{"product_id":"a-season-in-bethlehem-unholy-war-in-a-sacred-place-9780743256049","title":"A Season in Bethlehem: Unholy War in a Sacred Place","description":"\u003ci\u003eNewsweek'\u003c\/i\u003es Jerusalem bureau chief Joshua Hammer arrived in the West Bank in October 2000 -- just after Ariel Sharon made his inflammatory visit to the Haram al-Sharif, otherwise known as the Temple Mount. Sharon's trip ignited the worst violence the Middle East had seen in decades. Overnight, the peace process gave way to an ever-worsening cycle of attack, revenge, and retaliation, destabilizing the entire region, killing thousands, and culminating in Israel's reoccupation of Palestinian towns in 2002. \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA Season in Bethlehem\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of one West Bank town's two-year disintegration, as witnessed by a reporter who was there from the beginning. Woven together from Hammer's own firsthand reportage plus hundreds of interviews, it follows a dozen characters whose lives collided on the streets of this biblical city. They include a Bedouin tribesman who rose to become the commander of Bethlehem's most feared and brutal gang of gunmen; the beleaguered governor, an opponent of the al-Aqsa intifada, who believed he had a mandate to stop the violence, only to discover that Yasser Arafat was undermining him; a Christian businesman who watched helplessly as his community was squeezed between Muslim militants and the Israeli army; an eighteen-year-old female honors student turned suicide bomber; and an Israeli reservist, son of a leader of the Peace Now movement, who wrestled with his left-wing convictions as he rode to battle through the predawn streets. \u003cbr\u003e The narrative reaches a climax with a moment-by-moment recreation of the epochal drama that drew many of these characters together: the thirty-nine-day siege of the Church of the Nativity. A clear-eyed chronicle of deepening chaos and violence, in which Hammer lets the opposing sides speak for themselves, \u003ci\u003eA Season in Bethlehem\u003c\/i\u003e is both a timely and timeless look at how longstanding religious and political tensions finally boiled over in a place of profound resonance: the birthplace of Jesus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joshua Hammer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Free Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/03\/2004\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.36h x 5.44w x 0.77d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780743256049\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHammer, Joshua:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Joshua Hammer is the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu\u003c\/i\u003e. He has written for \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGQ\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSmithsonian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Berlin.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Free Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40509898358899,"sku":"9.78074E+12","price":16.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_e8b0bba4-fc1f-4d72-ae14-337c79d80dbc.jpg?v=1665581045","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/a-season-in-bethlehem-unholy-war-in-a-sacred-place-9780743256049","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}