Son of the Cypresses Memories, Reflections, and Regrets from a Political Life [Hardcover]

Now that I am seventy years of age, it is my prerogative to offer a summing up, says Meron Benvenisti, internationally known author and columnist, Jerusalem native, and scion of Israels founders. Born in Palestine in 1934 to a Sephardic father and an Ashkenazi mother, Benvenisti has enjoyed an unusual vantage point from which to consider his homelands conflicts and controversies.

Throughout his long and provocative career as a scholar, an elected official, and a respected journalist, he has remained intimately involved with Israels social and political development.

Part memoir and part political polemic,Son of the Cypressesthreads Benvenistis own story through the story of Israel. The result is a vivid, sharply drawn eyewitness account of pre-state Jerusalem and Israels early years. He memorably sets the scene by recalling his fathers emotional journey from Jewish Salonika in 1913 to Palestine, with all its attendant euphoria and frustration, and his fathers pioneer dedication to inculcating Israeli youth with a natives attachment to the homeland.

In describing the colorful and lively Jerusalem in which he grew up, Benvenisti recalls the many challenges faced by new Jewish immigrants, who found themselves not only in conflict with the Arab population but also with each other as Sephardim and Ashkenazim. He revisits his own public disagreements with both Zionists and Palestinians and shares indelible memories such as his boyhood experiences of the 1948 War. In remembering his life as an Israeli sabra, Benvenisti offers a vivid record of the historical roots of the conflict that persists today.

Meron Benvenistiwas deputy mayor of Jerusalem from 1971 to 1978. He was a columnist forHaaretz,Israels largest newspaper, and is the author of numerous books includingIntimate Enemies(UC Press, 1995),City of Stone(UC Press, 1996), andSacred Landscape(UC Press, 2000).