Synopses & Reviews
Israeli Jews and Palestinians appear side by side for the first time in this remarkable book to share powerful feelings and reflections on growing up in one of the world's longest and most dangerous conflicts. Here, thirty-six men and women, boys and girls, tell of their coming-of-age in a land of turmoil.
From kibbutzim in Israel and the occupied territories to Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israeli Jews and Palestinians tell of tragedy and transcendence as they face their deepest fears and dream of a peaceful future. Listen to them as they recount stories of their brief and often violent youth.
No matter what their ethnic identity, how much and how long they have suffered, these courageous autobiographers most often reveal a deep longing for peace. Perhaps their hopes and fears are best illustrated by a parable retold by eighteen-year-old Redrose (a pseudonym):
"Two frogs got trapped in a jar of cream. They couldn't jump out of the liquid and they couldn't climb because the sides of the jar were slippery. One frog said, 'By dawn I'll be dead,' and went to sleep. The second frog swam all night long and in the morning found herself floating on a pat of butter."
Review
The GlobeandMail(Toronto)Stories which are often ferocious, violent, tragic, and...uplifting.
Review
Publisher's Weekly This compilation dramatizes the common humanity of the two peoples....A rich and moving collection....
Review
The Globe & Mail (Toronto) Stories which are often ferocious, violent, tragic, and...uplifting.
Synopsis
Israeli Jews and Palestinians appear side by side for the first time in this remarkable book to share powerful feelings and reflections on growing up in one of the world's longest and most dangerous conflicts. Here, thirty-six men and women, boys and girls, tell of their coming-of-age in a land of turmoil.
From kibbutzim in Israel and the occupied territories to Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israeli Jews and Palestinians tell of tragedy and transcendence as they face their deepest fears and dream of a peaceful future. Listen to them as they recount stories of their brief and often violent youth.
No matter what their ethnic identity, how much and how long they have suffered, these courageous autobiographers most often reveal a deep longing for peace. Perhaps their hopes and fears are best illustrated by a parable retold by eighteen-year-old Redrose (a pseudonym):
"Two frogs got trapped in a jar of cream. They couldn't jump out of the liquid and they couldn't climb because the sides of the jar were slippery. One frog said, 'By dawn I'll be dead,' and went to sleep. The second frog swam all night long and in the morning found herself floating on a pat of butter."
About the Author
Laurel Holliday, formerly a college teacher, editor, and psychotherapist, now writes full time in Seattle. She is the award-winning author of four books in the Children of Conflict Series: Children in the Holocaust and World War II: Their Secret Diaries; Children of "The Troubles": Our Lives in the Crossfire of Northern Ireland; Children of Israel, Children of Palestine: Our Own True Stories, and Children of the Dream: Our Own Stories of Growing Up Black in America. Ms. Holliday is also the author of Heartsongs, an international collection of young girls' diaries, which won a Best Book for Young Adults Award from the American Library Association.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
NO OTHER STORM
by Moshe Shamir
THUMBPRINT
by Ehud Ben-Ezer
MARKED BY THE TEETH
by Moshe Dor
THE ARAK OF ABU-ANTON
by Yehudit Hendel
THE DARK VILLAGES
by Reuven Miran
EARLY LESSONS OF SEPARATION
by Anan Ameri
I SURVIVED THE WAR
by Musa Jamil Jaffer (pseudonym)
GOING TO JERUSALEM
by Gunter David
A CHRISTIAN PALESTINIAN'S STORY
by Wadad Saba
YEHEZKEL
by Yitzhak Bar-Yossef
PARADISE ON THE BORDER
by Yael Medini
TEN CENTIMETERS OF DUST
by Shammai Golan
TRACINGS
by Basim Abdoraad (pseudonym)
HOPES ARE HOPES
by Leah Ayalon
TZIPORI
by Reuven Miran
MARKED FOR DESTRUCTION
by Ibtisam S. Barakat
A CHILD IN RAFAH CAMP
by Ahmed Younis
IN THE COURTYARD OF THE CHILDREN'S HOUSE OF THE KIBBUTZ
by Shuli Dichter
A CHILD'S MISGIVINGS ABOUT THE WAR
by Mohammad Zahaykeh
SHARDS
by Tanya Gardiner-Scott
BORDERLAND
by Mohammad Masad
BORN IN BETHLEHEM
by Marina N. Riadi
CHILDHOOD/MANHOOD
by Omar Mahdawi
CHILDREN OF A TENTH-CLASS GOD?
by Nihaya Qawasmi
ALTI ZACHEN
by Victoria Kay-Feinerman
CAUGHT IN CONFLICT
by Rachel Hovne
ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS
by Nahla Mary Beier
MY MOTHER PALESTINE
by Ramzy Baroud
A LOOK INTO MEMORY
by Ghareeb (pseudonym)
HEALING THE WOUNDS OF CHILDHOOD
by Ammar Abu Zayyad
FACE OF PEACE
by Redrose (pseudonym)
MY LIFE ON THE FIRING LINE
by Racheli Tal
THE POWER OF LIFE
by Racheli Tal
TWO AWFUL WEEKS IN MARCH
by Liran Zvibel
NOT AGAIN!
by Jeffrey Klein
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CREDITS
PHOTO CREDITS
CHRONOLOGY OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT