Author Examines Complexities of the Holy Land from a Personal
Perspective An Author Interview – Holy Land, Whose Land? Modern
Dilemma, Ancient Roots by Dorothy Drummond By Lisa M. Hendey
Taking on the daunting task of unraveling and understanding the
complicated history and political atmosphere of the Middle East
might seem unattainable to most. Author, academician and
geographer Dorothy Drummond has accomplished this undertaking,
and succeeded in pulling it all together into a book that is at
once informative, unbiased and filled with hope. Holy Land,
Whose Land? Modern Dilemma, Ancient Roots (Fairhurst Press,
October 2004, paperback, 329 pages) is a comprehensive look into
the traditions, history and beliefs of a conflict that has raged
for countless years.
Drummond manages to inform her readers on the basics, providing
historical perspective and an excellent compendium of geographic
references. Perhaps more remarkable, however, is her ability to
draw the reader into a topic that many choose to disregard as
beyond understanding. Her inclusion of first person entries from
her own travel journals invite the reader on a journey towards
understanding and hope for the future of this troubled region.
Dorothy Drummond shared with me her experiences of traveling and
writing about the Holy Land and her perspective on the future
for this ever-changing part of the world.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your family?
A: I am a mother of three daughters, grandmother of a five year
old girl and a 10-month old boy. I am retired from teaching at
Indiana State University. The book Holy Land, Whose Land? Modern
Dilemma, Ancient Roots started as a journal I wrote to share
with my family the experiences I had had in Holy Land travels.
Neither my daughters and their husbands, nor the friends with
whom I shared the journal, would then let me off the hook. They
insisted I try to publish the book. Preparing the book for its
first publication date in 2002, and subsequently updating and
expanding it for its revised second edition publication in July
of this year, together with speaking in bookstores, libraries,
and churches, has consumed most of my time in the past four
years.
Q: Your book deals with issues that are at once timely, and yet
steeped in history and timeless. What prompted you to take on
the task of writing a “primer” about the complex history of the
Holy Land?
A: I like your question. It forces me to justify my motives.
When I was last in the Holy Land, in the spring of 2000, I asked
myself two questions: “How did it happen that peace in this land
holy to three faiths can only be maintained at the point of a
gun?” and “How did it happen that two peoples can want the same
small piece of real estate so desperately that they are
bloodying themselves and involving the whole world in the
controversy?” I found that, in spite of my extensive background
in geography (I taught geography at the university and have
authored four world cultures texts) and history, and my deep
interest and extensive travels in the Middle East, I could not
readily connect enough dots to enable me to answer these
questions. So as soon as I got home, I started reading, as
broadly and yet as deeply as I could. The journal was composed
only after I had finished this self-imposed task, which had led
me literally from Abraham to Arafat. I know now that as I was
writing my journal, even though at that time it was only for a
few chosen readers, I was thinking always of how to make the
complex understandable. That of course is the teacher in me.
Q: Would you please briefly summarize the book’s three main
sections?
A: Certainly. I would urge the reader to start with the
Acknowledgement, Forward, and Prologue, for these sections lay
out my motivations, and the directions I intend to take. The
book, as you state, is divided into three parts.
The first part, called The Present: Turmoil in the Holy Land,
starts with the creation of the modern state of Israel and
concentrates especially on the current scene in Israel and
Palestine, on the people, the politics, the leadership, the
settlements, and the frustration and anger that motivates both
terrorism and retribution.
The second part, termed The Past: From Abraham to Arafat, draws
a clear connection of today’s events with the past. It deals
with Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the three religions with
emotional claims on the Holy Land. It shows how the three are
connected, where and why they have diverged, and how the
geo-political events of the last two centuries reflect this
divergence. At the end of Part II, I have included a chapter on
“Sharon and Arafat: Antagonists at Seventy,” showing how these
two leaders, who were born in the same year less than 100 miles
apart, grew up hating everything the other stood for. In a sense
their story is the story of many Israelis and Palestinians, in
microcosm.
In Part III, titled Today: In the Vortex, I paint with a broader
brush, laying out the wider-world implications of the Holy Land
conflict. I conclude on a somewhat hopeful note, showing that
the drive for peace is strong. The three religions involved in
the region share many common concerns, and this commonality is
in itself a foundation on which peace can be structured. Most
especially, all contain mandates for peace.
Q: How do your years as a professional geographer color your
perspectives of history and impact upon your writing?
A: I have never felt that geography and history should be
mutually exclusive. The nature of place and the events that
occur there are always interconnected. When writing or teaching
about any part of the world I have always made its history an
integral part of my story. So it was that when approaching the
questions that I wanted to resolve about the Holy Land today, I
had to turn to the past. At the same time, in developing the
events that led up to the present, I needed to lay the
geographical framework. I have done this partly in the text and
partly through 34 supporting maps. I know it is unusual in a
book of this length (about 280 pages of text) to have so many
maps, but as a geographer I simply can’t write about any subject
without tying it to place.
Q: I know that you are a mother and grandmother. With this, and
your professional expertise, how do you counsel parents who are
attempting to raise children in an era filled with so much
conflict and struggle?
A: Here the geographer in me comes to the fore. Children tend to
personalize their worst fears, to think that war and terrorism
happening elsewhere is also happening here and now and could
happen to those they love. It’s a good time to get out the
globe, to show where events are actually occurring, and to
reinforce that here and now “you are safe and your parents
surround you with love and care.” At the same time it is a good
time to talk about issues of love and hate, of quarrels and
demands, of conflicts and how they can be resolved. Let them
tell you about conflicts they may have seen, or been involved
in, on the playground. Why did these conflicts arise? Could they
have been avoided? How? What are their consequences? Recall this
conversation in the future when talk may revolve around 9/11, or
the war in Iraq.
Q: It seems that the Middle East is an ever-evolving arena. How
has this, your second edition of Holy Land, Whose Land? evolved
from the first edition? Do you anticipate future editions?
A: Again an excellent question. It was clear from the beginning
that there would have to be a second edition. Much has changed,
but much also remains the same. There have been many additions
to the glossary, which is now something of a mini-encyclopedia
of the Holy Land. As far as the text is concerned, I have worked
in changes throughout the text, rather than only noting them in
an appendix, so that the second edition of the book is truly a
revised one. Especially notable, now, are such developments as
the coming withdrawal of settlements from the Gaza Strip, and
the building of the Security Barrier. There are maps that
document both Gaza Strip settlements and the present and
intended extent of the Barrier. One thing that was not foreseen,
of course, was the present probably mortal illness of Arafat,
and its implications. Clearly a revised third edition will be
needed.
Q: I was fascinated by the addition of your travelogues from
your own personal journeys in the Holy Land and know that you
have friends and associates there. When was your most recent
trip to the Middle East and how were your travels?
A: My most recent trip to the Holy Land was in 2000,
coincidentally at the same time the Pope was there. The Israelis
had spared no efforts to guarantee security at that time, and I
never felt during that trip that I was not totally safe. My
personal experiences are so much a part of how I understand the
Holy Land that I felt I had to include them in the book, but to
help readers distinguish them from the ongoing narrative, I’ve
placed them in italics.
Q: Dorothy, what hope do you hold out for the future of Israel
and the surrounding Arab states? What message do you wish to
spread through your writing?
A: Let’s start with the second question. No complex problem can
be solved before the roots of the problem are understood. As
Americans, like it or not, we are involved in the Holy Land. Ben
Laden says our support for Israel is at the root of his hatred
for America. His tune has changed, of course; originally he
hated America because during the Gulf War U.S. troops were on
Saudi soil. But we must understand why Ben Laden has co-opted
the Israeli/Palestinian issue and why it has come to loom so
large not only among Arabs but through the Muslim world. I have
met many people who say “It’s all so complicated, I can’t even
try to understand it.” That head-in-the-sand approach is
dangerous. It is what I’m trying to remedy with what you have
correctly termed “a primer.”
As for the future of Israel and the surrounding Arab states,
much depends on the outcome of Israeli/Palestinian peace
negotiations, which with the impending death of Arafat may now
have reached a critical state. Polls have established that the
majority of both Israelis and Palestinians want peace. Certain
problems must be resolved: the future of Jerusalem, which both
parties insist be their capital; the future of the West Bank
settlements; the ability of the Palestinian government to stop
terrorism. But if these mine fields can be negotiated
successfully, and if Palestine can become a fully sovereign
state, the future of both countries could actually be bright. I
am optimistic.
For more information on Holy Land, Whose Land? Modern Dilemma,
Ancient Roots visit
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0974823317/digitalcropper-
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Lisa M. Hendey is a mother of two sons, webmaster of numerous
web sites, including http://www.catholicmom.com and
http://www.christiancoloring.com, and an avid reader.
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