The Uzi and the Stone

James Peters was a professor of Languages at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute.

The tragedy of the occupied zones of Palestine—and, in this case, the
Gaza strip—is seen and portrayed vividly through the eyes and pens of
this couple from the Canadian West, who wrote alternate chapters based
on their volunteer experience. Despite their affection for the
Palestinian people, whose intimate lives they share when they are not
teaching in the Sun Centre (a school for handicapped and injured
children), they affirm that “the Palestinians will never achieve
nationhood without a radical change in attitudes and behaviours.”

This book provides a sad but invaluable insight into the “reversal”
whereby the victimized Jews have become the victimizers of another
people. The emphasis is on the inherent cruelty that, as suggested by
the book’s title, is practiced by the Israeli Defense Force on the
Gazans, who live in poverty and misery under the Occupation.

Many readers will be surprised to learn that innocent children are
arrested so that the Israelis can extract sizeable fines. One learns how
the desperation of the Palestinians, and especially of the children, has
resulted in their suicidal determination to seek freedom from the
Israeli yoke.

The style of the two authors is indistinguishable, despite the dual
source of the composition, and is of a pleasing quality.

In this book, we glimpse a darker side of human history that has
unfolded in this region since 1967 and before. Canadians have created a
considerable literature on the conflict between Zionists and Arabs; this
work merits an important place in the collection.