How to Avoid Being Killed In a War Zone

       «How To Avoid Being Killed In a War Zone : the essential survival guide for dangerous places» by Rosie Garthwaite.

The title in itself made me buy the book as soon as I saw it (or rather, as soon as I got the money). And I just recieved it, and took five minutes in my crazy schedule to go through it and I loved it at first glance : it is precisely what the title suggest. Not a novel, not a collection of events, just a heap of info and counsel to deal with about every subject and incidents one might encounter in the everyday life of someone who happen to live in a war zone (not only journalists, even if the book seem to be directed primarily at them).

This has been written by a war reporter working for Al Jazeera (the english version I suppose), and she interviewed a great many others to complete the book as best as possible ... which seem pretty true at this first glance. I can’t wait the end of exams to read it. 

It is the crazy book of the month, the book that make me remember one of my dreams, to become a war reporter. Traveling to Israel-Palestine made me realize that it could be a great job for me. 

I discovered there that something almost inocuous and traditional in my home country that is peaceful demonstrations, could mean death elsewhere, even if you didn’t break any laws whatsoever. During this afternoon when the group made of «internationals» (including me), israelis and palestinians got shot at and chased by the israeli army, and that « we were lucky because two of us got only midly injured that day and no-one was killed», I never felt so much that this was where I was supposed to be, with the desire to tell afterwards what I saw to anyone who cared. Or didn’t, for that matter. 

      I wasn’t even scared, and that got me thinking for a long time about my sanity : simple situations in life can stress the hell out of me, like taking the bus or buying a bread at the bakery, but weird things and out-of-the-usual situations (for a low-middle class westerner) make me feel almost relaxed, and I can deal with them with a clear mind.

Anyway, I’m curious about reading this book, the reading of which sounds like fun in itself ... I hope to review it very soon, meanwhile, there’s this article.

"كيف تتجانب أن تُقتل في منطقة حربية"

كتاب من صحفية انكليزية عملت لقناة الجزيرة (بالانكليزية على ما أعتقد) والعنوان جعلني أشتريه مباشرة ... واحد من أحلامي أن أصبح صحفية في مناطق حربية منذ رحت الى فلسطين شفت الواقع هناك. ويظهر أن الكتاب يعالج أي موضوع الحياة يمكنك أن تفكر به حتى المواضيع لن تفكر فيها قبل أن تعيشها في حياة يومية وسط الحرب. فأنتظر نهاية دراساتي بعد أشهر حتى أقرأ ذلك لكتاب وأقدم رأيّ فيه ...