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Nathan Thrall

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Nathan Thrall
OccupationWriter
Websitenathanthrall.com

Nathan Thrall is an American author, essayist, and journalist based in Jerusalem. Thrall is the author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, which was named a best book of 2023 by over ten publications, including The New Yorker,[1] The Economist,[2] Time,[3] the Financial Times,[4] The New Republic,[5] The Millions,[6] Mother Jones,[7] The Forward,[8] Booklist,[9] The New Statesman,[10] and The Irish Times,[11] and was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.[12] His first book, The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine, was published by Metropolitan/Henry Holt in 2017. He is a contributor to The New York Times Magazine,[13] the London Review of Books,[14] and The New York Review of Books.[15]

Thrall is the former Director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the International Crisis Group, where he covered Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel's relations with its neighbors from 2010 to 2020.[16] Thrall is a professor at Bard College.[17]

Background and education[edit]

Thrall is Jewish and his mother is a Jewish émigrée from the Soviet Union.[18] Thrall identifies as Jewish.[19] Thrall received a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies and an M.A. in politics from Columbia University. A former member of the editorial staff of The New York Review of Books, he was hired at the International Crisis Group by Robert Malley.[20] At the start of his tenure at the International Crisis Group, Thrall lived in Gaza.[21]

Books[edit]

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama[edit]

Thrall's book A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy was named a best book of 2023 by over ten publications, including The New Yorker,[1] The Economist,[2] Time,[3] the Financial Times,[4] The New Republic,[5] The Millions,[6]Mother Jones,[7] The Forward,[8] Booklist,[9] The New Statesman,[10] and The Irish Times,[11] and was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.[12] The Financial Times named it a best book of 2023 in two categories, Literary Nonfiction[4] and Politics,[22] stating, "This quietly heartbreaking work of non-fiction reads like a novel. At its centre is a tragic road accident outside Jerusalem in the West Bank from which Thrall, a Jewish American journalist, carefully traces the labyrinthine lives of those involved and the tangled web of politics, history and culture that ensnare them all."[4] This book also won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.[23]

The Only Language They Understand[edit]

Thrall's essay collection The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine (Metropolitan/Henry Holt, 2017; Picador, 2018) received positive reviews in The New York Times,[24] Foreign Affairs,[25] Time,[26] and The New York Review of Books.[27] The Jewish Book Council's Bob Goldfarb wrote that his book, The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine, "brings unparalleled clarity to the dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian relations, and is an essential guide to the history, personalities, and ideas behind the conflict."[28] Mosaic selected the book as one of the best of the year, writing, "A knowledgeable and bold retelling of the Israel-Palestinian conflict that forces readers to take a serious and fresh look at their assumptions. Throughout its counterintuitive retelling of this history, it offers an unusually provocative and sometimes startling contribution to the genre."[29]

Journalism[edit]

"The Separate Regimes Delusion"[edit]

In January 2021, the London Review of Books published Thrall's article, "The Separate Regimes Delusion," which argued, "The premise that Israel is a democracy, maintained by Peace Now, Meretz, the editorial board of Haaretz and other critics of occupation, rests on the belief that one can separate the pre-1967 state from the rest of the territory under its control. A conceptual wall must be maintained between two regimes: (good) democratic Israel and its (bad) provisional occupation."[30] Thrall's article was praised in Haaretz by Gideon Levy, who wrote, "the American writer Nathan Thrall, who lives in Jerusalem, published an eye-opening and mind-expanding piece in The London Review of Books .... Thrall doesn't hesitate to criticize the supposedly liberal-Zionist and leftist organizations, from Meretz and Peace Now to Yesh Din and Haaretz. All of them believe that Israel is a democracy and oppose annexation because it could undermine their false belief that the occupation is happening somewhere else, outside of Israel, and is only temporary."[31]

"A Day in the Life of Abed Salama"[edit]

In March 2021, The New York Review of Books published Thrall's piece, "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: One man's quest to find his son lays bare the reality of Palestinian life under Israeli rule,"[32] together with an animated trailer.[33] The article was covered in The Washington Post,[34] Foreign Policy,[35] The American Prospect,[36] Jewish Currents,[37] European publications,[38][39] the Israeli newspaper Haaretz,[40] a podcast episode hosted by New York Times columnist Peter Beinart,[41] and a two-part, forty-minute segment on Democracy Now![42][43] Longreads called it "an astonishing feat of reporting" and named it a Best Feature of 2021.[44][45][46]

Thrall went on to write a non-fiction book based on the article, completing the work with the help of New York Bard College, which awarded Thrall a writing fellowship. The college invited him to teach a course and Thrall proposed one on Israel and apartheid which he gave for Spring 2023.[47][48] A Day in the Life of Abed Salama-Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy was published on October 3, 2023 by Metropolitan Books.

Bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Thrall, Nathan (2023). A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy.[49] New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & Company. Hardcover ISBN 9781250854971. ebook ISBN 9781250854988.
  • Thrall, Nathan (2017). The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 978-1627797092. Hardcover ISBN 1627797092, 978-1627797092; Electronic ISBN 1627797106, 978-1627797108 (electronic book). Thrall, Nathan (2018). The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine. New York, NY: Picador. ISBN 978-1250303899. Paperback ISBN 1250303893, 978-1250303899. Audio book: Tantor Audio, 2017. ASIN: B071VGJDQK.[21]

Book chapters[edit]

  • "Can Hamas be part of the solution?," in Jamie Stern-Weiner ed., Moment of Truth: Tackling Israel–Palestine's Toughest Questions. New York, New York: OR Books, 2018.[50]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Best Books of 2023". The New Yorker. 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  2. ^ a b "The best books of 2023, as chosen by The Economist". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  3. ^ a b "The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023". TIME. 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  4. ^ a b c d "Best books of 2023 — Literary non-fiction". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  5. ^ a b Republic, The New; Marsh, Laura; Marsh, Laura; Alam, Rumaan; Alam, Rumaan; Nwanevu, Osita; Nwanevu, Osita; Kindley, Evan; Kindley, Evan (2023-12-18). "The New Republic's Books of the Year". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  6. ^ a b Schwartz, Madeleine (2023-12-19). "A Year in Reading: Madeleine Schwartz". The Millions. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  7. ^ a b Jones, Mother. "The 29 books we couldn't stop thinking about in 2023". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  8. ^ a b Connelly, Irene Katz (2023-12-18). "The best Jewish books of 2023". The Forward. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  9. ^ a b Booklist Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2023, by | Booklist Online.
  10. ^ a b Statesman, New (2023-11-24). "Books of the year 2023". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  11. ^ a b "The best books of 2023: Writers and critics choose". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  12. ^ a b "9 New Books We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. 2023-11-30. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  13. ^ Thrall, Nathan (2019-03-28). "How the Battle Over Israel and Anti-Semitism Is Fracturing American Politics". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  14. ^ Thrall, Nathan. "Nathan Thrall · LRB". London Review of Books. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  15. ^ "Nathan Thrall". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  16. ^ "Nathan Thrall". Crisis Group. 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  17. ^ McGreal, Chris (2023-11-08). "Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on 'apartheid' debate". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  18. ^ Rachel Cooke (October 15, 2023). "'It's lonely being a Jewish critic of Israel' – Nathan Thrall on his book about a Palestinian father's tragedy". The Guardian.
  19. ^ Cohen, Mari (December 19, 2023). "'A Day in the Life of Abed Salama' After October 7th". Jewish Currents. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  20. ^ Seaton, Matt; Thrall, Nathan. "The Endless Occupation, a New Understanding". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  21. ^ a b Thrall, Nathan (2017-05-16). The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine. Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-1-62779-710-8.
  22. ^ "Best books of 2023 — Politics". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
  23. ^ "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy, by Nathan Thrall (Metropolitan Books)". pulitzer.org. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  24. ^ Beckerman, Gal (2017-05-22). "50 Years On, Stories of the Six Day War and What Came After". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  25. ^ Koplow, Michael J. (2019-08-14). "Language Lessons". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  26. ^ "Is Force the Solution to Peace in the Middle East?". Time. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  27. ^ Shulman, David. "Israel's Irrational Rationality". New York Review of Books. ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  28. ^ "The Only Language They Understand | Jewish Book Council". 2017.
  29. ^ "The Best Books of 2018, Chosen by Mosaic Authors » Mosaic". Mosaic. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  30. ^ Thrall, Nathan (2021-01-21). "The Separate Regimes Delusion". London Review of Books. Vol. 43, no. 2. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  31. ^ Levy, Gideon (2021-01-17). "Not 'Apartheid in the West Bank.' Apartheid". Haaretz. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  32. ^ Thrall, Nathan. "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  33. ^ The New York Review of Books (2021-03-18). "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama [video]". Vimeo.
  34. ^ "Analysis | As Israel votes again, Palestinians still wait their turn". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  35. ^ Walt, Stephen M. (27 May 2021). "It's Time to End the 'Special Relationship' With Israel". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  36. ^ Alterman, Eric (2021-04-02). "Altercation: An Anti-Semite Who's Anything But". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  37. ^ "Shabbat Reading List". Jewish Currents. 2021-03-19. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  38. ^ Schipper, Jannie (27 April 2021). "'Apartheidsstaat Israël stevent af op compleet succes voor de kolonisten'". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  39. ^ "" Pourquoi maintenant ? " : sur les origines de la guerre des onze jours". Le Grand Continent (in French). 2021-05-29. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  40. ^ "J Street Conference Marks 'A New Day in Washington' for U.S.-Israel Relations". Haaretz. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  41. ^ ""Occupied Thoughts": Nathan Thrall, Peter Beinart, and "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama"". Foundation for Middle East Peace. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  42. ^ "Nathan Thrall on the Historic Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Control from the River to the Sea". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  43. ^ "Nathan Thrall on "A Day in the Life of Abed Salama" & Reality of Palestinian Life Under Israeli Rule". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  44. ^ "What Happened to Milad? A Palestinian Father Searches for His Son". Longreads. 2021-05-24. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  45. ^ "The Top 5 Longreads of the Week". Longreads. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  46. ^ "Best of 2021: Features". Longreads. 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  47. ^ McGreal, Chris (November 8, 2023). "Israeli diplomat pressured US college to drop course on 'apartheid' debate" – via The Guardian.
  48. ^ "Coursicle – Chat with classmates". www.coursicle.com.
  49. ^ Thrall, Nathan (2023). A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy. New York, NY: Metropolitan/Henry Holt. ISBN 9781250854971.
  50. ^ "Moment of Truth: Tackling Israel–Palestine's Toughest Questions | Edited by Jamie Stern-Weiner". OR Books. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 2021-10-23.

External links[edit]

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