Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict - Hardcover

by Yardena Schwartz (Author)

An award-winning journalist presents a thoroughly researched examination of the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and illustrates how a shocking yet little-known massacre one century ago in what was then simply Palestine became ground zero of a war that continues to devastate.

"[A] compelling story. . . . If you are going to read one book to help you understand the current Middle East tragedy, this is it."
--Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, and author of the New York Times bestseller Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

When a family in Memphis, Tennessee, discovers a box of century-old letters in their attic, a journey begins: not only to learn about the young man who wrote the letters from the holy city of Hebron in British Mandate Palestine, but about the massacre that took his life in 1929. Award-winning journalist Yardena Schwartz draws from these letters, along with extensive research and wide-ranging interviews of Israelis and Palestinians now living in Hebron, to tell a timely, captivating narrative. By illuminating the echoes of 1929 in Hamas's massacre of October 7, 2023, Schwartz vividly illustrates how little has changed--and how much of our perspective must change if peace is ever to come to this tortured land and its people, who are destined to share it.

This meticulously researched examination of the Israel-Palestine conflict's origins interweaves historical analysis with contemporary insights, providing crucial context for understanding today's Middle East tensions. Perfect for anyone who has read Yossi Klein Halevi, Matti Friedman, or Nathan Thrall, Schwartz's work is a riveting exploration of the complex background of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the ongoing struggle for peace in the region.

Author Biography

Yardena Schwartz is an award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer who worked at NBC News, including stints at the Today show, Nightly News with Brian Williams, and MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports. Her reporting has appeared in the New York Times, New York Review of Books, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, TIME, National Geographic, and Rolling Stone, among other publications. She graduated with honors from Columbia Journalism School in 2011 and received an Emmy nomination for her work at MSNBC in 2013. She then spent a decade reporting from Israel, earning the 2016 RNA award for excellence in magazine reporting. She now lives in New York's Hudson Valley.