The Yellow Wind: With a New Afterword by the Author

5 Responses to “The Yellow Wind: With a New Afterword by the Author”

1. Shalom Freedman says:

   September 27, 2010 at 8:14 pm

   I remember the sensation this work made when it was first published. The Israeli left , the post- modern anti- Zionist elite waved this work as a flag against Israeli ordinary citizens, soldiers and political leaders.
   
   Grossman is a highly skilled writer. His effort to look into ‘ West- Bank reality’ in a supposedly even- handed way is but a thinly disguised anti- Jewish and pro- Palestinian rant. It is simplistic and it time and again is guilty of taking Arab propaganda ( even when delivered by individuals in interviews) at their word. At some point it nearly becomes laughable. This is when Grossman dutifully uncritically records an ancient ( and therefore to Grossman automatically wise) Arab who predicts( really threatens) the Jews with destruction if they do not place the Holy Land to the Arabs.
   
   So skeptical, so critical so seemingly sophisticated in its relation to Jews, and so simply gullible in relation to Arabs this work inscription yet another cut-off point in the lemming – like march of the Israeli left to the sea.
   Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
2. foundpoem says:

   September 27, 2010 at 8:57 pm

   “The Yellow Wind” is outdated – already. Also, I was expecting a more objective presentation about the lives of the current generation of Palestinians, as it seemed this would be. I was interested in the book because an Israeli wrote it, reviews said he was patriotic yet sympathetic and that the tales were the human side of Palestinian life — at least that was my impression and what I’d hoped to read.

   Grossman spent time living with Palestinians. I reflect he feels he did place aside his own preconceptions to learn about Palestian life from Palestinians. At first I, too, felt he succeeded. The first few chapters–each chapter is a sort of fleeting narrative of its own–were well-crafted and combined history with in-the-moment accounts.

   As I nonstop to read on, I couldn’t help but feel Grossman’s own view and rage come through. His rage wasn’t, to me, generalized frustration, but patriotic and with a “pro-” and “anti-” feel to it. He writes of Palestinians that they’ve been taught for generations, that it’s so ingrained as to be nearly inescapable, to feel and prompt hatred. So, too, I felt, Grossman couldn’t see past his own bias. He could for certain individuals, but the deeper I read the more bias I sensed. This isn’t inherently negative. What is negative about this portrait is that he proclaims non-partisanship, and seems to judge he is a neutral voice, but ultimately he isn’t.

   “The Yellow Wind” isn’t terrible, not horrible, and it’s readable. It’s worthwhile. But distinguishing lines between fact, fiction, humanity and jingoism became a bit too hard — such that I questioned, for example, his factual presentation of history or even observations at times. Agreed this less-than-required objectivity in order to render the book what it is, and that it is to some extent dated, I’d say it’s not necessary reading. I realize I disagree with the additional reviews. Perhaps due to the current time in history, it takes on a different feel, and I’m certainly open to feeling differently about Grossman’s work in the future. But I felt it could have offered so much more, agreed how it came about–Grossman, an Israeli, living with Palestinians for awhile–but perhaps that, too, is inherent to the deep-rooted emotions between Israelis and Palestinians.
   Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
3. R. Levi says:

   September 27, 2010 at 9:49 pm

   I really advice you to read this book if you’re interested in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. It is more than politics, limits and the diplomats: it’s a book compiled from personal narratives and observations of the surroundings in the West Bank. Settlers, Palestinians, students, teachers, grandmothers, sons etc– all are in this book.
   
   Fantastic read, not a long book but has a lot to take it.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
4. John P. Jones III says:

   September 27, 2010 at 11:02 pm

   …that is what the recently departed Robert McNamara said that the leadership of the United States needed to have for their Vietnamese adversaries. McNamara was incorrect about so much, thus achieving this bit of wisdom late in life is a tiny act of atonement to the many on both sides who were not able to live to his ripe ancient age. David Grossman is an Israeli, a “Sabra,” one who was born in Israel, and he has been blessed with empathy, much insight, and a wide-ranging inquiring mind that he brings to bear on one of the most intractable problems facing humankind, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

   I just finished re-reading Grossman’s classic work. One reviewer said that it is “dated,” and that it might be, since it was written more than 20 years ago, yet sadly it is even more significant today, since the conditions are even worse. No political solution has been achieved, and the tit for tat violence continues unabated, shiny a further hardening of the hearts.

   The book is composed of 18 vignettes. Most take place on the West Bank, and most occupy his discussions with Palestinians, though perhaps his strongest one involves a meeting with the “settlers” of Gush Emunium. But I did not find a single one weak or beside the point. In his first tale he is in the Deheisha refugee camp in the West Bank, and each of the people he interviews tells him that they are from a village within the “Green Line,” of Israel proper, and they clarify their homes there, now long demolished. In terms of “consciousness raising,” he quotes one of the residents: “Before I went to jail, I didn’t even know I was a Palestinian.” And jail is the most likely “career path” for Palestinian males. In the same camp, in a different tale, he goes to a school, and how the teachers have to be ever so cautious about what is taught. In a third he addresses what Jewish and Palestinian children dream; not one indicated a longing for peace. In this section he quotes from South African (now, Nobel Prize winning) leader J. M. Coetzee on similar hard circumstances in that country: “In South Africa there is now too much truth for the art to hold.”

   In additional tales he examines the village of Barta’a, which was split when the border line between Israel and Jordan was drawn, and serves as a microcosm for the differences between Arabs who live in Israel, and persons who live on the West Bank. In another tale he visits Bethlehem University. “Catch -44″ is a tale about a Palestinian boy who was innocent of any crime, but had to be convicted of something; otherwise the occupying power would have to admit it was incorrect, and look “weak.” Shades of American reason regarding Gitmo. Another tale involves Gidi, an Israeli intelligence officer, who controls a Palestinian village through the issue of political favors and permits, and is proud that: “My Arabs are silent,” but has profound angst about his actual work. Grossman takes a harsh look at the Arabs who benefit from the occupation by collaboration in the tale “The Wastonaires,” and in another, tells the heart-breaking tale of the demolition of a family tree’s house, under the policy of collective reprisals, in “The Terrorist’s Father.”

   Perhaps his strongest tale, where Grossman’s rage will burn white hot, is “Don’t pity them too much.” He goes to the settlement at Ofra, and is hosted by Gush Emunim, who know that “he will have the last word, and write against them.” Grossman says “Their houses are nearly bookless, with the exception of religious texts, and, in all-purpose, they have small use for culture.” And in the various discussions on the settlers in the American media, you do not find a forthright statement as Grossman gives: “And it gapes when Yoel Ben-Nun tells me that, in his eyes, we are not yet in Greater Israel–because the Jordan River is not the border for Greater Israel, but flows down its center.” (!) (Explanation point added). The leader follows with his Cri de Coeur: “Who are these people who aver that they are acting in my name, and in the name of my future (and who really influence it decisively against my will), who are able to harden their hearts so much against others and against themselves… What do I have to do with them?” Yes, indeed.

   Twenty years on, and the settler’s have “their man” as Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and he continues to let the settlements metastases, further sinking the hopes of a political solution.

   As Grossman says on several occasions in the book – where do we go from here? More so than ever, his book deserves 5 plus stars.
   
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
5. Anonymous says:

   September 28, 2010 at 12:45 am

   “The Yellow Wind” doesn’t need me to praise it. But I see few reveiws for it here. So, I must say that this book is more vital today than when it was written in the late 80’s. It shows all that has come to pass between ethnic rivals and it shows why. David Grossman is my hero, and will be yours too if you read this book, which is Highly Recommended!
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5