Product Description

Checkpoint tells a story about the lives of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians caught up in a conflict without hope of resolution. It is about families and friendships. My experience listening to Israelis and Palestinians with the Compassionate Listening delegation in 2005 had a profound influence on my writing. Checkpoint is about our common humanity, about the illusion of being on opposite sides and about taking responsibility. Ultimately, it's a novel about hope.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #857111 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 308 pages

About the Author
Lisa Saffron was born in 1952 in the United States and grew up in a non-religious, Zionist- sympathising Jewish family. She moved to England in her twenties where she raised her family and worked in parenting support, health research and feminist women's health information. She belongs to a progressive synagogue and hosts a weekly programme on Radio Salaam Shalom, an internet radio station for Jewish-Muslim dialogue. She travelled to Israel and the Occupied Territories several times since her first visit in 1968. Her latest trip with the Compassionate Listening Project was the inspiration for Checkpoint. This is her first novel. She has published non-fiction and autobiographical books and articles.

Customer Reviews

Review by Tony Benn
Lisa Saffron's book is both moving and powerful. Human stories convey the horror and injustice better than factual books about the Palestinian tragedy.

'Checkpoint' takes you behind the rhetoric of the Israel-Palestine conflict
This excellent first novel authentically explores the motives and feelings behind the conflict in Israel and Palestine as portrayed in the lives and relationship of two American Jewish women and their families. Lisa Saffron has succeeded in presenting one of the world's most intractable and sensitive problems in a highly readable and accessible format. A subtle blend of flashback, narrative, fantasy and historical fact brings to life the reality of the occupation for Palestinians and Israelis.

The destructive consequences of Israel's occupation of Palestine on family life on `both sides of the checkpoint' makes, at times, harrowing reading. The author does not flinch from portraying the violence and heartbreak which accompany this conflict. However, the humour and sympathy she brings to the well-drawn and believable characters and situations invite the reader's understanding rather than judgement.

Political dysfunction and the denial of history are subtly echoed in the description of family dysfunction and the denial of feelings, the high price of which is brought home in Checkpoint. The emotional causes and consequences of the conflict are woven into both the narrative and the plot. Any reader unfamiliar with the reality of life in Israel-Palestine will be shown the surprising extent to which peoples' lives are intertwined and how the consequences of any action reverberate through psyches and relationships on a personal as well as a political level.

Checkpoint is highly recommended reading for anyone who enjoys a well-crafted novel, whether or not they have a prior interest in this issue or have already made up their minds about it . It makes challenging reading for those with fixed ideas of `Zionists' and `Islamists'. In the end the reader is left with a strong and moving reminder of the common humanity that binds us all and makes a mockery of the politics.

Checkpoint - Lisa Saffron
CHECKPOINT by Lisa Saffron : Review.

CHECKPOINT, the impressive and highly original first novel by Lisa Saffron, cannot be called an easy read. The subject matter is often much too stark, too painful for comfort.

Through the distinct voices of its three central characters, it offers an uncompromising exploration of the tragic situation in Israel/Palestine.

Yigal, an Israeli soldier, is killed in a bomb attack. But that is only the beginning of his story. Once dead, he finds himself watching clouds at the Other World Checkpoint, bound forever in an extraordinary and touching
alliance with Aisha, the fiery and passionate Palestinian suicide bomber who brought about his death.Ruth, Yigal's mother, conventional Israeli housewife, driven half mad with grief, mourns him, and, in the process, embarks on an extraordinary inner journey, which will take her from unquestioning acceptance, to an emotional and shocking encounter with Leila, mother of the suicide bomber, in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Vivi, Ruth's friend, is an ardent and proactive advocate of the Palestinian cause, and, as such, poses a threat to David, Ruth's husband, whose unquestioning support of Israel leads him to behave with horrific and shocking violence to those who oppose him or challenge his viewpoint.

Also involved is Orli, Ruth's daughter, who, in the course of the story, comes alive to what is happening in her country, and becomes determined to take an active role in bringing about a more peaceful situation.

The story spans the years from 2002 to 2006.Through the use of memory, surreal sequences and dreams, as well as often shocking factual material, which reads very much like eye witness accounts, we piece together the events of these years in the lives of the characters and in the life of the country.

The author, who is an active member of a Progressive synagogue, has travelled to Israel several times in recent years. The inspiration for the book was her visit to the Middle East with the Compassionate Listening
Project.

Her viewpoint, though many may disagree with it, is, I feel, both informed and tolerant. She has an excellent grasp both of her subject matter, and of the wider implications of the conflict.

The credo of the book is "peace with justice', forgiveness and understanding. A realisation that, only by working together for peace can the suffering ever end. The moving force behind this initiative are the
bereaved mothers, both Israeli and Palestinian. In the words of Leila, mother of Aisha:

"But we mothers suffer. We cannot take any more of this needless suffering."

The suffering is seen to exist on both sides. When an Israeli mother loses her beloved son. When a Palestinian mother has to come to terms with the fact that her daughter has martyred herself .When an Israeli mother must accept that her gentle son killed a child. When personal relationships buckle under the strain of the conflict. When houses and lives are destroyed.

It is a very brave and an important book, and an uncompromising one. It is guaranteed to make you think. It may well make you cry. It might even change your mind.

Sheila Yeger: March 2008