By Sarah Beller, J Street’s Director of Education and Programs
Ever notice that the best library is your friend’s bookshelf?
In preparation for winter break, the J Street family has put together this recommended book list with our personal favorites on all aspects of the US-Israel relationship, Israeli history and culture, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and peace-making.
Some new additions include:
* Ari Shavit’s acclaimed bestseller My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, which fuses personal narrative with historical research to shed light on where Israel has come from and where the country is headed at this moment of existential crisis.
* Revenge: A Story of Hope, the poignant 2002 memoir by Laura Blumenfeld, newly appointed head of strategic communications on US Special Envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Martin Indyk’s team.
* A new approach to Israel education and engagement focused on complexity, conversation, empowerment and politics, proposed in Loving the Real Israel by Alex Sinclair of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
* And several fascinating new fiction selections.
So whether you’re planning on curling up with a cup of tea at home this winter break or looking for reading material for a long flight, you may find just what you’re seeking on these pages.
While this list is admittedly not comprehensive (we’ll spare you the encyclopedic version!), we hope you’ll find something here that sparks your curiosity. Note that this is a compilation of suggested reading material, not an endorsement of any particular viewpoint or a statement of J Street policy.
Wishing you a happy and intellectually stimulating new year!