Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation, 2015 Updated Edition

In this updated edition with a new introduction by activist Anna Baltzer and forward by Israeli journalist Amira Hass, Jewish women including Baltzer, Starhawk, Hannah Mermelstein, Alice Rothchild, Sandra Butler, Emma Rosenthal and others offer personal narratives of the emerging Jewish perspective about the Israeli Occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. The women describe their own journeys along with stories of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals working for peace, justice and democracy in Israel/Palestine. REVIEWS: "Throughout history, women's stories have played a key role in drawing attention to social injustices and human rights violations. Indeed it is stories that have shaped the Jewish-American experience and collective memory... This anthology contains Jewish-American women's stories spanning generations, life experiences, and means of questioning the status quo and making room for more than one victim. Their bravery in speaking out against the injustices perpetuated by our own people (this time) is not the main story here--the legacy they will create is through their acts of witnessing the truth, swallowing its ramifications and exposing stories too often untold to Jews worldwide. If there is ever to be true, just peace and reconciliation in Israel/Palestine, it must start with embracing our traditions and stories enough to depart from them and teach new ones." -Emily W. Schaeffer, American-Israeli human rights lawyer/anti-occupation activist "Writing with personal modesty yet great humanity, these courageous women offer richly textured, revelatory accounts that will grip the reader's thoughts and feelings. All the selections are finely rendered, insightful, and endowed with a determined sense of justice and compassion." -Michael Parenti, author of Contrary Notions and God and His Demons "A moving collection of readings by Jewish women writers committed to the quest for justice and compassion in Palestine and Israel. They powerfully articulate, in their different ways, the axiom of our common humanity. It may have taken our whole life to reach that place (as one contributor put it), but those who are finally able to see, must stand up and advocate for sanity now, today." -Deb Reich, translator, Abu Ghosh, Israel/Palestine


About the Author
Osie Gabriel Adelfang is an Israeli-born Jewish-American human rights activist, writer, editor, speaker, and marketing pro. She has written for various magazines, corporations, nonprofits, and other clients. Her activism includes Palestinian rights, alternative education, and genital integrity. She has also taught writing to elementary and community college students. Osie holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MFA in creative nonfiction from Antioch University LA. Her father and paternal grandparents escaped the Holocaust by immigrating to Palestine in 1935; her father later served in Israeli military intelligence. Her maternal grandparents were idealism-driven socialist Zionists who settled in Palestine in the 1920s. Information about this book and Osie's other work can be found on her website: www.OsiesWordsOnline.com