Freedom and Despair: Notes from the South Hebron Hills

by David Shulman (Author), David Shulman (Author)

New
Paperback
2018
$22.86

Lately, it seems as if we wake up to a new atrocity each day. Every morning is now a ritual of scrolling through our Twitter feeds or scanning our newspapers for the latest updates on fresh horrors around the globe. Despite the countless protests we attend, the phone calls we make, or the streets we march, it sometimes feels like no matter how hard we fight, the relentless crush of injustice will never abate. David Shulman knows intimately what it takes to live your beliefs, to return, day after day, to the struggle, despite knowing you are often more likely to lose than win. Interweaving powerful stories and deep meditations, Freedom and Despair offers vivid firsthand reports from the occupied West Bank in Palestine as seen through the eyes of an experienced Israeli peace activist who has seen the Israeli occupation close up as it impacts on the lives of all Palestinian civilians. Alongside a handful of beautifully written and often shocking tales from the field, Shulman meditates deeply on how to understand the evils around him, what it means to persevere as an activist decade after decade, and what it truly means to be free. The violent realities of the occupation are on full display. We get to know and understand the Palestinian shepherds and farmers and Israeli volunteers who face this situation head-on with nonviolent resistance. Shulman does not hold back on acknowledging the daily struggles that often leave him and his fellow activists full of despair. Inspired by these committed individuals who are not prepared to be silent or passive, Shulman suggests a model for ordinary people everywhere. Anyone prepared to take a risk and fight their oppressive political systems, he argues, can make a difference-if they strive to act with compassion and to keep hope alive. This is the moving story of a man who continues to fight for good in the midst of despair. An indispensable book in our era of reactionary politics and refugee crises, political violence and ecological devastation, Freedom and Despair is a gripping memoir of struggle, activism, and hope for peace.

Synopsis

Lately, it seems as if we wake up to a new atrocity each day. Every morning is now a ritual of scrolling through our Twitter feeds or scanning our newspapers for the latest updates on fresh horrors around the globe. Despite the countless protests we attend, the phone calls we make, or the streets we march, it sometimes feels like no matter how hard we fight, the relentless crush of injustice will never abate. David Shulman knows intimately what it takes to live your beliefs, to return, day after day, to the struggle, despite knowing you are often more likely to lose than win. Interweaving powerful stories and deep meditations, Freedom and Despair offers vivid firsthand reports from the occupied West Bank in Palestine as seen through the eyes of an experienced Israeli peace activist who has seen the Israeli occupation close up as it impacts on the lives of all Palestinian civilians. Alongside a handful of beautifully written and often shocking tales from the field, Shulman meditates deeply on how to understand the evils around him, what it means to persevere as an activist decade after decade, and what it truly means to be free. The violent realities of the occupation are on full display. We get to know and understand the Palestinian shepherds and farmers and Israeli volunteers who face this situation head-on with nonviolent resistance. Shulman does not hold back on acknowledging the daily struggles that often leave him and his fellow activists full of despair. Inspired by these committed individuals who are not prepared to be silent or passive, Shulman suggests a model for ordinary people everywhere. Anyone prepared to take a risk and fight their oppressive political systems, he argues, can make a difference-if they strive to act with compassion and to keep hope alive. This is the moving story of a man who continues to fight for good in the midst of despair. An indispensable book in our era of reactionary politics and refugee crises, political violence and ecological devastation, Freedom and Despair is a gripping memoir of struggle, activism, and hope for peace.

$22.86

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 206
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 01 Oct 2018
ISBN 10: 022656665X
ISBN 13: 9780226566658

Media Reviews

With the skills of a novelist, Shulman effortlessly shifts from vivid thumbnail sketches of individuals to beautifully rendered depictions of the stark landscape to relentless self-interrogation. For all Americans in the new Trump era who are asking themselves, 'What can I do and how do I deal with my despair?'--Freedom and Despair is essential. --Gabriel Levin, author of The Maltese Dreambook
Beautifully written and emphatic . . . . essential reading for anyone who wants--or hopes, however darkly--to grasp the lay of this punished land. --The Nation

From 2002 to 2006, Shulman did some of the harder work of his country's peace movement: clashing with police and settlers to deliver food and medical supplies to Palestinian villages. In his excellent record of these years, Dark Hope, Shulman vividly describes the small bands of Palestinians who live in caves in the Hebron Hills. --Slate--Praise for Dark Hope
Shulman's spell-binding narrative offers a captivating introduction to philosophical ideas extracted from the least likely of places--the remote and rugged hills of southern Hebron. Freedom and Despair is a meticulous soul-searching effort to articulate meanings that have captured the attention of philosophers throughout history: evil, distress, freedom, conscience, truth, and the mysterious state of being acquired by daring to say no to injustice. --Sari Nusseibeh, professor of philosophy and former president, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem
[Shulman] sees injustice perpetuated by his neighbors, he sees his government defend the indefensible, and he knows that he must act, speak, and fight for better. His righteous sensibilities carry throughout Freedom and Despair, a persuasive, moving, and crucially needed account of resistance in these contentious times. --Foreword

Author Bio

David Shulman is professor emeritus at the Hebrew University. He is a long-time activist in Ta'ayush, an Israeli peace group working in the occupied Palestinian territories. He is the author of Tamil: A Biography, More Than Real: A History of the Imagination in South India, and Dark Hope: Working for Peace in Israel and Palestine, the last published by the University of Chicago Press. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books.