Again Eli Wise's comments make me think that he has not read the book.
He asks, "If the book was supposed to give a picture of the pain and
difficulties that Israeli and Palestinian children have as a result
of the conflict why is it necessary to give the impression that a
Palestinian child finds nothing wrong in suicide bombing".
The book presents the thoughts and feelings of all the children as they
are - both about the terror and conflict and about other things too.
It talks to children here from children there. Indeed, some
Palestinian children do find nothing wrong about suicide bombing and
even express a desire to become a murderer of Israeli Jews. A child
in North America
will wonder why, and the Palestinian children who say such things
also give their reasons stemming from their experience of the
conflict. The Jewish children express their fear and some their
hatred of Palestinains stemming from the terror they have
experienced. This is reality for them
so it's not a question of what is "acceptable" or suitable or "valid".
And Deborah Ellis provides context through her introductions to each
child's statement. For example, her introduction to 12 year old
Salam's remarks begin by explaining what suicide is and why people
usually take their own lives. She then explains what it is that
suicide bombers do and that when they "go into a public place, [they]
detonate the explosive and blow themselves up. They also blow up
whoever is around them." She says,
"A number of Palestinians have killed themselves and many Israelis
this way." And then she notes that this action is both supported and
disagreed with by Palestinians, and she explains why. She also
relates the story of
Salam's sister, a 17 year old suicide bomber who "killed herself, a
guard and a seventeen-year-old girl named Rachel Levy and wounded
twenty-eight people" when she "walked into a shoe market in West Jerusalem".
Eli asks, "Why is no mention made of the fact that a Palestinian
state was available in 1948, the leadership chose to drive all the Jews out".
As I have shown in my critique of Anne's review, Ellis does say that!
She also says in her introduction: "Some of their stories are
hopeful. Some are disturbing, even shocking. But they reflect the
world these children live in... [and] how the choices other people
have made have affected their lives". Eli, please read the book.
B'shalom,
Bernard.
Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author
and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL
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