Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs \u0026 Israelis 1956-78 by Kai Bird

Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs \u0026 Israelis 1956-78 Reviews

• 
  Alan Zwiren

  Yossi Klein Halevi wrote a book, "Letters To My Palestinian Neighbors" to share his history and perspective of the conflict with the Palestinians. I am a firm believer that we need to deal with the facts on the ground today to address and resolve the conflict; however, understanding the history and perspective of the other side is important to understand those on the other side and their motivations. And "Crossing Mandelbaum Gate" is an excellent book for those who support Jews and Israelis to understand the Palestinians.
  
  Kai Bird is a person who grew up the son of parents who worked in the Foreign Service who were assigned to many different assignments throughout the Middle East and India. In the 50's he spent many formative years in Jordanian East Jerusalem; however, as a privileged child, he was allowed to cross over to Israeli West Jerusalem every day to attend school. Curiously, he never commented on why he did not go to school in East Jerusalem.
  
  Obviously he formed many strong connections to Palestinians. He also has a unique perspective on Arabs in general. After East Jerusalem, his parents were assigned to Saudi Arabia and then Egypt. He also spent a year at University in Beirut. So he probably in a better position to understand Arabs and present their perspective to an English speaking audience than most.
  
  And that perspective is most enlightening. It is not done in a confrontational position, it is just sharing his view of the events in the Middle East and Israel through a different lens. His sympathy for the Palestinians and Arabs is quite apparent; however, not judgemental. For example, his view of The Six Day War is that Israel was the aggressor and that Nassar and Egypt really did not really want to go to war. He downplays the closing of the Straits of Tiran by Nassar, what the world recognized as a causus beli, stating that shipping from Eilat through the straits was inconsequential. I do not think he was making excuses, I think he was simply stating the Egyptian perspective.
  
  And it is not as if he were not impacted by the terror in the Middle East. His girlfriend at the time was one of the passengers who was hijacked by PFLP, the event that initiated Black September. Her life was threatened when her plane was hijacked and rerouted to an abandoned airbase in Jordan. She spent three days as a victim. And later, Kai meets the spokesman for the hijackers. So Kai had a real sense of the best and worst of what was occurring in the Arab Middle East.
  
  In fact, he does in the third part of the book attempt to connect with Jews and a Jewish/Israeli perspective. He ends up marrying the daughter of Holocaust survivors. He then explores his wife's parents' journey of survival through the Holocaust to America. In what I think is the most powerful part of the book he connects his wife's mothers' trip back to the house she grew up in that was stolen from her by the Nazis to a Palestinian who decided to abandon his home in Rechavia, a neighborhood in West Jerusalem. After the reunification of Jerusalem, Dr. Kalbian also went and visited his former home.
  
  He attempts to present history through the lens of growing up in the Middle East. Some of it was very informative. Although I did know some of the background of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, he definitely filled in much for me. He also filled out much of my knowledge of Black September when the PLO was purged from Jordan. All these raise questions on what would have happened if the United States did not intervene? Would the Saudi's still be in control of Saudi Arabia? Would they have continued to fund the Wahabi's who exported their virulent form of Islam throughout the Middle East and the world? Would there have been an Osama Bin Laden? If King Hussein fell in September 1970 would Jordan have become the Palestinian State? We will never know the truth, but we do see the consequences of what happens when decisions are made to stick with what you know instead of seeing how events will play out.
  
  I find the book fails when he puts on his journalist's hat. Today, many journalists feel they have to provide not only facts but provide judgment on them. I am not naive to think that facts are not presented through a perspective lens; that is why I read the book. However, it is when he brings in his judgment to the book, he demonstrates his ignorance and bias.
  
  Since I am not as familiar with the histories of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, I noticed the judgments; however, I was unable to evaluate their veracity. I was able to have a better read on the establishment of the State of Israel. He is obviously well-read on many international subjects including Zionism and Israeli history. He seems to have only selected books that support his perspective of the world. He chose to read the Israeli historian Tom Segev, who presents a different picture of the history of the Jewish state than most. And yet, when Tom Segev came to the conclusion that there is viable partner for peace today, Kai seems to dismiss Segev. He also, through his employment meets Hillel Kook whose perspective of Israel is one of a secular state and in turn judges and dismisses many of the activities that went on in the early days of Zionism. He associates Chaim Weizmann solely with "messianic Zionism," not a religious belief, but the belief that all Jews should return to Israel; however, one of Chaim Weizmann's advisors was Ahad Ha'am, the detractor of "messianic Zionism." He never even mentions Ahad Ha'am who came before Hillel Kook who had similar beliefs that Jews in America would not make Aliyah. As a matter of fact, he never mentions Ahad Ha'am who predated Hillel Kook by half a century.
  
  He presents pivotal events such as the Altalena and Deir Yassin out of context and extremely one dimensional. For all the history and research he put into the other parts of his book, this was extremely disappointing. Although he attempted to balance out the book in the end, it is clear that his understanding of Zionism and Israeli history is extremely one-sided. He made a connection to Judaism and Israel through marriage, has been involved with the Reform movement and now has a Jewish son. Understanding his perspective on Zionism and Israel is actually a mirror of how those around him in the media and in his life view them.
  
  I did not mind his views on Zionism and Israel because I have read much in these areas. I did not pick up the book to learn about these issues. I read it to learn of the perspective of Arabs, Palestinians and the world that supports them. And in this area, the book was an incredible read. I would caution those who don't have a strong understanding of Zionism and or Israeli history that they supplement this book by reading others. I believe the best book on this subject to start with is "Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn" by Daniel Gordis.
  
  Lastly, I will say that Kai Bird is an amazing author and the book is incredibly well written. He has won the Pulitzer Prize with Martin Sherwin for "American Prometheus" about Robert Oppenheimer. I now want to read that; however, I have to believe this book was a labor of love for Kai Bird since he was involved in the events in a very personal way. And from that point of view, I believe he put even more into this book.
  
  I would highly recommend this book to any person especially Jews and Israelis who do want to understand a different perspective of how they look at events in the Middle East.
• 
  Jennifer Abdo

  This is a pretty interesting memoir. His parents were "arabists" with the Foreign Service for his entire life. He talks about he and his family knowing Salem, the brother of Osama bin Laden (apparently polar opposite), living for a time in the same neighborhood as Zarkawi, knowing both the old and the divided Jerusalems. What he has to say about all of these subjects and people is intriguing. He grew up with a knowledge of the suffering and injustice of the Palestinians that most Americans then and now don't have. Not long before meeting his Jewish American future wife, though, he notes his "...passion for the plight of the Palestinians was already tiring." That's the other interesting fact, that his wife is Jewish American daughter of Holocaust survivors. An interesting mix, as no story of either the Nakba or the Nazi Holocaust can avoid discussion of Palestine and Israel and vice versa.
  
  He has an interesting insight as a Foreign Service child before meeting his wife and entering journalism. He seems a bit embarrassed about his early sympathy for Palestinians and acknowledges Palestininan propaganda and referred to that period as a time when he was a partisan. He rightly condemns Palestinian violence and Nazi violence and again, rightly is disgusted by it. He also makes clear his opposition to comparing the Holocaust with the Palestinian experience, which Finklestein would take issue with, but that's another book. In the careful retelling of his wife's parents' and grandparents' ordeals in the Holocaust, he is very detailed. The telling of the arrival of Jews to Palestine and Jewish terrorist groups' murder of Palestinians and immediate takeover of their homes is not really given as much detail, care or disgust. I realize the Holocaust was on a bigger scale and he has more connection to this narrative by marriage, but the crimes were savage and Palestinians didn't deserve to be kicked out. I guess there are only certain times when a journalist may break with the code and condemn criminals- the Holocaust and 9/11 being two biggies; the Nakba clearly not being one.
  
  He does observe many many times where peace could have been achieved between Israelis and Palestinians, but Israelis were the ones who missed the opportunity. In the usual American or Israeli telling, Barak offered the Palestinians a generous offer to which they refused and so this is why Palestinians are in such a mess now; Bird at least doesn't abandon support for Palestinians for the far right narrative of "making the desert bloom" and "there is no such thing as Palestinians." Also revealed are many times we could have stepped in to help, but failed. In fact, we stepped in to help royal families (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and in Egypt we supported anti-Nasser influences supposedly to combat Communism that led to the Muslim Brotherhood's strengthening, not to mention Iran...) more often - which also led to negative developments in that country and the Israel/Palestine issue.
  
  Today, the notion of Israel as a secular, democratic and possibly binational state is still controversial, but strangely even more taboo. You can be called an anti-Semite, Holocaust denier, or condemned for calling for the destruction of Israel if you dare talk about the possibility of Israel and Palestine that way. Bird describes how the Jewish voices who wanted a multicultural, secular state lost to the messianic Zionists who by their own admission consigned themselves to constant state of war. This was rather interesting as I had assumed Jews were fairly united in wanting a Jewish state in particular.
  
  a quote:
  
  As Avishai observes in his deeply incisive book The Hebrew Republic: "You cannot live in Hebrew and expect no repercussions from its archaic power. You cannot live in a state with an official Judaism, in addition to this Hebrew, and expect no erosion of citizenship. You can, as most Israelis do, speak the language, ignore the archaism, and tolerate the Judaism. But then you should not expect your children to understand what democracy is." (p369-370)
  
  A very truthful take on the matter.
  
  One state was considered at the beginning and I still see this as the best way for all to have rights and live in peace.
  
  
  
  http://www.thenation.com/article/hebr...
  
  
  http://www.kaibird.com/index.php?page...
  
• 
  Salsadancer

  The last chapter makes the book.
  
  I chose to read this book because I am on a quest to learn about Arab history and the Arab mind, and those intersecting with Israel would be a bonus, or so I thought. I was disappointed. I didn't learn much about either the Arab mind or it's history. The book is Kai Bird's memories and experiences, mostly childhood, of growing up in Arab-controlled West Jerusalem where his father was an American Foreign Service officer. He also lived in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and attended some college in Lebanon. Because he grew up with the Palestinians his bias is very definitely with them, and he makes no apologies about this.
  
  I don't think he even used the word "Muslim" until the last 5 pages of the book. How do you understand anything about the Arabs and leave out their Islamicism? He mentioned the events that concerned Israel in a very detached and cardboard kind of way. When he said the Israelis invaded Lebanon, for example, he glossed over the fact that the Palestinians were camped along the border and attacking Israel from there. Leaving out the Israeli side of events was a serious lack.
  
  One interesting idea I gained from the book is this: In the 1970 Jordan "civil" war, as he calls it, when actually the Palestinian refugees caused so much ruckus in Jordan that the Jordanians had to run them out, he writes about the road not taken. If Israel had let the Palestinians over-throw King Hussein’s monarchy and take over Jordan, as they were about to do, then the Palestinians would have a country and the whole Palestinian-Israeli question may have been solved. It would have been the "Jordanian solution" as the answer for Palestinian self-determination. Right-wing Israelis (Moshe Dayan, Shimon Peres, Ariel Sharon) wanted to actively support the PLO in it’s drive to transform the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan into the Republic of Palestine. As it was, Golda Meir, Abba Eban, and Yitzhak Rabin saw King Hussein as the most moderate of the Arab leaders and thought he might someday conduct a separate peace deal with Israel, and their views prevailed.
  
  That insight offered in the "Black September 1970" chapter and the last chapter, "The Hebrew Republic" are all that make the book worthwhile, in my opinion. The last chapter described the Holocaust and was very moving and meaningful. It also described the making of Israel and some important Jewish writers and thinkers such as Victor Navasky and Hillel Kook, a. k. a. Peter Bergson.
  
• 
  Karen

  The author, the son of a U.S. foreign service officer, grew up as an ex-pat in the Middle East and eventually married an American Jew, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. In this way, he has had the opportunity to view the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from both sides. The Mandelbaum Gate, which separated the Israelis and the Palestinians was a metaphor for this.
  
  This book contained a lot of interesting information not just about Israel and the Palestine but also about Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan....as well as history Israel beginning with Jews resisting the British Mandate in Palestine... through reading this history, missed opportunities for peace surface and it becomes clear that the way things are today was not necessarily foreordained.
  
  I'm interested in continuing to read about this region and it's history as the more I learn the more it seems like there is ever more to learn...
• 
  Hermien

  I was hoping for more personal experiences but nonetheless a very informative book about the Middle Eastern conflict.
• 
  Susan

  I really enjoyed Kai Bird’s writing and his personal story, which is very interesting. He takes a thorough look at modern middle eastern history. Since the book was published 13 years ago, I would be curious to know if his feelings about Israel have changed given the explosion of antisemitism not just in the US but around the world. It would be useful, I would think, if he could write a second edition with an update.
• 
  Gillian

  Very interesting introduction to the Arab-Israeli situation. Some parts of it were over my head, but I was definitely motivated to keep reading.
• 
  Tuck

  i read this simul with nina simone stopped singing
  The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing and is about author growing up in jerusalem (he moved there as a tot in 1956, you know, suez war blah balh ) his dad was an oregonian (eugene, same as me) and if you ever wondered how the "middle east", palastine, jordan, egypt, syria, levant etc for ever get and be so fucked up, you can just read this book and wonder, how any of that could even be anymore. they been trying to kill each other, put each other in hell, the reservation, the camp, the red line, the wall, the gate, every day for centuries and centuries (though that may not matter as much as if you will survive tuesday i suppose) . and yes, they are all still there, growing olives, herding sheep, building planned cities (along with the walls and tanks)
  so i'm gonna paste nina simone ideas here again, as its the same damn thing over and over.
  this btw is super well written and a joy to read (as you cry and pound head against wall)
  another winner from the feminist press (if ya ever just want to reach down in the sack and snag a good book with your eyes closed, you can't go wrong hardly with FP) about growing up in lebenon. it aint pretty. funny how humans can make life and culture about as miserable, dangerous, sad, unsustainable, bigoted, greedy, ugly, sadistic, unhopeful, heartbreaking, deathly...just look at baltics, balkans, oklahoma, south dakota, ukraine, st petersburg, buchenwald, inner mongolia, bolivia
  and in this story;s case, levant.
  but despite it all individuals, families, clans, tribes, nations still embrace love, empathy, art, food dance nourishment of the body and soul, to keep 'this machinery of joy" running and laughing and drinking and singing and fucking and having kids and writing books, despite ourselves.
  for a good look at lebanon, israel, palastine,and syria, this book is good place to start.
• 
  Ray

  Unlike some books of a historical nature, which may be little more than listings of dates and events to be memorized, this book blends historical facts with the author's personal perspectives. Kai Bird manages to give life to the modern history of the Middle East by incorporating his memoirs as someone who was raised in the region. Bird is not only a historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author, but is the son of an American Foreign Service officer, and spent his formative years living in Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and surrounding Countries. His background enables him to merge his personal perspective into the history of the region including the Suez War, the Six Day War of 1967, and the Black September hijackings in 1970. His perspectives enable us to see the history of the region in a more personal way, and to see both sides of the key issues, which too often are missing in TV news and newspapers reports. Crossing Mandelbaum Gate is thus an insightful look into the modern Middle East.
  
  Not as broad in context, but a possible companion book for interested readers could be "The Lemon Tree", by Sandy Tolan.
  
  
  
  
• 
  The Book : An Online Review at The New Republic

  What has happened to historical revisionism about the Zionist-Arab conflict demonstrates the truth of the cliché that there can be too much of a good thing. Clearly, the tidal wave of pro-Zionist and pro-Israeli writing, in Israel and the West, in the wake of the Holocaust and the somehow miraculous (and fitting) birth of the State of Israel was bound to be overtaken by a more critical and balanced appreciation.
  Read more...
• 
  !Tæmbuŝu

  
  KOBOBOOKS
  
  Reviewed by
  The Independent
  
• 
  Cindie

  While I do not always agree with the political conclusions Bird draws from his life experiences, I do enjoy the journey with him.
• 
  Studebhawk

  The View Without the Gate
  The perspective offered here by Kai Bird represents his unique personal experience having lived in Jerusalem at the very beginning of the Israeli - Palestinian dilemma. This unique perspective raises difficult questions for us in the western world.Christians, Jews and Muslims stand to benefit from the settlement of the Palestinian rights question.
  His argument is only fairly balanced in that he gives disproportionate weight to the question of “Palestinian suffering.” Having been this unique witness during the birth of the Israeli nation, I can understand his point of view. However, the suffering of the Palestinian side is complicated and compounded by multiple “missed opportunities” on their side to assert their rights at the bargaining table. To their detriment the Palestinians “opted out.” Their losses only mounted with the launch of failed wars against the Israeli nation.
  The loss of the Mandelbaum Gate is a symbol of the failure on both sides to maintain a constructive dialog among all of the members of the larger Palestinian - Israeli community. The cycle of lost wars,missed opportunities at constructive dialog will continue until both sides recognize their common human dignity. Unfortunately, I believe the cycle of violence will continue as both sides are not ready to meet each other on a common humanity.
• 
  Janet

  What an amazing life story and insight into the history of the region from a keen prospective.
  I grew up during this era but living in the US the news and information about the events that shaped the current middle east were not readily available and probably very slanted. Also, the main focus for me and my contemporaries was the Viet Nam war. So as horrible as the news was about Black September and the Olympics I don’t think I understood the ramifications of what these events meant.
  I’m grateful for Kai Bird’s detailed insight to not only his experiences but of those close to him and the main characters who influenced the times.
• 
  Christy Stevens

  One must concentrate while reading this to keep places, names, times, sentiments straight but perspectives I don't normally encounter about the Middle East. Some chapters (particularly his in-law's history) are more approachable and faster read. Some, partially for me because of unfamiliar names, demand a slower pace. Kai Bird, takes on many challenges at a young age - most have had a great education.
• 
  sim

  Fantastic. Bird intertwines his own personal experiences with the politics and history of the countries and regions that he has lived and visited which creates a fascinating, engaging and insightful read. I would highly recommend for those interested or study the Middle East as he writes clearly about key issues and conflicts of the region throughout history.
• 
  Jennifer

  Amazing insights into the Middle East conflicts.
• 
  Shikha

  Prior to a recent trip to the middle east, I skimmed online reviews and shelves looking for a book that would provide as objective as possible perspective on the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. While Kai Bird's book does lean in certain directions throughout the book, his experience as an American child of Arabists who grew up in various parts of the middle east and eventually married a Jewish American woman whose family had its own experiences with the shoah, bolstered by historical facts, gets as close to as possible to a balanced perspective as one can really find in this day and age. it took me particularly long to get through this book because I reread the the first few chapters *after* visiting Israel and particularly Jerusalem. Seeing Jerusalem and getting a taste of Israeli nationalism provided much needed context to Bird's descriptions. There was one sentence that especially resonated with my visit and my growing understanding of a very complex situation: "...I now realize that no one can comprehend the Middle East's Nakba without an understanding of Europe's Shoah. The two events occurred in different places and times, but they are intimately connected and continue to reverberate again each other through the generations." I think that pretty much sums it up.
• 
  Michelle

  There were times with this book that I yelled at it, was frustrated, wondered what was going on, "argued" with the author--but I sure learned a lot. The author grew up in the Middle East with his diplomat-father and is a passionate advocate of the Palestinian cause--tempered now with what he's learned by marrying a daughter of Jewish Holocaust victims. I think this is a hugely valuable book to read if one is interested in the seemingly intractable problems in the Middle East--but expect to be challenged! I have only a couple of minor quibbles. I'm grateful to the author for much of what I learned about the Palestinians and how they feel about what has happened in Israel--but I wonder 1) why the author chose not to explain what happened to the Jewish inhabitants of the Old City in Jerusalem after the UN cease-fire and 2) how he totally dismisses the complicity of the Palestinian Arabs, especially the Mufti, and the Germans. (At one point the author asserts that the Palestinian Arabs had "nothing at all" to do with the Holocaust--when it is clear they were working WITH the Germans the entire time, intending to "finish" the Jews that got away. Wish the author had dealt with these two pieces of information but this was still an enormously informative book.
• 
  Elliot Ratzman

  Loved it! Kai Bird is a journalist and biographer who grew up in the Middle East—Jerusalem, Saudi Arabia, Egypt— his father part of the American diplomatic corps. This is an excellent history of the modern Middle East told through Bird’s experience, and the most accessible intro that I can recall since Friedman’s From Beirut to Jerusalem. Partisans of the Israeli-Arab conflict will profit from details of his father’s diplomatic encounters with Arab nationalists, intellectuals, Israelis and oil sheiks. They lived for a time in an American oil-business enclave, by the American consulate in E. Jerusalem under the Jordanians, and in an upscale multicultural neighborhood in Cairo. There are strong chapters on Nasser’s Egypt and an insider’s take on the hijacking years of the PLO. The memoir is also an account of his Jewish wife’s family who survived Nazi Europe through chance and cunning. Finally, Bird tells the story of Peter Bergson, IMHO one of the great unsung heroes of the 20th century.
• 
  Allison

  I don't know how I originally became aware of this book - but wow. Definitely worth the read.
  
  Kai Bird has the unique experience of being the son of a foreign service officer in the Middle East during the mid-century and later marrying into a Jewish family of which his wife's parents both survived the Holocaust in Europe. This book is part memoir, part journalistic piece, and I found the two parts complemented each other. The lack of a chronological narrative was difficult at times, but overall didn't take away from book.
  
  Regardless of your support of the Palestinian or Israeli cause, I imagine this book will provide food for thought.
• 
  Jill

  As the son of an American foreign service officer the author spent his youth in Jerusalem, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon. His memoir recounts his experiences growing up in this war torn area of the world, interspersed with descriptions of the conflict between the Israelis and Arabs. He argues coherently for a secular Israel-Palestine and describes many missed opportunities for establishing this and ending the conflict. His marriage to the daughter of Holocaust survivors allows us to see the effect of Shoah on Middle Eastern history and his friendship with Palestinians provides examples of Nakba, the dispossession of Palestinians when Israel was founded.
• 
  Noah Kennedy

  I learned a lot from this book about the conflicts in Jerusalem and in the Middle East generally, but the book stands out for its honest poignancy. Each of the events in Kai Bird's personal journey growing up in the region-- being a child in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, his later years in Saudi Arabia, and his falling in love with the daughter of Holocaust survivors-- sets the stage for a thought-provoking meditation on some of the toughest ethical issues behind the conflict. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the human side of the politics of the Middle East.
  
  More at
  http://noahkennedy.net/kai-birds-cros...