Why You Should Read 'Ghosts of a Holy War'

In 2019, Schwartz was given a gift that would be any writer's dream: a box of David's correspondence to his family dutifully saved, guarded, and treasured by successive generations who never knew him. It was now entrusted to her to tell his story, which she does masterfully. By bringing light to David's words, Schwartz shares one of the few surviving voices of the Jewish community in Hebron a century ago, along with a critical historical perspective. 

Reading "Ghosts of a Holy War," I felt like I was watching the movie "Titanic." You know the outcome. You know that Rose (Kate Winslet) survives, and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) dies. But as they float along, unaware of the iceberg in their path, the ship's sinking, and Jack's drowning along with that of hundreds of others, there's a faint hope that they will survive. I felt that way in reading David's story, finding it hard to believe that it would end so abruptly with no hint of what was about to happen when he penned his last letter, days before he was murdered, which only arrived weeks after his death. 

Simply recounting David's story is and would have been a compelling enough book. Of course, it highlights the folly in thinking that the Arab-Israel conflict is not something rooted in extremist Islam or to do with a Jewish state. 

The second part of the book is something that I know that Schwartz wishes she didn't have to write about. In interviewing her for the Inspiration from Zion podcast, she gets emotional recounting how the October 7 Hamas massacre impacted her directly and personally. While she could have finished the book just about David's story, it was necessary to connect the 1929 Hebron massacre and Islamic provocations leading up to that with the same ideological roots of the 2023 massacre. 

"Ghosts of a Holy War" connects the dots between the extremist antisemitic theology and incitement of then mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini, and his ideological descendants of Hamas and other Islamic extremists today.

In addition to being well written, "Ghosts of a Holy War" is well researched. In connecting the two massacres nearly 100 years apart, Schwartz underscores that neither the Hamas massacre of October 2023 nor the war in which Israel is engaged are phenomena of just two decades of Hamas control of Gaza, a result of the Oslo Accords, a result of the Six Day War, and not even as a result of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948. These ghosts of the Hebron massacre that are hauntingly pervasive precede the establishment of the State of Israel by two decades. They are rooted in antisemitism and the very presence of Jews in the Land of Israel. And the ghosts are related because of disbelief that Hebron's Jewish community's peaceful Arab neighbors and "friends" in 1929 could ever rise up to harm them, just as the communities most devastated, along with many other Israelis, believed before October 2023 that peaceful coexistence was here. 

Some who justify the Hamas massacre do so based on the Arab narrative that if one's children were "occupied" for two/four/seven decades, they would, in fact, legitimately resort to such depravity, even though the facts are not on their side, and the Hebron 1929 massacre disproves. 

Schwartz deserves credit for laying out the facts and connecting the dots as she did, and also because it's essential, especially today, that the truth be broadcast as widely as possible to overcome the false narratives and libels against Israel and the Jewish people. 

There are two issues that are not unique to "Ghosts of a Holy War" that many writers and historians trip over, and they also need to be clarified for accuracy. First is a reference to "Palestine" and "Palestinians." In 1929, there was neither a Palestinian state nor an ethnic Arab group known as Palestinians. Even if one ascribes the imperative of statehood to a people who only became recognized as distinct resulting from the establishment of Israel, one must keep to the historical fact that "Palestine" of 1929 was part of the British Mandate and never was as independent as anything since the Roman conquest. 

Under British Mandatory Palestine, those referred to as "Palestinians" were Jewish residents. Neither the British nor the neighboring Arab states recognized any independent Palestinian Arab ethnicity. There never has been a Palestinian State.

Schwartz also compellingly gives voice to some of the victims of the Hamas massacre, as she did with David in Hebron. Unfortunately, Hamas terrorists are referred to interchangeably as "gunmen," "armed groups," "militants," etc. It may have been redundant to do so as repeatedly as would have been necessary, but my view is that they are all terrorists and should be called as such, even if it's repetitive. Perhaps the use of the word "terrorist" repeatedly would have been as jarring, if not more so, than using different terms which, albeit varied, are not accurate or appropriate. 

This applies to whether the thousands of terrorists who invaded Israel that day were well-trained Hamas Nuqba forces or civilians. 

Many make these mistakes. It's important to correct them. Regardless, "Ghosts of the Holy War" is one of the best, most historically significant, and most compelling books I have read in some time, and I have repeatedly recommended for others to do so as well. 

*The opinions in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Crosswalk Headlines.

Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Yardena Schwartz

Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes regularly for a variety of prominent Christian and conservative websites and is the host of Inspiration from Zion, a popular webinar series and podcast. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.