Academic Studies Press Palestine for the Third Time (Jews of Poland Series)

Palestine for the Third Time is a book of reportage originally published in Poland in 1933 by Ksawery Pruszyński, a young reporter working for a Polish newspaper, who went to Mandate Palestine to see for himself whether the Zionist dream of returning to Eretz Yisrael had a chance of turning into reality. Travelling widely and talking to people he happened to meet on his way―Jews, Arabs, committed dreamers and the disaffected―he was trying to explain to his readers what he was seeing. This book is a unique firsthand account of the early stages in formation of the state and nation of Israel. But it's not just a nostalgic vignette. It resonates powerfully today, linking Tony Judt, Edward Said, and Amos Oz, illuminating the hotly debated questions of modern Israel. Review “‘The Polish nation understands the struggle of Palestinian Jewry.’ Such was the opinion of a young Cracovian academic and journalist, who visited Mandated Palestine in 1933 and who described himself as ‘a neutral witness.’ Yet Ksawery Pruszyński was both well-informed and emotionally affected by the people with whom he talked.  He took the trouble not only to hike across the country from sea to desert, but along the way to seek out individuals with differing points of view―Jews, Arabs and Christians, many enthusiastic, others disillusioned. He was conscious of the resonances between the Zionist experiment and the Fascist and Communist movements of his day, wanting to live life in a kibbutz for himself, and comparing it to a Soviet-style kolkhoz and a Christian monastery.  Endowed with an open mind filled with imagination, he was a forerunner of his later compatriot, Ryszard Kapuściński, taking his readers with him on his journey not only into the recesses of the land but also into the mental worlds of its inhabitants. This short book, written in a fateful year, is prophetic. With great sureness of touch, it describes the human vibrations which would soon give rise, as its author foresaw, to the state of Israel.”   ― Norman Davies, historian, author of God’s Playground  “Pruszyński opens a [new] era of reportage […], reportage which not only describes the world but also tries to explain it.” ― Ryszard Kapuściński, Lapidarium II, 1996 About the Author Ksawery Pruszyński (1907-1950) was a Polish journalist, writer, and diplomat. He was born in Volhynia (now Ukraine) into a landowning family who settled in Kraków after the Russian Revolution. After graduating with a law degree, he started working as a journalist reporting from Gdańsk, Mandate Palestine, and the Spanish Civil War. During World War II, he fought as a soldier (Narvik and Falaise) and worked as a diplomat in London and Moscow. After the war, he joined Poland’s diplomatic corps, first at the UN and later as ambassador to the Netherlands, while still writing and publishing. He died in a car accident in Germany. He is now recognized as one of the founding fathers of the Polish school of reportage. Wiesiek Powaga was born in Poland. He settled in London after the imposition of martial law of 1981. After graduating with a degree in philosophy at King’s College, London, he worked as a carpenter, translator, correspondent for a music magazine, and as senior editor for a UK publisher. He has translated fiction, poetry, and drama, occasionally script-writing for radio and tv.