This Heated Place
Encounters in the Promised Land

This Heated Place takes readers into twenty-first century Israel and the occupied territories. During the first Gulf War, journalist Deborah Campbell was a student of Middle Eastern studies at Tel Aviv University; she returned to the region ten years later seeking insights into one of the world's most intractable conflicts. "I wanted to fill in the missing pieces, ask the questions I had been unable to formulate in the past," she writes. "I arrived to an escalating crisis."

Campbell drives through the West Bank with an American-Israeli settler in his bombproof SUV; attends the Tel Aviv Love Parade, where Israeli ravers celebrate under armed guard; visits a Palestinian family in Hebron; meets students of an Islamic girls' school in Gaza; talks to Israeli refuseniks; and drinks tea at the refugee camp home of the family of twelve-year-old Mohammad al-Durrah, whose death made him the Arab world's symbol of opposition to Israeli occupation. As she travels, she is mindful of the words of someone she meets along the way. When it comes to understanding this terrible conflict, he tells her, what you see depends on where you are standing.

This Heated Place skillfully combines elements of political reporting, travel writing and personal observation. In recounting her journey, Campbell creates an unforgettable portrait of the people-Arab and Jew alike-caught up in this complex and bloody struggle.

"This colourful and nuanced snapshot of the Middle East conflict is wonderfully readable, even for veteran peace activists like me. Complex issues and feelings are captured through conversations with the protagonists on all sides. An excellent study of our predicament, poignantly written."
--Gila Svirsky
Co-founder of Coalition of Women for a Just Peace
and a Woman in Black, Jerusalem

"Heralding an ever-increasing awakening in the West, Deborah Campbell breaks through the walls of her indoctrination about the situation in the Middle East, showing courage and morality as she unravels distortions and manufactured images. She stands on the side of humanity in this captivating eyewitness account."
--Hanna Kawas
Chair, Canada Palestine Association

"A beautiful book."
--Vicki Gabereau
CTV

"An honest work that I think excellently captures this intractable situation in the Middle East... Brilliant...You have to get this book."
--Michael Harris
author of Justice Denied

"A unique piece of work that doesn’t just deserve to be read, it needs to be read...An unforgettable account of the Middle East juncture...Boldly written and poignantly told...This Heated Place is a riveting non-fiction tale about the hardship and perils of life in Israel, where the author’s candid, on-the-spot interviews with various segments of the population help to bring clarification to a situation often muddied by bias and misunderstanding."
--Edmonton Jewish News

Reader's Write

"I recently finished your book and thought it excellent! I was in Israel/Palestine in '99 and have read about the area and its history for years. You did a great job of capturing the many facets of the region in a superb journalistic style. Congratulations!"
--S.S.

"I loved your book. You have a talent for presenting a complex conflict in human terms -- which seems rare in the mainstream media. It's easy these days to dehumanize people in the Middle East. For instance, the presentation of Israeli soldiers as brutal and of Palestinians as suicidal is almost cliche. So much reporting leads to a mainstream view along the lines of A Pox on Both Their Houses. The section in your book about the refuseniks was awesome. I also liked your stories about women. They don't seem to have a loud voice in this issue. Also, it's funny how so many issues boil down to everyday dreams and struggles, into feelings of fear and desire."
--A.G.

Have just finished your book and want to tell you how much I learned from it and how much I enjoyed it. I particularly like your courage (both in going where you did and writing what you believed) and your innocence (both in seeing with your own eyes and making your own decisions about what you saw). Congratulations."
--T.K.

"I thought your book was great. I appreciate your simple style of telling the stories of the Middle East. Thank you also for telling the Palestinian stories especially."
--F.R.

"I just wanted to write you a quick note to say how much I enjoyed "This Heated Place." I found it very thought provoking, particularly your chapter on visiting Hebron. You really captured the feeling of being in Israel."
--N.H.

This Heated Place is published by Douglas & McIntyre

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