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The Open Veins of Jerusalem , edited by Fouad Moughrabi and Munir Akash. 654 pages, notes. Bethesda, MD: Jusoor Books, 1998. $14.00 (Paper) ISBN 0-9652031-2-3

Written in 1997/98, The Open Veins of Jerusalem has become more and more relevant. Following the international community's marking of Jerusalem as perhaps the most important issue pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict, few other works capture the complexity of this controversial issue. Not only does this volume include a wealth of political analysis, but it is also interspersed with personal testimonies, historical accounts, and poems written in English, Arabic, or French. Like most edited volumes, however, the material is uneven. The anthology touches on a number of timely political themes. Israel Shahak, Jan de Jong, and Ann Lantendresse discuss the relationship of Jews to Jerusalem, and the various contemporary Israeli approaches to addressing the 'Jerusalem issue.' Issa Al-Khoury, Fouad Moughrabi, and Issa Boullata write about their childhoods and memories of growing up in the city. Rashid Khalidi, Roger Garaudy, and Naseer Aruri write about the politics and the multicultural nature of the city. Ingrid Jaradat, R. Gustafson, and C. Mallouhi discuss Israel's systematic policies to 'Judaize' the city and rid it of its Christian and Muslim inhabitants. A wealth of poetry is also included in the anthology, among which are poems by Mahmoud Darwish, Adonis, and Naomi Shehab Nye. The most developed debate in the book pertains to the various Israeli proposals to dealing with the 'final status' of Jerusalem. In disagreement with the commonly-held belief that all Israelis share the same position on Jerusalem, Shahak, Lantendresse, and de Jong problematize the whole notion of one Jewish or Israeli perspective in relation to Jerusalem. Shahak argues that there are two main approaches to dealing with Jerusalem in Israel: the religious approach and the secular approach. According to Shahak, however, even among the religious sector more than one view exists and some groups are more likely than others to 'concede' on Jerusalem. Lantendresse and de Jong put forth some of the proposals under consideration for dealing with the final status of Jerusalem. Both indicate that the Israeli proposals are based more or less on the same principle: participation by Palestinians in the decisionmaking process and relevant local/municipal affairs, but not control over the territory. Variation, however, does exist in terms of administration. According to de Jong, the three models being proposed can be described as shared sovereignty, split sovereignty, and divided sovereignty. These proposals are representative of the current debates in the area. Though these positions and proposals are nothing new to the seasoned regional expert, Shahak, de Jong, and Lantendress are able to break down the issues and present them in a simple and straightforward manner.