Meretz UK is pleased to invite you to a meeting with a difference.
- On Sunday, 30 June, at 8pm
- at Hashomer House
- contributions: £5.50 or £4 concessions, £2 members
Paul Usiskin will introduce his new and already well received e-book, THEM NOT US. Fated to be the first of The Chizzik Sagas – an Israel noir, political thriller series – it features Dov Chizzik, Israeli police investigator and "Super Cop".
Paul, an old friend of Meretz UK, will also discuss what it takes to be a writer in this bold new digital and Kindle-driven age. Additionally he will divulge how his compelling characters and poignant plots grew out of his personal experiences and observations.
Them Not Us
After his career is destroyed by a sex scandal, Dov Chizzik is given a last chance, to review a Ministerial report into the 13 deaths of Israeli Arabs in riots in October 2000. He insists on investigating further and comes face to face with the realities of life for Israel's Arab community. For Dov, the consequences are life-changing.
More about Paul...
Paul Usiskin is an Israeli/UK citizen, born in the UK where he currently resides. He served as an officer in the Israel Defence Forces in the West Bank, was shot at during riots, and witnessed an assassination of a Palestinian leader suspected of collaborating with the Israelis. Paul has appeared on BBC World TV and Radio, on Israel Radio and on many UK national and local radio programmes commenting on the Israel-Palestine conflict. 
He has addressed the Oxford University Union where he defeated a One State Solution motion and has spoken at many conferences in the UK and Europe. He writes and blogs about both the conflict and Jewish-Arab relations inside Israel, most recentlyfor Open Zion on the Daily Beast . Paul describes himself as a 'moderate critical Zionist'. He has spent the last ten years as a peace activist and was for many years chair of British Friends of Peace Now.
Comments on Them Not Us
One commentator on Amazon wrote that Them-Not Us is "a political thriller inspired by actual events, an unique view of the troubled relationship between Israel’s Arab and Jewish citizens in an
ever changing society. This is a book about big themes, with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict at its heart, yet the focus is very much on a small, human scale drama with which one can identify and sympathise. Readers [are allowed to] see through the thoughts of the main protagonists the ingrained prejudices that exist between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, which perhaps make for the biggest obstacle to a peace settlement."
Others have said of Paul's book:
- "His is a fresh new voice and I hope that we will hear much more from him."
- "I relished in the subtle combination of reality and fiction welded into the plot."
- "This book deserves attention because it deals with the complexities of Israeli/Palestinian life and relationships in a way which makes it interesting and challenging."
- "It is definitely a good book for making you think and challenging stereotypes and it is refreshing to have a human viewpoint of the politics which many of us hear so much about in the newspapers."
- "The story and the characters were very well well developed and expressed. It is clear that the author writes from a deep knowledge and understanding of both the landscapes and the diverse people who live in Israel/Palestine. I found the passages told from the Palestinian viewpoint to be even more powerful and interesting than the ones from the Israeli view... I found myself really looking forward to getting back to the book and reading the next section.
