Peter CostelloA Month by the Sea: Encounters in Gaza
by Dervla Murphy
(Eland, £12.99)
When the original hardback edition of this book was reviewed here, our reviewer was enthusiastic. But in the months since this book has not lost any of its importance or its relevance, given the disimproving situation that now afflicts the potential state of Palestine.
But unlike other books Dervla Murphy, fully conscious from her travels in Ulster of what can be made of a divided communities, struggles to find some understanding of ways in which Israel and Palestine can move towards a peaceful future.
This will demand compromises of course: an end to the ever expanding Jewish settlements, a freedom for Palestine to develop its economy without interference, but also an attempt by the Palestinians to realise Israel is not about to disappear. It will be restrained, has to be restrained, but it will live on.
Dervla Murphy provides the encounters and the insights which will let us all share what is going on and what its outcome may be.