In Search of A Holy Land is a perfectly timed memoir told with brisk honesty and sharp humour. Sweeping from the suburbs of North London to the olive groves of Palestine, it explores a life of excess-to-spirituality impacted by the struggle of a distant people. Paddling the celebrity shallows of the 1990's as *Tony Blair's sister-in-law*, Lauren Booth explored everything city life had on offer; appearing on reality TV shows and at the opening of a paper bag (if it meant freebies). Yet, as a cautious Christian, she was drawn to the Holy Land too. Given the chance to visit Palestine, instead of finding the faith of her Catholic heritage, she became embroiled in the people's struggle, accidentally breaking a deadly siege by land and sea, playing handball with Hamas and witnessing daily acts of patience and courage which would change her forever. Above all In Search of A Holy Land is a witty personal odyssey calling the reader to consider the universal question; `what's this life thing all about?'

The daughter of a Jewish model and troubled TV star Lauren Booth survived a house fire, lived through the excesses of the nineties as an aspiring actress, welcomed ‘our’ Tony Blair into her family, put her life as a parent at risk to report on Palestine, twice, found faith in a mosque in Iran – unsure before she entered whether they would be slaughtering goats or screaming with rage – and then as a new Muslim sobered up, started praying and became a hajji. Part adventure, part awakening, Lauren’s memoir is an inspirational journey through politics, the press, parenthood and the importance of meaning in a broken world, full of injustice and lacking in faith. Wryly written, with her British humour striking throughout, what her story also shows is the evolving relationship between culture and religion, and how to embrace the past whilst praying for a better future.

A brilliantly observed memoir of an unprecedented and remarkable spiritual journey. While religion has fuelled the often violent conflict plaguing the Holy Land, Yossi Klein Halevi wondered whether it could be a source of unity as well. To find the answer, this religious Israeli Jew began a two–year exploration to discover a common language with his Christian and Muslim neighbours. He followed their holiday cycles, befriended Christian monastics and Islamic mystics, and joined them in prayer in monasteries and mosques in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden traces that remarkable spiritual journey. Halevi candidly reveals how he fought to reconcile his own fears and anger as a Jew to relate to Christians and Muslims as fellow spiritual seekers. He chronicles the difficulty of overcoming multiple obstacles注eological, political, historical, and psychological注at separate believers of the three monotheistic faiths. And he introduces a diverse range of people attempting to reconcile the dichotomous heart of this sacred place柠struggle central to Israel, but which resonates for us all.

A scathing and brilliant revisionist history, Defending the Holy Land is the most comprehensive analysis to date of Israel's national security and foreign policy, from the inception of the State of Israel to the present. Book jacket.

In Fatal Embrace, Braverman provocatively argues that Jewish exclusivism is being enacted in the colonial, expansionist nature of the State of Israel. He also contends that the attempts by Christians to atone for anti-Semitism have resulted in the suppression of honest interfaith dialogue on the issue, blocking progress toward a just peace. This book is a call to action directed at Christians and other Americans.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Holy Land covers the 3,000 years which saw the rise of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--and relates the familiar stories of the sacred texts with the fruits of modern scholarship. Beginning with the origins of the people who became the Israel of the Bible, it follows the course of the ensuing millennia down to the time when the Ottoman Empire succumbed to British and French rule at the end of the First World War. Parts of the story, especially as known from the Bible, will be widely familiar. Less familiar are the ways in which modern research, both from archaeology and from other ancient sources, sometimes modify this story historically. Better understanding, however, enables us to appreciate crucial chapters in the story of the Holy Land, such as how and why Judaism developed in the way that it did from the earlier sovereign states of Israel and Judah and the historical circumstances in which Christianity emerged from its Jewish cradle. Later parts of the story are vital not only for the history of Islam and its relationships with the two older religions, but also for the development of pilgrimage and religious tourism, as well as the notions of sacred space and of holy books with which we are still familiar today. Sensitive to the concerns of those for whom the sacred books of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are of paramount religious authority, the authors all try sympathetically to show how historical information from other sources, as well as scholarly study of the texts themselves, enriches our understanding of the history of the region and its prominent position in the world's cultural and intellectual history.

Biblical scholar and seasoned pilgrimage guide Stephen J. Binz offers an up-to-date handbook for experiencing the sites of the Holy Land as a disciple of Jesus. Whether contemplating future travel, on the road of pilgrimage, savoring memories of a past trip, or journeying in mind and heart from an armchair, readers will explore the nature of pilgrimage and encounter the places of the Holy Land from a biblical, historical, meditative, and prayerful perspective. This guide will enable Christians to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, confident that their pilgrimage will be both an educational journey and a transforming spiritual experience. Full-color illustrations throughout!

Traveling major highways and secondary roads, walking unpaved paths, the author recites contradictions of the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, the Holy Land. Here, religion uneasily confronts politics and democracy, sublime nature undergoes militarization, and hospitality and empathy mix with brutality, hatred and violence. Everything becomes security: not just borders and relations with the neighbors, but also water and archaeological evidence, demography and voting Arabs. Control of holy sites, perception of illegal immigrants, separate highway networks and built-up hilltops are all viewed through the prism of threat and security. Threats proliferate, be they real or imaginary, spontaneous or politically-driven. Whether in Jerusalem, the “city of the world”, or in small towns, tensions are palpable between Israel’s radical Jews and its Arab residents. Even within the Jewish community itself, increasingly nationalistic, animosities between ultra-Orthodox and more secular inhabitants are on the rise. Christians also feel under attack, as do moderate Palestinians from their Islamized brethren. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian villagers confront radical settlers, often protected by Israeli soldiers, while in the isolated Gaza, Hamas imposes ever stricter rules upon its people. Not surprisingly, the Holy Land has become aplenty with both mental and physical barriers, with walls, checkpoints, no-go and firing zones. Will rage and fear, sorrow and despair eventually trump hope? Although glimmers of hope exist—new water technology, Tel Aviv’s culture of tolerance, more pressures from the international community—the author remains more pessimistic than ever, as reflected in the book’s title.

Sammy is off again on another of his fascinating journeys--this time to the Holy Land during biblical times. Children will be thoroughly entertained as they seek Sammy on Mount Araat, in Egypt, on Mount Sinai, and in many other famous biblical locations. Full-color.