The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power. One of the incontestable virtues of this remarkable book is that Tolan enters fully sympathetically into the lives of two people, with completely different philosophies, who are the moving forces in the book. As I finish this book, I have crossed over - perhaps just barely - from ignorance. The question is, as a Jew living in America, and as someone who is far from an expert on the region, what action do I take to avoid negligence? Unlike GreenRoad, the facts do not lead me to anything obvious. I still celebrate Israel and what it means to have a Jewish state. I know I will still feel it in my bones when I land in Tel Aviv. And I know that visiting Israel, even multiple times per year, is nothing like living there. So where does that leave me?

The Lemon Tree Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary

Bashir, studying law in Cairo, was inspired by Nasser's dream of unifying the Arabs. His focus on return now had a vehicle, and he set aside all other personal ambitions. This is the true story of Dalia, a Bulgarian Jew, and Bashir, a Palestinian Arab. Both were uprooted from their homes for different, but related reasons; one was uprooted because of the Holocaust in Europe and the other because of the founding of the state of Israel which resulted from the heinous acts committed against Jews during the Holocaust. It must be mentioned here that the Arabs of Palestine supported Hitler and his Holocaust. They had a common enemy: Jews and Great Britain. k. The Six Day War is universally considered Israel’s greatest victory and the most devastating defeat in the history of the entire Arab world. Dalia described it as nothing short of a miracle; Bashir had the horrifying feeling of history repeating itself. Imagine first that you are Dalia in early June, 1967; then that you are Bashir. Can you describe the emotional state of each of them, as word of Israel’s victory came? (See especially pp. 137-141.)If you want a thorough, fair, and genuinely unbiased text about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the middle east, specifically at it's flashpoint over Israel, this book is EXACTLY what you are looking for. Normally, I reserve 5 stars only for those books that I would definitely read again. Well, I'm not sure I'd really read this one again because it is so dense (good be a VERY good textbook for a class on the middle east), but it was soooooo good that I couldn't in good faith deny it that 5th star. While the story of the friendship is optimistic and shows that Israelis and Palestinians can somehow have a dialog, it emphasizes the giant gap between the people. Dalia is a Bulgarian Jew whose family flees to Israel after the Second World War and who moves into a beautiful house with a lemon tree. She doesn't really question why the previous occupiers would choose to leave their home, instead choosing the believe the lies perpetuated by the Israeli government about the Arab owners fleeing their homes in an act of cowardice, until she meets Bashir, the son of the previous occupant. In many ways Bashir and Dalia act as mirror images of each other; both are driven by a humanistic drive for justice, both are unafraid to challenge prevailing notions of right and wrong, both are courageous in the truest sense of the word in their pursuit of the truth. However, they are hopelessly divided by the wall of privilege which exists between them both figuratively and, later, literally. Bashir and his family have had their homes, livelihood, humanity and freedom taken away from them, whereas Daisy occupies the privileged position in Israel of being both a Jew and White. Bashir is trapped in a constant cycle of incarceration and exile, whereas Daisy is free to pursue whichever path she chooses in life. Bashir and his fellow student activists in Cairo believed Arab unity was the key to return, and they watched this maneuvering closely. Some students began guerrilla training in secret "special forces" camps in Egypt and elsewhere. They learned how to plant mines and fire antitank weapons. They jumped from airplanes, waded through swamps, slept on hard ground, ate snakes, and went without food for days.

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Mi…

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance. This is an exposition of the Israel-Palestine conflict via the stories of two people, Dalia, a Jewish woman whose family immigrated when she was a baby in 1948 and Bashir, a Palestinian Arab whose family was driven out and became refugees. Dalia's family live in what had been Bashir's family's home. The lemon tree grew in the yard. The book uses their stories to tell the story of the conflict. The book does a good job of showing the personal experiences and views of all concerned. With this kind of book (another example of which is The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration) there is more emphasis on those personal experiences and rather less on explication. But there is enough to give the picture. The Arabs were winning, Bashir thought. The Arabs were winning. Incredible as it seemed, the family would be going home. Umm Kulthum, the Arab world's most beloved singer and, next to Nasser, the biggest living symbol of Arab unity, would soon be singing in Tel Aviv. it’s easy to lose hope… Then along comes Sandy Tolan’s new book, The Lemon Tree, and offers just a glimmer of possibility.” On Monday morning, June 5, 1967, Bashir Khairi stood before a judge in civil court, arguing a case on behalf of his client, a Mr. al-Abed. Bashir was now 25 and a recent graduate of Cairo University Law School, specializing in labor matters. The court had convened in Ramallah in the Jordanian-controlled West Bank, the territory King Abdullah had annexed to his kingdom 17 years earlier. His grandson Hussein was now Jordan's king and head of state.At stake, Nasser assured the president, was something more important than the Straits of Tiran or the withdrawal of U.N. forces...It was about defending "the rights of the people of Palestine." This act of kindness in the face of years of animosity and warfare is the starting point for a remarkable true story of two families, one Arab, one Jewish; an unlikely friendship that encompasses the entire modern history of Israelis and Palestinians and that holds in its framework a hope for true peace and reconciliation for the region." The story is told from the perspectives of an Israel woman, Dalia, and an Arab man, Bashir, both of whom have ties to the same house formerly in Arab Palestine but, since 1948, in Jewish Israel. It is a true story of the wars, the individual happy moments of working toward peace or at least progress. As the reader delves further into the story, they begin to experience the weariness of the people impacted by the events in the story, whether it be the Palestinian refugees or the Holocaust survivors, a weariness over the atrocities experienced by the Jews in Europe, over the displacement of millions of Palestinian refugees, the weariness over the constant, never-ending cycle of violence has blighted the Levantine, a whirlpool of death and destruction which has submerged the lives of millions, remnants of which occasionally float-up, like the story of Bashir and Dalia depicted in 'The Lemon Tree'.

THE LEMON TREE | Kirkus Reviews

The problem is this; it was no longer their land. Intransigence will prevent any peace. Both sides have to move to a middle ground, but Israel has no choice, if it wishes to maintain its Jewish identity, but to behave they way it did and will have to continue to do so. Those that do not understand this will wish to doom Israel to extinction. They may even hope for it, as their ultimate goal.Facilities include: En-suites in all rooms, free WiFi, flat screen TV, complimentary toiletries, free parking and 24hr access. x. (RG9) Bashir and Dalia finally meet again, in the midst of rising violence and political tensions, in Ramallah in 2004 (256-262). They find that their political differences are as great as ever, but that their personal relations are as warm as ever. How does one explain that?