This book is important for two reasons. First it has something fresh to say about the story concerning `land' in the Bible. Against loud voices within present day Evangelical Christianity and Zionism, it finds in God's word a gentler way to occupy land than conquest, crusade and jihad. Jeschke builds on past scholarship to provide a serious alternative to the dominant narratives, involving a careful re-examination of the Bible and of what the Bible's adherents have done with the concept of `Holy Land.'



Secondly, this work also has something positive to contribute to current debates about managing land conflict. Primarily inspired by the question, `Whose Land is Palestine?' this book develops a more generally applicable land ethic grounded in an irenic way to possess territory. The outworking of this ethic will be fraught with difficulty and Jeschke, well recognising that there will be no easy answers, supplies some helpful illustrations. The alternative is business (or should I say conflict) as usual.



If you are a Christian wanting to live out your faith, this book will add a new dimension. If you are interested in the question of Palestine, it offers an interesting perspective. If you are concerned about how we occupy the planet, it offers a radical challenge.



David Jenkins

Professor of Land Studies

University of Glamorgan