Traveling to thousand-year-old olive groves, besieged villages, refugee camps, checkpoints, and barracks, Michael Riordon talks with people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who fight violence and war through creative resistance. The region remains a symbol of instability fueled by violence and hatred, and this investigation enters into the heart of the dispute and offers a different perspective. The author uncovers the crises that stirred them to act, the risks they face in working for peace, and the small victories that sustain them. These stories of Israelis who refuse to see Palestinians as enemies and Palestinians who practice nonviolent resistance break all stereotypes. In the face of deepening conflict, this portrait of courageous grassroots action provides hope for a livable future and inspiration to peace activists in all nations.

Michael Riordan celebrates the survival of ordinary, extraordinary people whose experiences are rarely reflected in the media. These stories of courage and humour were gathered in the course of two years and 27,000 kilometres of travel, and some three hundred in-person conversations.