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Interview Questions and Answers
With Author/Speaker Amanda Roraback
ABOUT “ISRAEL-PALESTINE
IN A NUTSHELL
Q. Israel-Palestine is
one of the most controversial topics today and you tried
to tackle it by giving both sides of the story. Have
there been any critics?
A. Oh yes. Even
before I began writing the book I received an email
accusing me of using the terms B.C. (Before Christ) and
A.D. (anno domini or “in the year of our lord”)
to designate years rather than the more secular B.C.E.
(“before the common era”) and C.E. (in the “common
era”). Keep in mind that I hadn’t yet put pen to paper!
Q. Which did you use?
A. I finally went
with B.C. and A.D. with a disclaimer at the beginning of
the book stating that “we” (I didn’t want to bear the
entire burden alone) at Enisen Publishing chose to use
B.C. and A.D. rather than B.C.E and C.E. because “we”
felt these initials would be more familiar to our target
audience. The book is geared towards people who know
very little about the area. I felt introducing
unfamiliar terms would only confuse readers.
Q. What are some of the
most contentious issues that you deal with in your book
and in your talks?
A. Well, the word
“Palestine” hits some raw nerves among Israeli
supporters. In one talk I gave at a local library, I
was interrupted as I introduced my topic, “Hi, I’m
Amanda Roraback and I’ll be speaking about the situation
in Israel-Palestine.” “How can you speak about
‘Palestine’ when there is no such thing as ‘Palestine’”
an angry listener complained. The talk went downhill
from there. I was accused of basing my entire book on
the “fantasy that Mohammed was transported to Jerusalem
on a winged-beast.” The man hadn’t read the book but
there is a story in the Koran about Mohammed taking a
Night Journey up to the seven heavens. “Jerusalem” is
never mentioned by name in Islam’s holy book – another
point of contention – but Muslims interpret the Koranic
adjective “al-aqsa” or “farthest” mosque to mean
the site of the temple in Jerusalem. Whether the Koran
is based on truth or not, it’s important to understand
Islamic beliefs to fully grasp the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Luckily, someone else in the audience pointed
out that some stories in the bible: the burning bush,
the parting of the Red Sea, for example, could also be
seen as phantasmagorical.
Also high on the list of
contentious points would be the “right of return.”
The Palestinians feel they should have a right to return
to the homes they left behind in the course of the 1948
and 1967 wars. Why these refugees left their homes in
the first place introduces another controversial issue –
did the Arabs leave the area that eventually became
Israel because of and as a result of Zionist terrorism
or was the flight a result of Arabic persuasion ….it’s a
whole topic in itself.
Right now there are about
4 million Palestinian refugees and 6 million Israelis.
If the Palestinians all returned at once, Israelis fear
it would spell the destruction of Israel as a Jewish
state (it probably would). With the higher birth rate
among Palestinians they would soon outnumber Jews and,
as an Israeli friend put it, “Israel would become just
another Arab state with a Jewish minority.”
Palestinians counter that the offer would be seen as an
important good will gesture and that most Palestinians
wouldn’t move back even if they could.
The
outright rejection of the “Right of Return” by George W.
Bush is all the more poignant in light of the weight of
this issue to Arabs.
Incidentally,
most Palestinians living outside of the area prefer a
single-state solution as an alternative to two states
living side-by-side. In other words, they would like to
see the creation of one democratic nation where all
citizens: Jews, Muslims, Christians etc. would have a
single, equal vote. This kind of state would eventually
give Arabs a majority vote on all major issues so it’s
doubtful this solution will ever be put on the table.
Within the refugee camps, many Palestinians would be
happy with two peaceful states.
The separation barrier
is also a very hot topic. The Palestinians call it a
“wall,” and sometimes the “apartheid wall” to denote
what they view as a deliberate effort to divide two
“races.” The Israelis maintain that it is a “fence”
since only some portions are constructed of concrete and
it can be dismantled if/when suicide attacks cease.
Frankly, if bands of terrorists were crossing the border
from Mexico into Los Angeles to blow up discotheques and
markets, I, too, would be happy to see the construction
of a wall/fence between Mexico and the US. The problem
in Israel, though, is that the barrier is being built
beyond the border lines that were designated before 1967
to incorporate settlements built in predominantly
Palestinian areas. If this became a permanent border,
it would cut into the territory that has been slated to
fall under Palestinian authority in 2005 according to
the Road Map for Peace.
At the heart of the
controversy is always the issue of territorial rights.
The Jews had a kingdom in Israel centuries ago and
maintained a small, albeit consistent, presence in the
area. The Arabs and Turks controlled the land while it
was part of the Ottoman Empire which collapsed during
World War One. So who holds the “legitimate” claim to
Israel? – the Zionists who bought land and developed the
area into a modern country, or the Palestinians who
lived there before the mass Jewish immigration beginning
in the 19th century. The Israelis point to
contemporary legal claims through the Balfour
Declaration and the acknowledgment of the state of
Israel by the West after the 1948 War. Arabs say the
land was promised to the Arabian Hashemite rulers by the
British. The Israelis say the Palestinians just want a
piece of the pie that was the result of Israeli money
and effort; the Palestinians call the Zionists
“occupiers.”
Oh and there are so many
other issues! In 1947, for instance, the United
Nations proposed a resolution that would divide the area
into Arab and Israeli spheres of influence roughly along
similar divisions that we have today. The Arabs
rejected the offer outright. Today, Israelis claim that
by rejecting the resolution, the Palestinians forfeited
their rights to the land. One Palestinian speaker
explained it this way: “It was as if we had a guest in
our home ‘generously offered’ to let us keep 45% of our
property. Who would accept an arrangement like that?”
Q. What are some of the
most misunderstood or least understood details about the
Middle East situation?
A. Many people
don’t realize how close the Muslims and Jewish people
actually are ethnically, historically and spiritually.
The term “Semite,” for instance, has been attributed to
Jews through the term “anti-Semitism.” In fact, a
“Semite” is a member of a group of Semitic-speaking
people which included Babylonians, Carthaginians,
Ethiopians as well as Arabs and Hebrews. The word comes
from the name Shem, one of Noah’s (the builder of the
ark) sons.
Moreover, both Jews and
Muslims believe that God promised Abraham that his
descendants would inherit the land of Canaan from the
Nile River (in Egypt) to the Euphrates River in
present-day Iraq. The difference is that Muslims
believe they are descended from Abraham’s first son by
his servant Hagar (Ishmael) and the Jews believe that
they are descended from his second son, Isaac, from his
wife Sarah.
Muslims also believe that
Mohammed was the last in a string of prophets that
included Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others to be God’s
messenger. The Koran, therefore, incorporates many
stories of the Torah/Bible. Believe it or not, Muslims
initially prayed toward Jerusalem like their Jewish
counterparts but the practice was discontinued after a
falling out between the Jews and Muslims in Medina in
the 7th century.
ABOUT AMANDA RORABACK
Q.
When did you start
writing the “Nutshell Notes” series
A. My first
official “Nutshell Note” was written about Cuba in
1998. As I was planning a trip to the forbidden island
I realized I knew very little about the country. Why
exactly were Americans prohibited from buying Cuban
cigars? Why has Castro been on America’s hit list for
decades? Why did Desi Arnaz abandon his homeland to
become Ricky Ricardo? All mysteries to me. So for my
own edification I put together a list of terms, history,
politics, issues etc. and posted the information on a
website I created called Nutshell Notes.com (a take-off
on Cliffs Notes). I didn’t think much about the site
until a little boy named Elian Gonzales put Cuba on the
front page of every newspaper in America. Suddenly
visits to the site soared from fewer that 15 per day to
more than 5,000. It was then I knew I had hit on
something big.
But the real break came
in 2001. Of course no one could have predicted the
horrific strike on the World Trade Center but there was
a lot of activity surrounding the situation in
Afghanistan before the fateful September 11 terrorist
attack.
At the time, the most
visible champion of women living in the ultra-religious
Taliban-run country was Mavis Leno, Jay Leno’s wife, who
drew celebrities to the cause. In 2000, Leno even
hosted a star-studded evening at the Director’s Guild
attended by celebrities from Dear Abby to Jason Priestly
More
intriguing, though, were the picketers outside the
guild. Most were Afghans (men and women) and many were
from an organization called RAWA (Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan). Both Leno and
the Afghans were concerned about the plight of women in
Afghanistan but the picketers complained that Mavis and
her famous friends were making the situation worse by
diverting attention away from the real problems, namely
poverty and violence, to focus on less important issues
like education for girls and the abolition of the
burqa. “Until women and children have food on their
plates and can walk outside their homes without the
threat of being raped by bands of warlords,” the
picketers argued, “there is no sense in setting up
schools and changing cultural dress styles.”
Once again, I was
inspired to gather as much information as I could on the
country and posted the data on my Nutshell Notes.com
website.
At this point I was
already considering compiling the information into
little booklets in the style of Cliffs Notes and was in
the process of starting a publishing company. By
9/11/01, I had already bought ISBN numbers and had found
an investor who was interested in the project. A few
hours after the second building fell in New York City
and it became clear that America was going to invade
Afghanistan in retribution, I knew it was time to take
action. This was the dawn of the Dummies and Idiots
guide generation colliding with a sudden interest in
international issues. People were rushing to learn
about these countries in the news -- as an LA Times
reporter phrased it, they were looking for “history in a
hurry.” For me it really was “a hurry.” (See 2003
LA Times story)
I quickly employed a
neighbor to come up with a cover design, a friend from
elementary school drew some maps, my mother edited the
text and another friend spoke to local bookstores.
Within a couple of weeks, “Afghanistan in a Nutshell”
was on the book shelves and soon after its debut it
appeared on the LA Times Bestseller list. Imagine! My
first book landing on the bestseller list. It was
surreal.
Q. What challenges did
you face when writing Israel-Palestine in a Nutshell?
A.
Israel-Palestine in a Nutshell was a very difficult book
to put together since much of the conflict stems from
different interpretations of events and data. The
Six-Day War in 1967, for example; did Israel start the
war without provocation or were the Arabs responsible.
The war in 1948 is called a “War of Independence” by the
Israelis and “Al-Nakbah” or “the Catastrophe” by the
Arabs – same event, different perspectives. Different
words are also used to describe the separation barrier –
is it a moveable “fence” as the Israelis call it or a
“wall” intended to grab Palestinian territory as the
Arabs claim? Even geographically some Israelites
continue to refer to the West Bank by the ancient names
Judea and Samaria.
To put all this
conflicting information into one text was a nearly
impossible task. To be completely fair, two books
needed to be written -- one describing things from an
Israeli perspective and another presenting facts from a
Palestinian point of view. And that’s what I ended up
doing.
I began by reading all
the tomes I could find giving the Israeli view and wrote
“Israel in a Nutshell.” In this segment I included some
biblical history, a short chapter on anti-Semitism, some
background information about Zionism etc. Then I
switched gears entirely and began researching the
situation with a Palestinian eye. This half of the book
included information about the Ottoman Empire and Islam
and described the different militant groups among other
things.
Many of the sections
ended up overlapping. Both the Israeli and Palestinian
books have chapters on World War I, the Six-Day War, the
Lebanon War and other events, but they are presented
differently. The map is labeled with the name “West
Bank” as well as “Judea and Samaria.”
Even after completing the
book I continued to attend lectures and discussions from
proponents on both sides of the issues to stay
balanced. I attended a local mosque on Sundays, for
instance, Jewish Kabbalah classes on Tuesdays, Christian
lectures on weekends etc. There are militant and
opinionated people in both the pro-Israeli and
pro-Palestine camps but there are also many (I believe
the majority) moderates. In Los Angeles, I’ve found that
Muslims fear Jews as much as Jews fear Muslims despite
the fact that all the holy books include verses that
espouse peace and harmony. Unfortunately there are also
violent, hateful verses that can be pulled out of
context to use in negative propaganda. The
Israeli-Palestinian crisis is a constantly evolving
dilemma and I’m going to try my best to keep up with
events through rewrites and updates. I think I’ve just
committed myself to a lifetime of work on this 150-page
book alone. |
