An excellent combination of political analysis and autobiographical narrative. This book, for me, brought Thomas Friedmann to the foreground of critical observers of the Middle East.

This was recommended to me by a friend as a must-read for anyone interested in Israeli politics or history. And I agree. This was Friedman before he became the self-aggrandizing, pompous (though still very smart) writer he is today. I liked how Friedman structured his book, moving back and forth between small, intimate stories and large world politics, and shifting the focus from Beirut to Jerusalem but constantly weaving in other details, historical tidbits, etc. to make a very vivid, fleshed-out telling of that area in the '80s. Friedman consciously tries to incorporate multiple viewpoints and I felt he did a good job of it. He makes many assertions (e.g. "there are three reasons why peace has yet to occur in the Gaza Strip and West Bank") but backs them up well while still giving the reader the chance to think for oneself. I feel much more aware of the political and social undercurrents that led up to major events of that time and still feed into current doings in Israel and the Middle East in general.

What an amazing piece of writing! It took me more than 3 months to read it and that is because I wanted to take my time with this book. It is really balanced, tremendously informative and at the same time entertaining.

I haven't read anything as good on the Middle East as Friedman's analysis. His description of life in Beirut is outstanding, his study of Arafat is very insightful, and his dissection of the whole region is unmatched. Besides all that, the author can be quite funny. I loved the anecdotes, sarcasm and his style as a whole. I can read this book over and over again.

Friedman was a NY Times bureau reporter in Beirut (during the Civil War) and Jerusalam (during various wars and conflicts). Although Friedman can be a blowhard who relishes his near-miss war stories a bit too much (one thinks of an old patrician Brit reminiscing about Hunting Tig-ahs in In-jah), this remains the best explanation of Mideast conflicts.

Like MJ said this book took longer to read then most. I almost quit midway through because I was getting bored. But I am glad I finished. Thomas Friedman was a reporter in first Beirut and then Jerusalem for about a decade 1979 to 1988. It was very interesting to get first hand accounts of what was happening during that time. Mr. Friedman shows his polically left leanings more than once in the book but I still felt that he worked hard to report objectively while in the book sharing his feelings and ideas. I especially liked reading the quotes from natives. I also really liked his analysis in the final chapter (1989 edition) of what a diplomat needs to be in dealing with people in the Middle East.

I was put off by Friedman's obvious disgust with Israel's occupation of the West Bank which they legitimately won in the Six Day War and by his seemingly smiling acceptance of the attracites perpetrated by Arabs in Lebanon. I think he explains himself though when he describes other American Jews. They expect so much of Israel that anything less than perfect is hard to accept.

I wish my library had had the newer editions. I would like to read updates.

This book was so interesting. Great writing that had me intrigued from the beginning.

We in the Middle East have always had a healthy appetite for factionalism.
- “A Stranger in Your Own City” by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad (page 187)

The above quote is most pertinent to this book - “From Beirut to Jerusalem” by Thomas Friedman.

Friedman writes about the events in Lebanon and Israel during the 1980s and early 1990s. Although this was written over thirty years ago, much is still very relevant and revealing for our current era. The author sheds a great deal of insight on the history of this turbulent region, and spent several years as a journalist in Beirut and then Israel.

Friedman provides us with many examples of the discord that existed within the PLO and its leader at that time, Yasser (spelled Yasir in this book) Arafat. The PLO had its HQ in Beirut during the time Friedman stayed there. The PLO was forced to leave Beirut during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

There were so many different factions in Lebanon that the Israeli Army, and afterwards the U.S. Marines, were pulled to-and-fro by these different militia groups.

Page 70

There wasn’t a single reporter in West Beirut who did not feel intimidated, constrained, or worried at one time or another about something he learned, considered writing or had written.

Page 203

The Marines had turned into just another Lebanese militia.


Page 204

Washington was helping to inflict real pain on many people, and there would have to be a price to pay for that.

Thomas Freidman paints a harrowing picture of life in Beirut and how people adjusted. The strength of his book is the remarkable portraits of how various individuals lived their daily lives and coped. We feel the emotional complexities they had to deal with – and the anguish they endured.

Page 36

Beirut was all crime and no punishment.

Page 87 Clinton Bailey

“Everyone had to become a wolf and be prepared to survive at the expense of the other tribe… This meant that every man was simultaneously hunter and prey.”

Page 119

The law of Lebanese politics was: I have a check-point, therefore I exist.

The Lebanese government had little power. It was street corner militias who were the power brokers. Life could follow a very visceral code.

Page 89

What you never do in the desert, though, is allow concessions to be arbitrarily imposed on you.

Page 103 Kemal Salibi Lebanese historian

“When it comes to thinking about Middle East politics, the American liberal mind is often chasing rainbows. They are living in a world of delusion.”

Page 194

When I am weak, how can I compromise? When I am strong, why should I compromise?

Throughout this book Yasser Arafat is a common thread. He was successful in sustaining his power with various groups – from the Palestinian people - the diaspora in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan; and Gaza and the West Bank. He presented many different versions of himself to the Palestinians, the Middle Eastern countries (Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and even Israel) – and to the world powers of the era.

Page 111

The PLO under Yasir Arafat was the first truly independent Palestinian national movement.

The author moved to Israel (Jerusalem) and faced many other predicaments. Israel is caught in an unending quandary which continues to this day. They cannot find a solution to their Palestinian neighbors. There are Israelis who feel it is their Biblical (Torah inspired) destiny to be living in the West Bank. At the time this book was written, the Israeli government was doing little to prevent this. The Palestinians are virulently opposed to the encroachment. The security issues for Israel are enormous. The author explains the repercussions of the wars of 1967 and of 1973, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s peace overture to Israel. The Israeli government by the late 1980s came under the influence of the Israeli fundamentalists. There is a struggle between Israeli secularists and the religious right.

Page 264

Gush Emunim [a Messianic Jewish settler movement] explained that the victory of 1967 [annexing the West Bank and Gaza] was actually the work of the hand of God, reuniting the two halves of the land of Israel.

The disconnect of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, with Israelis, resulted in the intifada of 1987.

Page 340 after 1967

The Israeli world enveloping them [Palestinians] only left them feeling like strangers in their own land [which became occupied by Israelis].

Page 393 Meachem Lorberbaum Israeli soldier

“Now you can’t ignore the fact that you are an occupier of another people. You have to arrest people and put blindfolds on them and then ride through the middle of Neblus with them in the back of your jeep and everyone in town staring at you.”

Page 515

The Palestinian intifada [1987] has made it clear that the price in physical and moral terms of maintaining the status quo is going to get higher every year.

This also led to the rise of HAMAS and a lesser role for the PLO.

This book contains a great deal of vital history, giving us a deeper understanding of this turbulent part of the world.

A very well written book with all sides of the conflict.

Great in regards to Beirut, to Political leftist when it gets to Israel. The author opinion is annoying in in some places even hurts (the author for example wonder why people have to stand up once in a year for the dead soldiers memorial in Israel...come on. Some respect).

I do not recommend this book. Shame on the author.

The ideals in the book makes me go goosebumps. It starts with Israel siege of west Beirut in 1982, tells about how the streets were, what war means.
Then it mentions what it meant to be a journalist itself, not to mention being a Jewish journalist reporting from that area, then switches to the Israeli side of the border, going back to 1967, 1973, 1982, 1984 elections until Friedman left the country in 1988.
Israelis calling the land Judaea and Samaria bur not West Bank, making it an idealog for them since 1967, not accepting the UN resolutions since then. Pointing out, that holocaust is being thought at the schools only since 1961, and the political consequences. Mentions several times how good Israel is putting itself in a victim role, and playing it perfectly.
Most striking is, reading this from the Jewish journalist Friedman.

A superficial view from the cities at the heart of the Lebanese Civil War and the First Intifada from the perspective of an egotistical American journalist. The book is filled with self aggrandizing anecdotes of him affecting the blasé of a hardened Beiruti. In one, his coworker is surprised by machine gun fire outside the office window and the author rebuffs him saying, "is he shooting at you? No. Is he shooting at me? No. So leave me alone so I can get back to work." In another cringeworthy moment, the author and his wife refuse to pay the full price in a Jerusalem taxi scam and the driver proceeds to threaten them. They respond by bursting into laughter and the author says, "do you know where we just came from? We were in Beirut. Beirut!" Nevertheless, you can derive some sense of life in these cities at pivotal points in their histories, not from a rich historical perspective but from that of a smug tourist.

A bit slow, repetitive and dated at times, but overall widely informative and intriguing. A must-read for anyone who is interested in the Middle East.