Walled: Israeli Society at an Impasse

This book presents a deep and revealing study of the national mythologies of Israeli and Palestinian societies and the obstacles they pose to resolving the conflict in the region. The conflict in Israel has been blamed on everything from God to land. Even as the Israeli government constructs a symbolic fence along the West Bank, says noted journalist Sylvain Cypel, Israelis are walled not only by physical boundaries, but by an elaborate complex of myths and beliefs. Cypel draws on interviews, political speeches, and historical investigation into the cultural heritage of the region to explicate the ways that Israeli society represents its relations, past and present, with its Arab adversaries. It is these false historical narratives, he argues - on both sides of the wall - that are the primary obstacles to establishing an enduring peace.

About the Author :
Sylvain Cypel, senior editor at Le Monde, joined the paper in 1998 as deputy head of the international section following a career of distinguished reporting, often on the Middle East, at several other major French dailies. He holds degrees in sociology, contemporary history, and international relations, the last of which he earned at the University of Jerusalem. He lives in Paris.

Review :
Publishers Weekly
This scathing indictment probes Israel's soul as much as the substance of its treatment of the Palestinians...Cypel's book...is an impassioned, often perceptive challenge to the Israeli consensus.

Kirkus Reviews
...of interest to students of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

New Yorker
"In this survey of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (translated anonymously from the French), Cypel, an editor at Le Monde who spent twelve years in Israel, writes with the ardor of a believer and the critical eye of a distant observer, producing a nuanced assault on the blindness and inertia that have afflicted both sides. Cypel is a harsh critic of the failures of Palestinian leadership—he excoriates the “Oriental despot” Arafat and the “impotent” regime he built—but believes that Israel needs to be saved from its own incipient brutalization. This process, which he carefully documents, is marked by a “cult of force,” a denial of history, an obsession with security at the expense of human rights, and a shocking willingness to discuss, publicly, the forcible cleansing of Palestinians from Israeli territory. These are symptoms of occupation, Cypel argues, and they can be cured only by its end."

Tikkun
Sylvain Cypel’s careful study of political discourse...if read as widely as [it] should be...would make a serious contribution to changing mass consciousness about the nature of the [Israeli/Palestinian] struggle and how we should respond.

ForeWord Magazine
For Sylvain Cypel, the wall [dividing Israel and Palestine] is much more than a physical barrier. It is a tangible manifestation of the mental walls that Israelis and Palestinians have built over the past sixty years. With the passion of an investigative journalist and the patience of a historian, Cypel describes how a culture of denial has strangled both societies.