Welcome to the Bethlehem Star Hotel: An Account of Life in Palestine with Descriptions of People, Places and Incidents

Ben Granby, frustrated American food service worker, takes a multifarious, back roads ramble through the combat zone of Israel/Palestine, circa 2002. His motivation? To throw himself headlong into other people's problems.

"Granby, a 'frustrated American food service worker,' insinuates himself ever closer to violence during his travels in war-ravaged Palestine, but is less interested in the conflict or the people fighting it than being able to brag about having been there. Part thrill-seeker and part humanitarian, but mostly home to a crippling case of liberal guilt inflamed by a life lived sans capital-e Event, Granby fled his post-college ennui for human rights work in Gaza City, where he quickly dismisses the Israeli and American governments and mainstream journalism (though he frequently posed as a journalist to gain access and safety), travels from one shelled-out locale to another with his camera and notebook and offers readers ethereal quips such as 'It's a difficult thing to comprehend a willing descent into a place of mass suffering. Usually, such things are random and so temporary that one cannot plan for it.' Readers may feel riveted or queasy when Granby writes, 'I finally felt like I was now in this conflict,' or laments 'I winced as directly above us another white light marked a missile launch-and I was denied my photo.' Intriguing characters populate these pages, but Granby's too intent on gazing at his soiled-with-the-grime-of-war navel to do them, or their myriad causes, justice." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Ben Granby presents a penetrating look at life in the Palestinian territories. Through his eyes we encounter Palestinians as people — their dreams and their anguish. We see the resilience of people living under trying circumstances and their love for a land called Palestine." Ambassador Edward Gnehm, The George Washington University