O Jerusalem!

Don’t let the heading dissuade you from reading this book. The reason it was difficult to read was because of the gross amount of injustice that you learn about on the road to Israel’s Statehood.The authors have done a phenomenal job researching such a significant historical event from all sides of the conflict. They are commended for the integritous way which they represented information. With that in mind, there were times the conflicts were so great and the injustices so severe that I had to stop reading in order recollect myself.We have the advantage of looking back over the past several decades to see the fruit of that statehood. Even today, it is hard to understand why there is so much hatred toward the Jewish people of Israel from the Arabs. It is like an irrational tribalism that just is fed from generation to generation.Consider the size of a football field, then place a postage stamp on it. It is the size of Israel compared to all of the Arab countries in that region of the world. Why will those countries not take in the Arabs from Israel? Because the leaders know those people create trouble and they don’t want it.Anyone interested in truly understanding the history of Israel and the conflicts that still run through the Arab Muslim communities and the undercurrent of hatred that will not die, need to read this book. While there are no innocent parties, there are those that aggressively seek to destroy the other to this day.The purpose of this review is not too creative division but stimulate interest to read the book and develop opinions based on factual history.The best way I can summarize my thoughts on this book is a quote from the current Prime Minister:“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more ‎violence. If the Jews put ‎down their weapons ‎today, there would be no ‎more Israe.” Benjamin Netanyahu

Un libro muy ameno de leer, bastante bien documentado y equilibrado, con numerosas fuentes del mundo árabe e israelí y que narra el dramático inicio del moderno Estado de Israel y su primera guerra contra los árabes.

O’Jerusalem is that rare confluence of events that transpire when several unusual circumstances arise to create a compelling and long-lasting masterpiece. First, we have the event itself, the dramatic and tragic story of Jerusalem, the Holy City, torn apart by two opposing sides during the 1948 Arab-Israel war. Second, two journalists, Larry Collins and Dominque Lapierre took the time to conduct hundreds of interviews with key participants over several years, allowing them to publish not only new information that historians rely upon, but visceral accounts that put the reader in the center of the maelstrom. It was extremely fortunate that the two journalists who undertook this task were no ordinary writers, but gifted storytellers. Collins and Lapierre put you front and center in all the momentous events that occurred in such a short period of time: The UN vote to partition Palestine and the joy it caused among the Jews and grief it caused among the Arabs, the battles along the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, highlighted by one attack in late March that nearly caused Jewish Jerusalem to starve, the destruction of the Hurva and fall of the Old City, the two grueling battles of Latrun, the fall of Kfar Etzion, the building of the Burma Road, the massacres at Deir Yassin and Hadassah Hospital. All are recounted in rich, full detail, with their victims, Arab and Jew alike, accorded full sympathy by the authors. These events are not just dramatic, they are important, and their import continued to resonate today. Therefore, if you only read this one book on the entire Arab-Israel conflict, you will have a great starting point, much like if you read the author’s excellent next book, Freedom at Midnight, covering the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 (also highly recommended).I have read well over a hundred books on this subject and can tell you that this is easily among my top five. On a personal note, I was so impressed by the writing style of this book that it was a major influence in writing my own history of Israel. O’Jerusalem is a well-known and richly deserved masterpiece.

A difficult story told About the establishing of the state of Israel in 1948. So many gave their lives for the Freedom they wanted. I had to read this in small portions because of the intensity Of the action going on in the story. Well worth the reed!

This book gave me insight into the ongoing hostilities in Israel and how it all began. The story has no end and will continue until old hatred’s can end. As to the history, I found it fascinating and gripping.

This book is written, so well.It has kept me on the edge of my seat.And provoked emotions that surprised me.I look forward to reading it every day.

It is a piece of common wisdom that every story has two sides and the story of Israel's independence is no exception. Through painstaking research and impressive first hand accounts, Larry Collins has recreated, as faithfully as possible, this incredible story, fraught with intense emotions on both sides. Explanations of where the authors received their information gives this account a legitimacy that allows the reader to decide for themselves the accuracy of the retelling of these events. Building on this impressive research base, the story told is compelling, written in a style that draws the reader in and makes them feel as though then themselves are witnessing the events. It is fast paced, moving back and forth from the Jewish side to the Arab sides, describing the strategies, strengths,and weaknesses of both, from the months leading up to the UN partition vote, to the excruciating war that followed. This book is a must read for anyone wishing to have a foundational, unbiased understanding of the conflicts underwriting the situation in modern Israel and the middle east.