UNSETTLED

A deeply personal investigation of an extremely complex moral, political and religious issue by an author whose love for and attachment to the state of Israel is tempered by his commitment to justice for all. Israel was born out of the guilt and shame of a world that did little to rescue the six million Jews annihilated in Europe. The author’s relatives count both among the perished and the survivors, and many of those made their way to the nascent state to build a life. Aronson, who spent time in Israel as a teenager and a young man, here tells the story of the triumph and tragedy of the state—its promise as a lifeline and a home for the dispossessed and its culpability in displacing the Arabs who inhabited the new homeland. His inner turmoil about how to love something that is imperfect emerges palpably from each page. Both a soul-searching personal essay and a fact-filled history, this slim volume is as even-handed an explanation of the Gordian knot that is Israel/Palestine as one is likely to find. (notes, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12 & up)