Palestiniana: Two-thousand years of history crammed into five fun-packed days

There is no greater problem on earth than that of Israel and the Palestinian Territories. A tale of history, religion, stolen land and hatred has all the ingredients of an epic story. Except this story shows no sign of a happy ending. Palestiniana is a story spanning two-thousand years packed into five fun-packed days in the West Bank. Invited into the country to attend Palestine National Youth Week, photojournalist Garry Cook found himself being shuttled around Palestine on a leaky coach with a bunch of activists intent on spray-painting walls and antagonising Israeli Defence Force soldiers. INTRODUCTION: This was not the trip I was expecting. Experience Palestine during National Youth Week, the email said. So, after less than two hours sleep, after losing several journalists at airport immigration, after being taken to the wrong hotel where I am now staying in an apartment with a married Italian and Canadian couple and after killing a dog on the two-hour coach journey to Ramallah, how come I have ended up standing in front of reels of barbed wire watching international activists spray-paint a huge concrete wall which separates this desolate part of Palestine from the Israeli settlement beyond it? Our Palestinian guide on this magical mystery tour, who has just been shouting at us to spray ‘Free Palestine’ in as many different languages as are present in our entourage, is now slightly more alarmist as he bellows: “Ten minutes, ten minutes! You must be quick. We can’t be here for more than ten minutes, the Israeli army is watching us. They will be here in ten minutes. Ten minutes!” This is the start of my five days in Palestine, which coincided with the November 2012 conflict between Israel and Gaza. A story of tears and tear gas across a nation where there are no youths in National Youth Week.Foreword by journalist and human rights activist Yvonne Ridley (excerpt): “In scathingly funny satire, Cook recounts the confusion, mis-management and chaos he is confronted with from the moment he arrives at the airport in Tel Aviv. Palestinian youth are as elusive as his much-talked-about-but- never-seen host.“Despite the satire, Cook still manages to convey the hopelessness facing Palestinians today. In fact the confusion and lack of cohesion confronting him on his trials and tribulations around the region proves to be a good metaphor for the Palestinian struggle.“Dyed-in-the-wool activists will not enjoy the book but it does give a unique perspective into an oft written about and much misunderstood conflict in the Middle East from the author.” Read more