Will iconic images recorded in the grooves of an ancient vase unite the Holy Land or rip it further apart?

THE VASE

A novel by Mark M. DeRobertis

Muhsin Muhabi is a Palestinian potter, descended from a long line of potters. His business is run from the same shop owned by his ancestors since the day his forebears moved to Nazareth. The region's conflict saw the death of his oldest son, and rogue terrorists are in the process of recruiting his youngest in their plot to assassinate the Pope and Israeli prime minister.

Professor Hiram Weiss is an art historian at Nazareth’s Bethel University. He is also a Shin Bet operative on special assignment. With the help of fellow agent, Captain Benny Mathias, he plans to destroy the gang responsible for the death of his wife and only child. He puts a bomb in the ancient vase he takes on loan from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.

Mary Levin, the charming assistant to the director of Shin Bet, has lost a husband and most of her extended family to recurring wars and never-ending terrorism. She dedicates her life to the preservation of Israel, but to whom will she dedicate her heart? The brilliant professor from Bethel University? Or the gallant captain who now leads Kidon?

Harvey Holmes, the Sherlock of Haunted Houses, is a Hollywood TV host whose reality show just flopped. When a Lebanese restaurant owner requests his ghost-hunting services, he believes the opportunity will resurrect his career. All he has to do is exorcise the ghosts that are haunting the restaurant. It happens to be located right across the street from Muhsin’s Pottery Shop.




Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Fourth of July

A holiday like the Fourth of July is really a special holiday. It's not a religious one, and, like Thanksgiving, it's a purely American one. Celebrated only by Americans. It's cool to see other nationalities celebrate it. But I would think they are doing it because they are in America. Would they if they weren't living here? I doubt it.

It's weird, to me, the world view of America. I seem to see and hear and read about how so many people in other parts of the world hate America. Even today, I read about some Bolivian president dissing America, and how his people don't like America.

And of course, the Arabic countries are always voicing their hatred for America. The Great Satan, they call it. And yet, here they come, one and all, into America. It's like a wtf thing. If these people hate America so much, why then do they come to America in droves? They are pouring into America every year. Why do they want to come into and live in a country that they say they hate so much?

I have nothing against immigrants, let me make that clear right now. My grandfather immigrated from Italy. And I am married to an immigrant. My wife was born in Nicaragua, and came here when she was eighteen. But she never said anything other than good things about America. She lived in Nicaragua when the Russians were over there trying to spread Communism. But of course, it didn't work. And Nicaragua was torn by a civil war in the meantime. That's when my wife came over here. It was 1985 or thereabouts.

But I digress. This post is not about Russia or Nicaragua, It's about America and the Fourth of July. I believe most immigrants do love America, and by the third generation will be fully Americanized. I say that because I'm third generation American, and I'm fully Americanized. I think it's that way for everyone no matter what country their grandparents came from.

Happy Fourth of July!

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