Michael T. Darkow

'Our Promised Land' deals with the harsh reality of Israel and Palestine. It describes the raw violence and despair that come with retaliation upon retaliation upon retaliation. One of the two main characters is Ellie, a Jew who survived Nazi-Germany but lost his parents. Later, when he lived in Israel, his wife was murdered by a Palestinian (after he himself had killed a Palestinian out of bitter revenge). The other main character is Yasif, a Palestinian, who received a grant from the Israeli government to study in the US. He is a rather peace-loving person who does not understand his brother and mother who resist the Israeli occupation of their land with violence. But towards the end, after first his brother and then his mother got killed, he almost gives up the struggle against dark forces who try and get him involved in terrorist actions.

The story is told in a rather down-to-earth style until at some point, quite suddenly, an ethereal aspect enters the story line in the form of an angel. This angel causes the brain behind a planned terrorist attack to see the light and realise he has been listening to the Voice of Evil all the time rather than to the Voice of Good.

I do like angels, but I thought this was too much out of the blue and too much of an easy way out, especially if the purpose was to write a story of hope rather than one of despair.

From the prologue I gather that Darkow regards the Israeli-Palestine problem as a feud between brothers. An interesting view. Although I'm not sure if the brothers from the prologue would ever settle their differences either.… (altro)

First I have to say that I received this book from Librarything’s Early Reviewer program. Thank you Librarything and thank you Michael Darkow for the book.
The book starts out with a scene from the Holocaust and then lets us experience the Diaspora and the birth of Israel. At the same time it shows us the terrible changes this brings for the lives of the Palestinians. You can say the book speeks in to voices. One Israeli and the other Palestinian.
It shows us the lives of Ellie - a Holocaust survivor - and of Yasif - a Palestinian who studied math in the USA and lives there as a Math-Professor.
But there lies the flaw of the story. I can not belief the story in regard of Yasif and the Voice, i simply can´t follow the reason. Another point in which the story gets to fantastical is the appearance of the Angel Gabriel.
But the Epilogue is masterfully writen and deserves a recommendation for everyone involved in the peaceprocess.… (altro)

This book was sent to me via LT's Member Giveaway and, for that, I must say thank you, especially to Michael T Darkow himself, who took the time and trouble to write to me personally.

Firstly, I have to mention the book itself. It is quite beautiful. The front cover is textured and thoughtfully designed and is one of the best arguments I can find against e readers and their ilk! They say you can not judge a book by it's cover, but I am not sure that is true.....covers do matter.

The story is ostensibly a simple one, but there is so much to discuss about it, and I feel this is what Michael is aiming for. The Israeli/Palestinian struggle is something that, I am ashamed to confess, I have not thought a great deal about, as it has never touched me personally. However, this book gave me an insight in to both sides of this long, long fight. There is no deep explanation of all that has happened, that would take a lot more than the 200 pages here. Dealing with The Holocaust and relating a deeply touching account of one young Jewish boy's separation from his Mother before she is sent to the gas chambers, then leads on to some background on the removal of the Palestinian people from their land. We read of the human cost and life and death struggles.

Whilst reading "Our Promised Land", the situation was highlighted once again, by the tragic loss of life on the commissioned cruise ship delivering aid to Palestinians. Once again, we are given two conflicting accounts of what has actually transpired. It seems to me that power is all. That is what surrounds all this and, in their anger, I believe that these peoples forget how they appear to themselves/each other and, more importantly, how they are perceived by other nations. There has to be another way and that is what this wonderful book tries to present. Rather than "Our" Promised Land, it should perhaps be "The" Promised Land. I pray to all that is Holy....one day we will see peace and understanding between these two nations or, what is illustrated in the climax of this book, may well be a real danger to the Western World also. Like it or not, we tend to sit idly by and, by doing so, are complicit by default.… (altro)