious in the slightest so that alone is enough to turn me off of this book. Also, I have no fundamental knowledge of what's going on in Israel. Well, I know that there is what appears to be a conflict with no end in sight, but other than that - nothing.
Don't confuse my lack of knowledge with a lack of interest, however, as I've always been interested in "what's going on over there". When the topic comes up in any conversation (which trust me is rare), I usually refrain from giving an opinion in an effort to mask my ignorance. While I'm not a fairly political guy - and I'll be the first to proclaim my apathy towards international issues - I'd like to have some sort of basic understanding. So when this book was recommended (and combined with the attractive title), I gave it a shot.
Now, I don't want to give anyone the impression that after I put this down I declared myself an authority on all Palestinian/Israeli matters. If anything, I doubt I'll ever fully understand it. I can say that Glidden at least gave me an idea of what all this fighting is over and that's a whole lot better than what I knew before hand.
Her story is an interesting one and while at times I found her overly dramatic, I can't say that I can tell her how she should act in this kind of environment. I really respect that while she admitted to having a huge bias upon starting her journey, she ended without beating over your head who is "right" and who is "wrong".
Why the 3 stars? I guess because when you break down the star system, 3 stars translates into "I liked it". So while I thought the artwork was beautifully done, I can't see this really having an impact on me in the long term.
If not for Alaina, this wouldn't have even touched my radar.. at all. For starters, I'm not religious in the slightest so that alone is enough to turn me off of this book. Also, I have no fundamental knowledge of what's going on in Israel. Well, I know that there is what appears to be a conflict with no end in sight, but other than that - nothing.
Don't confuse my lack of knowledge with a lack of interest, however, as I've always been interested in "what's going on over there". When the topic comes up in any conversation (which trust me is rare), I usually refrain from giving an opinion in an effort to mask my ignorance. While I'm not a fairly political guy - and I'll be the first to proclaim my apathy towards international issues - I'd like to have some sort of basic understanding. So when this book was recommended (and combined with the attractive title), I gave it a shot.
Now, I don't want to give anyone the impression that after I put this down I declared myself an authority on all Palestinian/Israeli matters. If anything, I doubt I'll ever fully understand it. I can say that Glidden at least gave me an idea of what all this fighting is over and that's a whole lot better than what I knew before hand.
Her story is an interesting one and while at times I found her overly dramatic, I can't say that I can tell her how she should act in this kind of environment. I really respect that while she admitted to having a huge bias upon starting her journey, she ended without beating over your head who is "right" and who is "wrong".
Why the 3 stars? I guess because when you break down the star system, 3 stars translates into "I liked it". So while I thought the artwork was beautifully done, I can't see this really having an impact on me in the long term.
October 11, 2010
There is a certain type of young progressive intellectual who over-thinks and over-talks everything, who has elaborate opinions on things he or she has no actual experience of, and who is perfectly willing to take costly handouts (like an all-expenses-paid trip to the Holy Land) even while expecting to bite the hand that feeds it. And one of the charms of Sarah Glidden’s travel-memoir graphic novel is that she has no qualms in portraying herself as just such a character--often greatly annoying, but only occasionally unlikable.
How to Understand Israel… is the first graphic novel I’ve read in a very long time that kept me interested throughout and that I can recommend to just about anyone. But then I also like really “talky” films, too, like My Dinner with Andre, Mindwalk, and Before Sunrise. And the art here is great. The only reason I never read the Persepolis books was because the art looked so flat and dull (and I was glad to hear Art Spiegelman concur with this). By contrast, Glidden’s art is simple only at first glance. Once you’ve spent a few minutes with the book, you quickly see her talent with layouts and with figures.
Most importantly, Glidden does a fine job of creating a great “tension of ideas” here, which convincingly portrays the trouble of the Israel/Palestine conflict and why there are no easy solutions. She frequently voices her own knee-jerk opinions to other characters in the book and then sees those opinions torn to shreds by facets of the situation she hasn’t bothered to consider. And, of course, as a storyteller she does allow some personal prejudice to slip by unanswered. At one point early in the book she characterizes as “offensive” a comment by her tour guide--“We have a saying here: ‘The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss and opportunity.’” Yet several pages later she smugly calls some Christians, who are practicing water baptism in the Jordan River, “visiting wildlife.” And there are a few instances where, conveniently, she never has to confront someone who might really shake up her personal beliefs (a believed “anti-gay” character turns out to be pro-gay; Glidden allows a potential, daring visit to a Palestinian neighborhood to fall through; etc.) Yet Glidden reveals far more than she conceals here, and the result is a challenging, eye-opening book.
How to Understand Israel… is the first graphic novel I’ve read in a very long time that kept me interested throughout and that I can recommend to just about anyone. But then I also like really “talky” films, too, like My Dinner with Andre, Mindwalk, and Before Sunrise. And the art here is great. The only reason I never read the Persepolis books was because the art looked so flat and dull (and I was glad to hear Art Spiegelman concur with this). By contrast, Glidden’s art is simple only at first glance. Once you’ve spent a few minutes with the book, you quickly see her talent with layouts and with figures.
Most importantly, Glidden does a fine job of creating a great “tension of ideas” here, which convincingly portrays the trouble of the Israel/Palestine conflict and why there are no easy solutions. She frequently voices her own knee-jerk opinions to other characters in the book and then sees those opinions torn to shreds by facets of the situation she hasn’t bothered to consider. And, of course, as a storyteller she does allow some personal prejudice to slip by unanswered. At one point early in the book she characterizes as “offensive” a comment by her tour guide--“We have a saying here: ‘The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss and opportunity.’” Yet several pages later she smugly calls some Christians, who are practicing water baptism in the Jordan River, “visiting wildlife.” And there are a few instances where, conveniently, she never has to confront someone who might really shake up her personal beliefs (a believed “anti-gay” character turns out to be pro-gay; Glidden allows a potential, daring visit to a Palestinian neighborhood to fall through; etc.) Yet Glidden reveals far more than she conceals here, and the result is a challenging, eye-opening book.
December 20, 2018
Recently attended a session in office about India Israel relationship and similarities, taken by the Consul General of Israel. Though the session was focused on leadership, it generated a lot of curiosity about Israel's life and culture in a conflict laden environment.
An American girl of Jewish origin goes for a 10 day trip to Israel, to reconnect and introspect about her roots. She gets skeptical and confused because the facts about Israel and Jews presented in the tour are biased… and more so for her own prejudice against them.
Reading this wouldn't have been as much fun, if not for my buddies - Google and Wiki :) For they enlightened me with a lot of esoteric vocabulary to set the context in multiple conversations:
Birthright Israel = A sponsored 10 day trip for Jews with *TnC Apply.
Hasidic Judaism = A Jewish religious group prominent in Israel and the USA.
Shabbat = Judaism's rest day (kiddush = blessing recited to sanctify Shabbat; Havdalah = recitation marking end of Shabbat; Challah = a special bread consumed especially during Shabbat)
Kosher = food items permitted during the Shabbat
Halakha (Halachah) = Jewish religious law
Torah = First five books consisting the origin of Jewish peoplehood, their covenant with God, trials and tribulations
Aliyah = Jew immigration to Israel
Dreyfus Affair = Jew political scandal 1894-1906
Kishinev Program = anti-Jew riot of 1903 in Russian Empire.
Zionism = national movement to create a Jewish sovereign.
Kibbutz = collective agricultural based community.
Sitting Shiva = week long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives.
Bat Mitzvah = Jewish coming of age ritual for girls.
Yeshiva = Jewish institution focusing on traditional religious texts - like Talmud and Torah.
Purim = Jew fest similar to Halloween.Ashkenazi Jews; Koenig memorandum.
Yitzhak Rabin = Former PM who was assassinated
Oslo Accords = Peace agreement with Palestinian leadership
Shoah = Holocaust
Intifada = rebellion/revolution
1st Intifada = Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation
2nd Intifada = triggered by Ariel Sharon's Temple Mount in 2000
Want to follow this up with Palestine by Joe Sacco.
An American girl of Jewish origin goes for a 10 day trip to Israel, to reconnect and introspect about her roots. She gets skeptical and confused because the facts about Israel and Jews presented in the tour are biased… and more so for her own prejudice against them.
Reading this wouldn't have been as much fun, if not for my buddies - Google and Wiki :) For they enlightened me with a lot of esoteric vocabulary to set the context in multiple conversations:
Birthright Israel = A sponsored 10 day trip for Jews with *TnC Apply.
Hasidic Judaism = A Jewish religious group prominent in Israel and the USA.
Shabbat = Judaism's rest day (kiddush = blessing recited to sanctify Shabbat; Havdalah = recitation marking end of Shabbat; Challah = a special bread consumed especially during Shabbat)
Kosher = food items permitted during the Shabbat
Halakha (Halachah) = Jewish religious law
Torah = First five books consisting the origin of Jewish peoplehood, their covenant with God, trials and tribulations
Aliyah = Jew immigration to Israel
Dreyfus Affair = Jew political scandal 1894-1906
Kishinev Program = anti-Jew riot of 1903 in Russian Empire.
Zionism = national movement to create a Jewish sovereign.
Kibbutz = collective agricultural based community.
Sitting Shiva = week long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives.
Bat Mitzvah = Jewish coming of age ritual for girls.
Yeshiva = Jewish institution focusing on traditional religious texts - like Talmud and Torah.
Purim = Jew fest similar to Halloween.Ashkenazi Jews; Koenig memorandum.
Yitzhak Rabin = Former PM who was assassinated
Oslo Accords = Peace agreement with Palestinian leadership
Shoah = Holocaust
Intifada = rebellion/revolution
1st Intifada = Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation
2nd Intifada = triggered by Ariel Sharon's Temple Mount in 2000
Want to follow this up with Palestine by Joe Sacco.
August 16, 2011
In the same genre as French Milk and To Timbuktu Nine Countries Two People One True Story young people traveling around the world graphic novel memoir. (Who knew there were so many?) This book was a pleasure to read. She really put herself into the story but not excessively. She illustrated beautifully the scenery, the people, as well as her own thoughts, feelings, doubts, desires, etc. She expressed her concern and confusion (as a Jew dealing with the Palestinian/Israel conflict) and therefore wasn't trying to pound you over the head with some kind of huge moral or life lesson. And yet the book still felt satisfying, even though there wasn't a tidy ending. I think another difference between her book and the others was that she was a bit older and therefore more mature (and less entitled and whiny). Who wants to read about whiny brats?! But young thoughtful travelers, that I can get into.
July 10, 2018
I read this is one afternoon and evening. I was blown away by the incredible watercolour art and deeply introspective storytelling.
“How can I feel connection to a place that causes so much suffering ?”
Sarah Glidden, in this autobiographical retelling of her Birthright Israel experience ,captures the internal tumult of her struggle in questioning her religion and heritage. The story is not black and white but instead is a twisted vine of complex emotion.
This book deserves mention in the same breath as the work of Joe Sacco and Guy DeLisle. Each unique as artists yet similar in their focus on trying to understand the conflict in the region.
“How can I feel connection to a place that causes so much suffering ?”
Sarah Glidden, in this autobiographical retelling of her Birthright Israel experience ,captures the internal tumult of her struggle in questioning her religion and heritage. The story is not black and white but instead is a twisted vine of complex emotion.
This book deserves mention in the same breath as the work of Joe Sacco and Guy DeLisle. Each unique as artists yet similar in their focus on trying to understand the conflict in the region.
December 29, 2018
So, where to start? Reading through the other reviews I couldn't help but have a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to a lot of the negatives that kept coming up. As a woman with opinions I still spend waaaay too much time worrying that other people think I'm coming on too strong. I mean, please forgive me for actually caring about all the people who are dying and stuff etc. So yeah, I never for an instant thought that Glidden was being preachy or bitchy or anything, but I'm sort of biased like that.
That said, I don't think that we would have much of a book without Glidden and her opinions. The entire book centers around her thoughts as she goes to visit Israel for the first time. If we aren't following her "angsting" what are we going to be doing? Not following her opinion enough is actually one of the biggest failings of the book to my mind, because at the end of the story we wrap up when the trip wraps up but we aren't any closer to understanding even Glidden's opinion let alone feeling like we understand Israel that much more then when we started.
Of course, that is the point of the story right. That "it's complicated" gets repeated over and over and over again because it's pretty true I guess. On the other hand, that's a shit excuse to just not do anything - which seems to be what most of the other characters in the story are using it for. I get that Glidden is ultimately left with less to go on then when she started, but even including some more specifics about the kinds of actions that are going on to bring peace to the area would have been nice. Even I, without very much knowledge of the area, know of a handful of organizations actively working towards reconciliation and I think hopefulness can never be overrated.
Not to say that I didn't learn anything from this comic. I generally found Glidden's thoughts and conversations to be really interesting and educational. I appreciated the fairly level headed and civil way in which she approached the topic. I would have just liked a bit more hope and action is all.
Once again, like in many of the other graphic memoirs I've read, I was really impressed by Glidden's honesty. She doesn't shy away from the big questions, or make herself out to be 100% perfect. Putting yourself out there as a flawed human being is pretty brave and I think it's what keeps bringing me back to these things despite the fact I keep saying no more memoirs!
The art for the book was nice, but the page layouts were pretty basic. Certainly not the worst thing in the world, it really fits with the tone of the book so there's really no room to complain. While there is also a lot of text, it's generally broken up enough in conversation that I never felt like it was super text-heavy.
That said, I don't think that we would have much of a book without Glidden and her opinions. The entire book centers around her thoughts as she goes to visit Israel for the first time. If we aren't following her "angsting" what are we going to be doing? Not following her opinion enough is actually one of the biggest failings of the book to my mind, because at the end of the story we wrap up when the trip wraps up but we aren't any closer to understanding even Glidden's opinion let alone feeling like we understand Israel that much more then when we started.
Of course, that is the point of the story right. That "it's complicated" gets repeated over and over and over again because it's pretty true I guess. On the other hand, that's a shit excuse to just not do anything - which seems to be what most of the other characters in the story are using it for. I get that Glidden is ultimately left with less to go on then when she started, but even including some more specifics about the kinds of actions that are going on to bring peace to the area would have been nice. Even I, without very much knowledge of the area, know of a handful of organizations actively working towards reconciliation and I think hopefulness can never be overrated.
Not to say that I didn't learn anything from this comic. I generally found Glidden's thoughts and conversations to be really interesting and educational. I appreciated the fairly level headed and civil way in which she approached the topic. I would have just liked a bit more hope and action is all.
Once again, like in many of the other graphic memoirs I've read, I was really impressed by Glidden's honesty. She doesn't shy away from the big questions, or make herself out to be 100% perfect. Putting yourself out there as a flawed human being is pretty brave and I think it's what keeps bringing me back to these things despite the fact I keep saying no more memoirs!
The art for the book was nice, but the page layouts were pretty basic. Certainly not the worst thing in the world, it really fits with the tone of the book so there's really no room to complain. While there is also a lot of text, it's generally broken up enough in conversation that I never felt like it was super text-heavy.
December 13, 2018
At some points it hit me that this might be my closest encounter with Israil; Through illustrated frames. I started reading it by the purpose of hearing something from the other side. Instead I ran into a seemingly fair and almost impartial story, that doesnt give you any answers, just narrates (and simultaneously criticises) the story, and leaves the concluding part to you.
I'm sure I will go back to this book someday probably really soon.
Keep in mind, you might need some pre-data which will be found on the very last page of this book.
I'm sure I will go back to this book someday probably really soon.
Keep in mind, you might need some pre-data which will be found on the very last page of this book.
December 18, 2015
I might be a bit biased (okay, a lot biased) and I have never been on birthright but I had A LOT of issues with this graphic novel.
---
Really unnecessary slut shaming...
The narrator has a pretty negative attitude about, well, everything. She is really conceited and makes no attempt to hide her I-am-better-than-you, I-know-more-than-you attitude. She is constantly pushing her beliefs on everyone or judging those who don’t have a firm stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If you didn’t abandon every friend, family, or job you had prior to your birthright experience by submerging yourself in research - you pretty much fail at being a well educated global citizen.
Sarah is constantly sarcastic and rude and genuinely unwilling to see others' point of views although she is delusion the entire novel into thinking she is being open to others(?!).
Then leave.
I was going to give this two stars but once Sarah started complaining about Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum) and was completely unappreciative my rating dropped down to one star.
(page 173) - A girl in her group complains about Palestinians being in Israel and all Sarah does is comment that she’s from Orange County and completely disregards and discredits her beliefs - the author makes her up to be some uneducated valley girl rather than someone who has a differing opinion from her own...
The only part I liked about the book was Rabbi Hartman’s speech towards the end.
Other than that, this is a horrible read. Sarah is a stuck up, well to-do New York hipster who thinks too highly of herself (REALLY, the entire conflict is doomed forever because you ripped your piece of paper at the Wall... REALLY??).
---
“It’s just an excuse for girls to dress like sluts.” (page 84)
Really unnecessary slut shaming...
The narrator has a pretty negative attitude about, well, everything. She is really conceited and makes no attempt to hide her I-am-better-than-you, I-know-more-than-you attitude. She is constantly pushing her beliefs on everyone or judging those who don’t have a firm stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If you didn’t abandon every friend, family, or job you had prior to your birthright experience by submerging yourself in research - you pretty much fail at being a well educated global citizen.
"Another speech about the poor victimized Jews who bravely built something out of nothing.” (page 95)
Sarah is constantly sarcastic and rude and genuinely unwilling to see others' point of views although she is delusion the entire novel into thinking she is being open to others(?!).
"And now all these people here are telling me that this is my home? Well, maybe I don’t want it!" (page 103)
Then leave.
I was going to give this two stars but once Sarah started complaining about Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum) and was completely unappreciative my rating dropped down to one star.
(page 173) - A girl in her group complains about Palestinians being in Israel and all Sarah does is comment that she’s from Orange County and completely disregards and discredits her beliefs - the author makes her up to be some uneducated valley girl rather than someone who has a differing opinion from her own...
The only part I liked about the book was Rabbi Hartman’s speech towards the end.
Other than that, this is a horrible read. Sarah is a stuck up, well to-do New York hipster who thinks too highly of herself (REALLY, the entire conflict is doomed forever because you ripped your piece of paper at the Wall... REALLY??).
February 10, 2012
Wow, another great book. Three for three! Woo hoo!
In March, 2007, Sarah Glidden took her Birthright tour of Israel. Her book is about that tour.
So what is a Birthright tour? This is from the birthrightisrael.com website:
"Taglit-Birthright Israel provides a gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26 from around the world. Taglit Birthright Israel is a unique partnership between private philanthropists through The Birthright Israel Foundation; the people of Israel through the Government of Israel; and Jewish communities around the world (North American Jewish Federations, Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Agency for Israel)."
My understanding is that if you are Jewish and meet the age requirements, you can apply for a free, supervised, tour under of Israel through the birthright program. Pretty cool!
What I really like about the book is the way Ms. Glidden was very upfront about her concerns about the way the state of Israel has treated the Palestinians. One example of this is her disapproval of the wall that has been built to seperate Israelis from the Palestinians. It has cut farmers off from their land, made it harder to move around, and divided the region. But, as another character pointed out, bombings went from twice a month to a just a couple a year - the wall did increase security, at the cost of unrestricted movement.
Over the course of the book, you see through her eyes, just how complicated the issue is. By the end, you get the idea that her view of Israel have changed. She is not necessarily pro-Israel, but she is a lot more aware of why things are the way they are. She becomes pro-Peace through the coures of her tour.
Anyway, Stacy and I talked about going to Israel someday. I think, based on this book, that I would love to go and see for myself.
Shalom!
In March, 2007, Sarah Glidden took her Birthright tour of Israel. Her book is about that tour.
So what is a Birthright tour? This is from the birthrightisrael.com website:
"Taglit-Birthright Israel provides a gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26 from around the world. Taglit Birthright Israel is a unique partnership between private philanthropists through The Birthright Israel Foundation; the people of Israel through the Government of Israel; and Jewish communities around the world (North American Jewish Federations, Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Agency for Israel)."
My understanding is that if you are Jewish and meet the age requirements, you can apply for a free, supervised, tour under of Israel through the birthright program. Pretty cool!
What I really like about the book is the way Ms. Glidden was very upfront about her concerns about the way the state of Israel has treated the Palestinians. One example of this is her disapproval of the wall that has been built to seperate Israelis from the Palestinians. It has cut farmers off from their land, made it harder to move around, and divided the region. But, as another character pointed out, bombings went from twice a month to a just a couple a year - the wall did increase security, at the cost of unrestricted movement.
Over the course of the book, you see through her eyes, just how complicated the issue is. By the end, you get the idea that her view of Israel have changed. She is not necessarily pro-Israel, but she is a lot more aware of why things are the way they are. She becomes pro-Peace through the coures of her tour.
Anyway, Stacy and I talked about going to Israel someday. I think, based on this book, that I would love to go and see for myself.
Shalom!
July 28, 2011
I first read How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less via the two chapbooks self-published by the author, Sarah Glidden, a couple of years ago. As a native New Yorker, I have always lived in multicultural neighborhoods and attended schools where Jews were my friends, friendly rivals and occasionally outright enemies. Much of my complicated dynamics were shaped by my religious upbringing, first as a Conservative Baptist, then as a nominal Christian, then as a Muslim convert. In the church of my youth, it was never made clear if Jews were also going to heaven, but they were certainly simultaneously revered as the chosen of God and yet reviled as inimical to Christians, since Jews didn't regard Jesus as the Messiah. As well, as someone of Javanese ancestry, I've often felt a kinship with Jews insofar as trying to live a life of the mind. Indeed, since my best friend for many years was a Jewish woman, I used to arrogate myself as being somewhat of an expert on Jewish culture. So: what the more full version of Ms. Glidden's memoir does for me is remind me of my development since childhood, of the one-step-forward, two steps back evolution in understanding. And it resonates for me insofar as in the different directions cultural and religious identity can pull you.
January 7, 2021
If I could give this book zero stars, I would. But it deserves one star for educating me on the propaganda machine that the birthright trip is and on how Israel programs Jews around the world to view Palestinians as second class, barbaric and violent people. Thank for you the insight.
May 3, 2011
Glidden creates a graphic memoir of the Birthright Israel trip she took when she was 26. She goes to satisfy her obsession with the Israel question and to see first hand what is going on. Although she attempts to keep objectivity, she is very sympathetic to the suffering of the Palestinians and their prior claims to homeland before the Jews returned, and is quick to see injustices everywhere she looks.
Glidden captures the mixture of bemusement, interest, and loathing that one feels for fellow travelers on a package tour. She captures her own mental state well, too, but at times this is a liability, as she comes across as a bit too much like a college kid wracked with emotions over political events in which she isn't that directly involved and over which she exerts too little control. Sometimes I just wanted to scream, it isn't about you.
The artwork in this graphic novel is only so-so. It reminded me of a watered down version of the old For Better or Worse comic strip, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. It's consistently bland, where sometimes the narrative could use something edgier.
This is a good introduction to questions of Israel. The bus trip takes the travelers to the Golan Heights, Masada, Tel Aviv, and the Jerusalem sights, as well as to several different kibbutz. Although much is made of it, Glidden never got to the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. As they travel, Glidden blends in most of the major historical events of Israel in the 20th century.
Overall, this would work best for readers with little knowledge of Israeli/Palestinian events who would like to know the basics.
Glidden captures the mixture of bemusement, interest, and loathing that one feels for fellow travelers on a package tour. She captures her own mental state well, too, but at times this is a liability, as she comes across as a bit too much like a college kid wracked with emotions over political events in which she isn't that directly involved and over which she exerts too little control. Sometimes I just wanted to scream, it isn't about you.
The artwork in this graphic novel is only so-so. It reminded me of a watered down version of the old For Better or Worse comic strip, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement. It's consistently bland, where sometimes the narrative could use something edgier.
This is a good introduction to questions of Israel. The bus trip takes the travelers to the Golan Heights, Masada, Tel Aviv, and the Jerusalem sights, as well as to several different kibbutz. Although much is made of it, Glidden never got to the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. As they travel, Glidden blends in most of the major historical events of Israel in the 20th century.
Overall, this would work best for readers with little knowledge of Israeli/Palestinian events who would like to know the basics.
October 20, 2011
So in a comic memoiry/travelogue type thing it is like 80% tone, and the tone of this was perfect -- unsure, searching, personally open without being confessional/dramatic/or high faluting. It talked about politics and controversial history without over-informing or making you take the same stance that she sort of was taking.
Glidden went on a Birthright trip. She was very skeptical of Israel beforehand, and becomes only slightly less so -- realizing the sort of "you can't entirely understand a thing unless you're of it" thing and sort of making a little peace with that. The few moments where she gets really moved by her confusion -- these are my people, this is my thing, but no, wait, there are so many reasons why not. They're really beautiful and not overdone.
Also, her art! I love it! I love the color, I love the eyes, I love her tentative schlumpiness and the emanating kindness of her best friend on the trip.
There are some complaints of length and repetition, but it wouldn't have been the great, honest book it was if had fixed those things. So, yay. Five starsing it up.
Glidden went on a Birthright trip. She was very skeptical of Israel beforehand, and becomes only slightly less so -- realizing the sort of "you can't entirely understand a thing unless you're of it" thing and sort of making a little peace with that. The few moments where she gets really moved by her confusion -- these are my people, this is my thing, but no, wait, there are so many reasons why not. They're really beautiful and not overdone.
Also, her art! I love it! I love the color, I love the eyes, I love her tentative schlumpiness and the emanating kindness of her best friend on the trip.
There are some complaints of length and repetition, but it wouldn't have been the great, honest book it was if had fixed those things. So, yay. Five starsing it up.
June 4, 2015
This is a delightfully and refreshingly written graphic novel, one that reminded me in tone of Megan McNeill Libby's equally endearing "Postcards from France." Since I myself spent a total of five to six weeks in Israel in two separate trips since March, I found lots that resonated with me. Sarah, the autobiographical protagonist, started her Taglit-sponsored birthright visit to Israel with much the same liberal political and social perspectives that I have, so it was easy for me to identify with her. And her reactions to what she experienced paralleled mine as well. She made friends, she listened, she thought a lot, and she came away, as did I, with a better appreciation of the complexities of the situation. The book wisely provides more questions than answers, but the right questions are extremely important right now. Sarah herself is still confused by the end of the book but despite remaining true to her core beliefs has learned important things. And in the process she's endeared herself to me. (Near the end, there's also a really good scene in which she is surprised by a lecture given by a rabbi.) Highly recommended!
July 9, 2013
Probably closer to 3.5.
I liked it, but have no interest in returning to it.
I think I'd have enjoyed it more were I a secular American Jew, but as a secular American non-Jew, I mostly wanted to smack Sarah around at the beginning. It only got slightly better at the end.
I liked it, but have no interest in returning to it.
I think I'd have enjoyed it more were I a secular American Jew, but as a secular American non-Jew, I mostly wanted to smack Sarah around at the beginning. It only got slightly better at the end.
September 8, 2015
Never possible to read enough to understand the whole mess. Also relevant right now to the global conversations around immigration and refugees.
March 6, 2024
March 2024: How to Understand Israel in 60 days or less.
I feel Sarah has the same points as Dalia in The Lemon Tree; confused, and struggling as she was born a Jew and a peace lover. Almost all her conversations with the Israelis ended with a consolable remark, 'agree to disagree' sort.
This is OK provided the truth is revealed. But this is a memoir of her birthright trip to Israel. Imho, to understand Israel, you need to read both sides of the story.
I learnt new things anyway. That the birthright trip is FREE, Masada and the perception of the Arab Quarter. Also, Sarah's resisting thoughts on the conflict are important to make readers delve more into this issue.
I feel Sarah has the same points as Dalia in The Lemon Tree; confused, and struggling as she was born a Jew and a peace lover. Almost all her conversations with the Israelis ended with a consolable remark, 'agree to disagree' sort.
This is OK provided the truth is revealed. But this is a memoir of her birthright trip to Israel. Imho, to understand Israel, you need to read both sides of the story.
I learnt new things anyway. That the birthright trip is FREE, Masada and the perception of the Arab Quarter. Also, Sarah's resisting thoughts on the conflict are important to make readers delve more into this issue.
August 19, 2022
Learned a lot! Also appreciated the watercolor art style, but a lot of text on each page; would have been easier to read with less text per panel/ bigger font.
April 9, 2015
This was absolutely fascinating, there is a ton of historical and cultural information touched on in this book that is presented in a really interesting and engaging way. Sarah is an American Jew, by heritage more than religious conviction, who takes a birthright trip to Israel. A birthright trip is a free trip to the motherland for non-Israeli Jews allowing them to reconnect with their people and culture.
Aside from being a Jew, Sarah is also a very left liberal, a term she CONSTANTLY labels herself with...yes it was annoying. Before making the trip to Israel, Sarah has researched 'the conflict' extensively (by 'the conflict' I mean the political turmoil of the middle east aka Israel VS Palestine...duh where have you been?!) Anyway, Sarah has some pretty strong Anti-Israel stances because....she's a liberal dammit and that's what liberals do, they hate 'evil Israel' and praise 'poor Palestine'. Throughout the book Sarah meets several non-liberals who are actually well-spoken, intelligent, and *gasp* pretty objective. Although there are several examples of these pro-Israel characters NOT being evil caricatures, Sarah seems awed and surprised each and every time she meets one.
This is the kind of thinking that boggles my mind, Sarah comes to Israel thinking that she knows it all, and throws a fit every time someone, who actually LIVES in Israel, has a different opinion. She becomes incensed with people who are more conservative, judging them before she even knows them.
For example, there is a Republican on the birthright trip that she pretty much avoids at all costs because she heard second hand that he 'doesn't believe in gay people'. When she is forced to talk to him she realizes that he isn't homophobic and his words were taken completely out of context. He's actually a very open minded, self-aware guy. Gee, imagine that!
Sarah came across as incredibly naive, as if she alone was enlighten and had the solution to a conflict that is thousands of years old.
As annoyed as I was with Sarah, I do think that towards the end she kind of realized she was being ignorant, kind of. I mean, she wrote the book and gave a voice to people that she didn't agree with, which tells me she walked away with a little more perspective. Still she is dismissive and patronizing towards the other people on the trip, including her friend. Her snobbish attitude towards things beyond just 'the conflict' often made me wish I had a different narrator, but then she would have a true epiphany or moment of growth, and I found myself somewhat endeared. Regardless of my love/hate relationship with the character, she was well informed and certainly passionate about the topic. I admired both.
Overall, this was a good read. Sarah does a great job of incorporating the history of Israel into the birthright experience. Sarah the character was incredibly biased but Sarah the author was thoughtful, reflective, and objective, even when it came to pointing out her own flaws. Respect!
The author does a fantastic job of explaining a very complex conflict, that has many layers. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the Middle East, Israel, or Palestine. It felt both intimate and expansive. A job well done!
Part of my 2015 Special 50 Book challenge- A Nonfiction Book
Aside from being a Jew, Sarah is also a very left liberal, a term she CONSTANTLY labels herself with...yes it was annoying. Before making the trip to Israel, Sarah has researched 'the conflict' extensively (by 'the conflict' I mean the political turmoil of the middle east aka Israel VS Palestine...duh where have you been?!) Anyway, Sarah has some pretty strong Anti-Israel stances because....she's a liberal dammit and that's what liberals do, they hate 'evil Israel' and praise 'poor Palestine'. Throughout the book Sarah meets several non-liberals who are actually well-spoken, intelligent, and *gasp* pretty objective. Although there are several examples of these pro-Israel characters NOT being evil caricatures, Sarah seems awed and surprised each and every time she meets one.
This is the kind of thinking that boggles my mind, Sarah comes to Israel thinking that she knows it all, and throws a fit every time someone, who actually LIVES in Israel, has a different opinion. She becomes incensed with people who are more conservative, judging them before she even knows them.
For example, there is a Republican on the birthright trip that she pretty much avoids at all costs because she heard second hand that he 'doesn't believe in gay people'. When she is forced to talk to him she realizes that he isn't homophobic and his words were taken completely out of context. He's actually a very open minded, self-aware guy. Gee, imagine that!
Sarah came across as incredibly naive, as if she alone was enlighten and had the solution to a conflict that is thousands of years old.
As annoyed as I was with Sarah, I do think that towards the end she kind of realized she was being ignorant, kind of. I mean, she wrote the book and gave a voice to people that she didn't agree with, which tells me she walked away with a little more perspective. Still she is dismissive and patronizing towards the other people on the trip, including her friend. Her snobbish attitude towards things beyond just 'the conflict' often made me wish I had a different narrator, but then she would have a true epiphany or moment of growth, and I found myself somewhat endeared. Regardless of my love/hate relationship with the character, she was well informed and certainly passionate about the topic. I admired both.
Overall, this was a good read. Sarah does a great job of incorporating the history of Israel into the birthright experience. Sarah the character was incredibly biased but Sarah the author was thoughtful, reflective, and objective, even when it came to pointing out her own flaws. Respect!
The author does a fantastic job of explaining a very complex conflict, that has many layers. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the Middle East, Israel, or Palestine. It felt both intimate and expansive. A job well done!
Part of my 2015 Special 50 Book challenge- A Nonfiction Book
February 3, 2011
Everyone does their graphic novel travelogue differently. That's one of the things I love about them. Some do a moment in time capture in a comic a day as they travel. Some combine short stories and collages and sketches from their trip after the fact. In Glidden's case, she has created a more-or-less play-by-play retelling of her trip to Israel, including her own personal struggles on the journey.
I enjoyed watching Glidden struggle through finding perspective on the Israel vs. Palestine conflict during her journey, but something about it kept me from personally identifying or being affected emotionally. I've been to Israel (granted, about half my life ago), and I spent most of the book trying to recognize places. Of course, things have changed a bit and I wasn't very successful most of the time. I found the maps slightly confusing, since special locations were pulled out but didn't have any meaning yet. Maybe footsteps showing her route might have helped with that particular issue? Also, my own niggling annoyance was that the photo of Glidden at the beginning of the book makes her looks extremely brunette, but in her illustrations she's distinctly light brown/blondeish. Not that it should matter, but it annoyed. I really appreciated her attempt to be even handed on the debate and expose her true feelings to this extent. It really did help me get a better more well rounded perspective on the conflict.
I'm trying to put my finger on what stopped me from going over the top into loving this book. Maybe it was the anticlimactic nature of her journey itself? Maybe it was the illustration style, which felt a touch utilitarian (particularly when depicting people) to me? I really did appreciate seeing Israel through secular Jewish eyes, since my exposure has been distinctly Christian. Maybe it was the lack of cultural details? Glidden is so focused on her mission of reconciling her brain to a particular perspective on the conflict, that the joy of the journey kind of gets lost on the way. Granted, Israel is definitionally a pretty darn westernized country, so it's not a place where you get a page of weird toilets (cf. Comics Trips). But in the earnestness, there's a loss of whimsy, excitement, and wanderlust that I really missed. Yeah, I think that's it.
I enjoyed watching Glidden struggle through finding perspective on the Israel vs. Palestine conflict during her journey, but something about it kept me from personally identifying or being affected emotionally. I've been to Israel (granted, about half my life ago), and I spent most of the book trying to recognize places. Of course, things have changed a bit and I wasn't very successful most of the time. I found the maps slightly confusing, since special locations were pulled out but didn't have any meaning yet. Maybe footsteps showing her route might have helped with that particular issue? Also, my own niggling annoyance was that the photo of Glidden at the beginning of the book makes her looks extremely brunette, but in her illustrations she's distinctly light brown/blondeish. Not that it should matter, but it annoyed. I really appreciated her attempt to be even handed on the debate and expose her true feelings to this extent. It really did help me get a better more well rounded perspective on the conflict.
I'm trying to put my finger on what stopped me from going over the top into loving this book. Maybe it was the anticlimactic nature of her journey itself? Maybe it was the illustration style, which felt a touch utilitarian (particularly when depicting people) to me? I really did appreciate seeing Israel through secular Jewish eyes, since my exposure has been distinctly Christian. Maybe it was the lack of cultural details? Glidden is so focused on her mission of reconciling her brain to a particular perspective on the conflict, that the joy of the journey kind of gets lost on the way. Granted, Israel is definitionally a pretty darn westernized country, so it's not a place where you get a page of weird toilets (cf. Comics Trips). But in the earnestness, there's a loss of whimsy, excitement, and wanderlust that I really missed. Yeah, I think that's it.
April 18, 2019
For all its whimsical aspirations, How to Understand Israel is far more half-socio-political commentary, half millennial-lite bildungsroman than anything. Firmly contrasting the naïve aspirations of a flimsy progressive mindset with the steely eyed realism of historical functionality, the narrative itself feels a backdrop to the far more important discussions concerning the immensely complicated history of the state of Israel. With the past's echoes abounding as the arrivals in the present locations manifest, the result is a strongly saturated political fare moreso, than what it’s travelogue-like title would lead one to believe.
With the prima facie passed so to does the story dash forward with its self-propelled narrative. With little impetus beyond a simple “just cuz” (not to mention the FREE aspect of the trip) less acquainting one with one’s heritage than yet another pointless post-graduation/gap-year+ spools the protagonist all across Israel. Dashing from her New York homestead all the way to the singular democracy in the Middle East, our relatively bland protagonist continually finds her cute idealisms crushed by repeating instances which intertwine the forces of History and RealPolitik alike. Pincered by the pressures of past and their reverberations to the very real here and now, the frayed edges of a youthful dreamworld find themselves continually wore down.
In fact with such seemingly perfectly timed rebuttals to the constant nagging of Liberals and Progressives alike, this tome could very well have been devised as a piece of Israeli propaganda.
In either case, an ostensibly Eat/Pray/Love derived type of affair (which evidently came out the same year) has all the visual trappings of a travelogue but is a deeply political work. Bound by its thick cords of history, Israel’s past and present bind themselves first to the protagonist and then to ourselves with a thousand Gordian Knots. I doubt any degree of Lateral thinking will ever bring about a positive solution to the crisis of the Modern Middle East but, a dash of critical thinking+ will allow you to understand this comic (in all its surprisingly vast levels of complexity) at a far deeper level than its mere comicness would seem to otherwise entail.
With the prima facie passed so to does the story dash forward with its self-propelled narrative. With little impetus beyond a simple “just cuz” (not to mention the FREE aspect of the trip) less acquainting one with one’s heritage than yet another pointless post-graduation/gap-year+ spools the protagonist all across Israel. Dashing from her New York homestead all the way to the singular democracy in the Middle East, our relatively bland protagonist continually finds her cute idealisms crushed by repeating instances which intertwine the forces of History and RealPolitik alike. Pincered by the pressures of past and their reverberations to the very real here and now, the frayed edges of a youthful dreamworld find themselves continually wore down.
In fact with such seemingly perfectly timed rebuttals to the constant nagging of Liberals and Progressives alike, this tome could very well have been devised as a piece of Israeli propaganda.
In either case, an ostensibly Eat/Pray/Love derived type of affair (which evidently came out the same year) has all the visual trappings of a travelogue but is a deeply political work. Bound by its thick cords of history, Israel’s past and present bind themselves first to the protagonist and then to ourselves with a thousand Gordian Knots. I doubt any degree of Lateral thinking will ever bring about a positive solution to the crisis of the Modern Middle East but, a dash of critical thinking+ will allow you to understand this comic (in all its surprisingly vast levels of complexity) at a far deeper level than its mere comicness would seem to otherwise entail.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 557 reviews