A while ago, someone asked what we thought of We Just Want to Live Here I've been battling the flu this week so read it while resting.
I found it a very through-provoking book. Two 18-year-old girls who have lived in Jerusalem, one Jewish and one Muslim, met on a trip to Switzerland, partly under the auspices of Peace Child. It sounded like the organizer was well-intentioned but did not prepare the participants well, so there was a lot of stress and misunderstandings. Sylke Tempel, a Middle East correspondent, who teaches at the Berlin branch of Stanford University, knew of the program and wanted to get two participants of this program together, and set up the dialog--mainly through letters but also through several face-to-face meetings. Viathe dialogs, the teens get to know each other through serious conversations, gain respect for each other, and recognize the the huge gap between them. Olivia, the Israeli, is a member of HaShomer Hatzair youth group. Of course she doesn't represent the majority of Israelis, but no one does today. She has gone to public schools in Israel where she studied Jewish and Israeli history. Her father was secular but her mother came from a rabbinic Moroccan family. She spent middle school in the U. S. while her father worked there. Amal graduated from high school in East Jerusalem and plans to go on to college. She also studied for the Israeli Bagrut exam, so needed to learn Israeli history. Both girls realized that while Amal had knowledge of Jewish history and holidays, Olivia had almost none provided through Israeli public school. In the book, they discussed family, social customs, travel, their trip to Switzerland, their love of Jerusalem, the intifada, the army, and other topics. As the book progresses and the young women get to know each other, they take more risks and the discussions become more intense. If nothing else, the book helps the reader understand the huge gaps between Palestinians and Jews in Israel. It also shows the importance of individuals in the two groups meeting and learning about each other. There are very few books dealing with the current situation. A skilled youth group leader/Jewish high school teacher could use this one together with Myth and Facts (MItch Bard), for example for a good class. Shabbat Shalom, Dina Tanners ========================================================================== HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
