I agree with an earlier reviewer that the typeface chosen is cramped and difficult for folks whose eyes are not perfect. Also there are many awkward parts where the editing left much to be desired. Add that to the subject matter covering some horrid things that people have done to each other for political power and it makes for one of the most excruciatingly difficult books I've ever read. HOWEVER: The information is important and exhaustively covered.
If you've got the fortitude to slog through this beast you will be rewarded with a rich and deep understanding of the complicated issues.

I hated every second I spent reading this book, but I don't regret it. Not at all.

Unfortunately the print is too small and cramped for me ( a senior) to read without strain. I had to return it. I therefore cannot rate the contents of the book.

Any collection strong in Israeli modern issues and society needs to include WALLED as a top lending pick: it considers the modern state of mind of Israeli's citizens, offering up a history of Israel which moves from the roots of Zionist thinking to the state's construction and the history and current state of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. The 'wall of protection' of the West Bank is a physical symbol of Israeli society in danger, argues Cypel, a senior editor at Le Monde who has extensive background in media analysis and politics. Political and social issues blend in an analysis suitable for college-level collections, but accessible to public library patrons as well.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is a good analysis of two "cultures" -- the culture of denial and the culture of force -- that characterize Israeli society today. It shows the way the army and the educational system in Israel greatly reinforce this approach to life. They help Israelis totally ignore the reality and the "personhood" of their blood brothers, the Palestinians, who live and suffer at their hands on the other side of the wall. It's witty, too --a good read and terribly important for an understanding of where Israel and, in fact, the US, are today.

Unlike most of books on the topic of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, this one concentrates primarily on Israeli mentality and and attitudes towards the Palestinians. Israelis have trained themselves to be immune to the injustices perpetrated by them through the process of denial of facts in evidence and through the well adavanced sense and propaganda of victimhood. Cypel agrees that the sense of victimhood and inability to see the concerns of the 'other' is plaguing the Palestinians as well but without question their reasons by far outweigh those of the Israelis. The book is extremely well written, well documented and painfully honest. The first reviewer in this forum gave the book one star. Don't be fooled. On scanning her other reviews she has given ALL books criticising Israel one star and those in support of Israel 5 stars. This book is not meant to comfort or assuage the reader, on the contrary- it ought to rile him or her against the monstrosity of a 40 year occupation.

Sylvain Cypel opposes Israel politically. But that ought not have stopped him from writing intelligently about Israeli society.

Unfortunately, this book is simply too misleading to be of much value. There's plenty of material. The reasoning, however, is uneven, with Israelis occasionally appearing to do manifestly counterproductive things for no reason at all. And many of the facts are simply wrong. Yes, there is ample ill will towards Israel, but that's not the main problem.

At one point, Cypel quotes Daniel Dor as saying "If there were a wholesale Israeli withdrawal" and "if a Truth and Reconciliation Commission were set up, people - a lot of them - would spontaneously begin to tell the truth."

Well, as we've seen, Israeli withdrawals have led to more violence and less truth. And I feel that if Israelis are ethnically cleansed from the West Bank, that probably won't help. On the other hand, I suspect that a genuine Truth and Reconciliation would help a great deal. After all, one of the big reasons that there's no peace is that many people simply are not exposing the barrage of ridiculous anti-Israeli lies we see at the UN, in some of the media, and in some of academia. If people did begin to tell the truth and report it, that could make an enormous difference. It is scary that Cypel appears to hope that such a Commission would instead come up with even more demonizing untruths. Cypel praises Ed Said's afactual nonsense, and he has plenty of criticism in this book for those who speak out in favor of what is best described as facts and reason.

Plenty of anti-Israeli propaganda simply amounts to arbitrary demonization. Yet Cypel does not tend to speak out against such propaganda, and at times merely repeats it. Maybe the worst example is the long discussion of Tantura. That's something I would stay away from. At worst, Tantura is simply a blood libel against Israel. At the very best, it is a set of highly dubious accusations that are probably bogus. Surely, any statement of what one wants, and any argument about what needs to be done does not have to depend on material that is so highly suspect. And it makes me wonder why there is a tendency for some anti-Israeli authors to make great use of such accusations.

I think the reason is that lies sting more than truth. Even serious accusations sting less if they are true. That's because even the worst deeds, no matter how bad they may be, can simply be admitted and confessed to. And that's often the end of them. On the other hand, lies often appear to require a response. And that may be why those who wish to bait and taunt those they wish to oppose often stick with afactual libels.

In any case, Cypel put in plenty of work on this book, and perhaps we ought to leave it in the bookstores. I do not recommend it.