Revenge: A Story of Hope [Paperback]

Laura Blumenfeld's father was shot in Jerusalem in 1986 by a member of a rebel faction of the PLO responsible for attacks on several tourists. Her father survived, but Blumenfeld's desire for revenge haunted her. This is her story -- and a fascinating study of the mechanics and psychology of vengeance.
While plotting to infiltrate her father's shooter's life, Blumenfeld travels the globe gathering stories of other avengers. Through interviews with Yitzhak Rabin's assassin; members of the Albanian Blood Feud Committee; the chief of the Iranian judiciary; the mayor of Palermo, Sicily; the Israeli prime minister; priests; sports fans; fifth-grade girls; prostitutes; and more, she explores the dynamics of hate -- and the fine line that sometimes separates it from love.
Ultimately, Blumenfeld's target is more complex than the stereotypical terrorist she'd long imagined. In a surprising twist, she gets revenge, but not according to traditional expectations. She discovers a third way, a choice beyond turn the other cheek or an eye for an eye. And with it she answers the age-old question: what is the best revenge?Laura Blumenfeldholds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University and has been a staff writer atThe Washington Postsince 1992. She has also written forThe New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine,and the Los Angeles Times. She lives in Washington, D.C.Chapter One: Heat

July 1998. Kalandia, West Bank

The gunman was not home. Come in, his mother said. Would you like some orange soda? She smiled back at me, waving me out of the sun and through her front door. The knock must have shaken her out of a nap; she had shuffled out in slippers and a pink embroidered bathrobe. She drew me inside, into a dimly lit living room, the curtains closed against the heat. Children were tucked into every shadow, three small boys wedged in an armchair, a teenager straddling the arms of the couch, toddlel#’