Living with Terrorism: Survival Lessons from the Streets of Jerusalem

Citation

Linnett, H. (2006), "Living with Terrorism: Survival Lessons from the Streets of Jerusalem", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 847-848. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653560610712784

Reviewer's comments

This is possibly the most disturbing book I have reviewed. Partly by its contents, but mainly by the obvious passion of the writer which is evident throughout the book. Several sections describe the actions that he and his family have to undertake to reduce the all‐pervading risk of living in Israel. It makes for difficult and emotional reading.

Sitting in the comfort of the UK and reading about the machinations of others who are determined to kill or maim the inhabitants of another country in such graphic detail disturbs the psyche of the reviewer. To the inhabitants of the UK, and other Northern and Southern countries, have escaped the worst of the actions of terrorist it seems like another world where you have to suspect every person you meet or see as you go about your daily life. Is that person behaving normally?, are they dressed appropriately?, could they be an assassin?, or a suicide bomber? But, it is not another world and these things are happening everyday, every week, every month in Israel.

The book addresses how to identify terrorists, how to immobilise them, how to protect yourself and your family, even down to details of where to shoot them to ensure that they cannot detonate their bomb. As I say, to the vast majority of people, it is a different world. I don't know whether or not I could exist in such an atmosphere of suspicion. We are all careful, or should be careful, so as not to place ourselves in a position where criminals could take advantage of our carelessness, but this book describes a totally different world. It is one thing to remember not to flash large amounts of cash in our wallets or walk down dark side‐streets, it is an entirely different thing to be constantly vigilant every second of your waking hours.

In one part of the book which deals with actions after a bombing incident the author recommends that you train your family to make immediate contact with home to say that all is well. He suggests that you give your children a mobile phone on the strict instructions that it is for emergency use only – that brought a wry smile to my face. Teenagers in other countries view a mobile paid for by their parents as a passport to communication heaven.

Whilst this book describes how to live with the constant threat of terrorist action there are many good pieces of advice for those who live in countries where such action is not common. Therefore, I would recommend the book to emergency planners and disaster managers world‐wide.

The book covers many different scenarios whereby terrorists could, or are at present, a risk to our lives either through shooting (sniper and drive‐by etc), bombing, arson, kidnapping, hi‐jacking, ambushes, etc. and gives methods he, and others, have employed to keep safe together with the explanation of why such actions are necessary. Some are quite hair‐raising such as reversing at high speed just before doing a racing hand brake turn when faced with a potential road‐block or attempted kidnapping.

One of the failures I find difficult to comprehend whilst living in the UK is the lack of good communications between government, emergency planners, and disaster managers, and the public with regard to terrorism. They tell us to be vigilant but don't tell us how to do it. In the UK, it is limited to advice on not to leave your luggage unattended and to report any unattended packages and luggage, but this is a left‐over message from the days when there was a high IRA terrorist activity on the mainland and not in response to the current situation.

Living with Terrorism has given me a totally different outlook on what vigilance is really about, and how to go about being vigilant in my daily life. It has shaken me out of my comfort zone and that is one reason why I found it a disturbing read.

Another reason is that it could form a rather good handbook for terrorists in that it describes the counter‐terrorist training methods employed against them in quite graphic detail. Certainly, much of this information is available over the web, but I would not recommend letting your enemy know how you intend to beat them. It is akin to a soccer manager publishing his team‐sheet and the tactics the team will use a couple of days before the match.

The book has many instances of actual attacks and personal protection measures from which emergency planners could begin to prepare leaflets and pamphlets for the general public for what is evident from the this book is that preparation is better than ignorance.

It is a book I did not enjoy reading, but I am glad I did. After all, it was not written to entertain but to inform and to provoke thought in the readers.