Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - And Why - Plot & Excerpts
It may well be the most stressful job anywhere. In 2000, Shacham was in charge of keeping the peace in the holy places of Jerusalem. He was the only police officer who warned against Ariel Sharon visiting the Temple Mount. His concerns were dismissed, and Sharon’s visit, in September 2000, sparked the second intifada. “If you want to get a doctorate in stress, I’m the case,” Shacham says. We meet at his home, located, appropriately enough, on a precipice in the hills outside Jerusalem. Shacham spends the first thirty minutes in the kitchen. First, he assembles a plate of sliced peaches, grapes, and cherries. Next come neat squares of chocolate cake. Then he insists on making Turkish coffee. Finally, he settles down at the table with a cigar and starts telling stories. Shacham speaks fluent English but feels less self-conscious when speaking Hebrew, so my colleague Aaron Klein, from Time’s Jerusalem bureau, acts as a translator. When Shacham’s teenage son comes home from school with his report card, Shacham interrupts the interview and slowly and silently reads through the document.
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