This novel brings Israel's 2002 re-invasion of the West Bank to life, especially from the perspective of Palestinians on the ground in Nablus and Ramallah. I enjoyed reading the philosophical arguments therein about resistance to occupation. However, I found it rather one-dimensional and not up to par with Khalife's earlier novels (e.g., The Inheritance, which was world class). The characters here struck me as being too extreme, mere caricatures of various segments of society. This robbed the novel of its authenticity, despite the realistic descriptions of the fighting. For example, the whole incident of two guys sneaking past the barbed wire into a settlement to rescue a cat simply seems absurd. No one would do that.