The journey through Israel and Palestine takes seven days. Past barriers, border posts, walls, the way leads to the battlements of an old town, the colourful variety of a souk, into the districts of orthodox believers and into occupied territories. The self, walking, driving or taking the bus, becomes aware of an ancient cultural space that knows no fixed boundaries, and reaches back into pre-biblical times, opening up before it. At the same time, it is grasped by the political tension gripping the land.

In 2018, Rudolf Bussmann travelled through Israel and the Westbank, and completed his book before the Hamas attack of October 2023. His poems capture the contradictions and conflicts in a language of powerful imagery, which documents the beauty and the abysses.