The Lemon Tree
An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East
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4.5 • 49 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST
"Extraordinary … A sweeping history of the Palestinian-Israeli conundrum … Highly readable and evocative." – The Washington Post
The tale of a simple act of faith between two young people, one Israeli and one Palestinian, that symbolizes the hope for peace in the Middle East – with an updated afterword by the author.
In 1967, Bashir Khairi, a twenty-five-year-old Palestinian, journeyed to Israel with the goal of seeing the beloved stone house with the lemon tree behind it that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family left Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next half century in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967. Sandy Tolan brings the Israeli-Palestinian conflict down to its most human level, demonstrating that even amid the bleakest political realities there exist stories of hope and transformation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The title of this moving, well-crafted book refers to a tree in the backyard of a home in Ramla, Israel. The home is currently owned by Dalia, a Jewish woman whose family of Holocaust survivors emigrated from Bulgaria. But before Israel gained its independence in 1948, the house was owned by the Palestinian family of Bashir, who meets Dalia when he returns to see his family home after the Six-Day War of 1967. Journalist Tolan (Me & Hank) traces the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the parallel personal histories of Dalia and Bashir and their families all refugees seeking a home. As Tolan takes the story forward, Dalia struggles with her Israeli identity, and Bashir struggles with decades in Israeli prisons for suspected terrorist activities. Those looking for even a symbolic magical solution to that conflict won't find it here: the lemon tree dies in 1998, just as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process stagnates. But as they follow Dalia and Bashir's difficult friendship, readers will experience one of the world's most stubborn conflicts firsthand. 2 maps.
Customer Reviews
Fascinating look at the Jewish/Palestinian conflict
For me, the book brought a much more real appreciation of the conflict between the Palestinians and Jews. I knew much more about the Jewish side of this conflict then the Palestinian side. This book really helped me understand so much of the Palestinian side and what they are and we’re trying to achieve. It is well worth anyone’s time to enjoy this book and it’s many insights.
Erkom
This book helped me understand very well the history of the conflict. It is to recommend to lot of people who talk about this long conflict without knowing the bases.
A must read to understand Palestinian-Israeli Struggle
I re-read this book during the October 2023 Hamas-Israel war because it brings home the struggle between the Palestinians and the Israelis over rights to land. It is such a difficult struggle. The history written here should be read and understood by all the leaders. It might bring compassion and a fight to compromise for peace rather than a fight to take lives. This book should be read by everyone. It is so well written. I could hardly put it down.