I Was Born And Bred In A

Of Course My Books Are Translated Into Many Languages. I Have Here, In My Home, Translations On My Shelf Of My Books Into Forty-five Different Languages. Almost None Of Them I Can Read. I Can Read Only The English Editions. But, I Know That A Translation Of A Work Of Literature Is Like Playing A Violin Concerto On The Piano. You Can Do This. You Can Do This Very Successfully On One Strict Condition: Never Try To Force The Piano To Produce The Sounds Of The Violin. This Will Be Grotesque. So, Different Musical Instruments Provide For Different Music.

Now, Israel Is A Fulfillment, And As A Fulfillment, It Is Flawed. The Fact That It Is Flawed Is Not So Much A Testimony About The Failures Of Israel. No, It Is A Testimony About The Nature Of Dreams.

I Know That A Translation Of A Work Of Literature Is Like Playing A Violin Concerto On The Piano. You Can Do This. You Can Do This Very Successfully On One Strict Condition: Never Try To Force The Piano To Produce The Sounds Of The Violin. This Will Be Grotesque.

… That Sour Blend Of Loneliness And Lust For Recognition, Shyness And Extravagance, Deep Insecurity And Self-intoxicated Egomania, That Drives Poets And Writers Out Of Their Rooms To Seek Each Other Out, To Rub Shoulders With One Another, Bully, Joke, Condescend, Feel Each Other, Lay A Hand On A Shoulder Or An Arm Round A Waist, To Chat And Argue With Little Nudges, To Spy A Little, Sniff Out What Is Cooking In Other Pots, Flatter, Disagree, Collude, Be Right, Take Offence, Apologise, Make Amends, Avoid Each Other, And Seek Each Other’s Company Again.

Sometimes, Recently Israeli-palestinian Conflict Is Indeed A Clash Between Wrong And Wrong. It Is Not As Simple As Fascism Was. Every Decent Man Had To Be Against Fascism, Period. It Is Not As Simple As Apartheid Or Colonialism Or Racism Or Misogyny. It Is Not Simple Because The Palestinians Have No Other Land. They Are Absolutely Right About This. The Israeli Jews Also Have No Other Land And They Are Absolutely Right About This. It Is A Tragedy Of Two Peoples Claiming The Same Very Small Country, About The Size Of New Jersey.