A Powerful Historical Saga
THE ALMOND TREE
by
Michelle Cohen Corasanti
Reading novels is not high on my “to do” list, although I have made exceptions for those with social or historical elements.The Almond Tree was one of those exceptions and it turned out to be a moving and
powerful novel based on historical events,which the writer weaves together harmoniously in more than 300 pages.It is the type of story that will keep youwondering where reality ends and fiction
starts and was an interesting read, even for someone who rarely appreciates fiction.When I started it I knew nothing aboutthe writer, but as the pages turned I discovered a person who was well-versed in the Palestinian and Jewish cultures.This was apparent in the use of local lexicons and by discussing events less commonly known to people from outside the conflict zone.I learned later that the writer was born
into a typical Jewish, Zionist environment in the US and grew up believing in the long-held myth that “Jews found a land without people for a people without land and made the desert bloom”.She was taught that “Jews were always the victims” and that “arabs and Muslims… hated Jews because they were
Jewish”.at 16 she went to study Hebrew inIsrael, where the myths and racist stereotypes were institutionally reinforced all over again.
However, it was when she spent a summer in France and – for the first time in
her life – came across arabs from Lebanon
that her life was transformed.
She was exposed to a different narrative and, with an open heart and mind,
her curiosity took her back to Jerusalem to
pursue Middle East studies at the Hebrew
University.
She was the only american in a programme full of “Jewish Israelis and
Palestinian Israelis”.
Craving the truth, she befriended native
Palestinians and discovered the descendants of people she always believed never
existed.
Realising that everything she had
been taught “was a lie”, the writer left
Jerusalem to attend graduate school at
Harvard University, majoring in Middle
Eastern history, and also law school specialising in international and human rights
laws.
Her book focuses on the human side of
Palestinians’ trials since the creation of
Israel up until contemporary occupation,
illegal settlements and war.
The novel is good reading for anyone
seeking to grasp the inherent contradictions
and complexity of the Palestine question.
It describes how some were able to overcome all odds, while others were swept up
in the vortex of perpetual conflict.
The Almond Tree tackles individual and
institutional Israeli racism towards native
Palestinians, as well as the inner struggle
among Palestinians and Jewish communities for mutual acceptance.
Characters in the book range from a
highly educated Palestinian who struggled
to break through the walls of Israeli racism, worked with Israelis and ended up
marrying a Jewish-american woman.
On the other hand there is a man who
rejected his brother’s perceived submission
to the enemy and who was driven into exile,
moving from one ideological extreme on the
left to become a leading figure in a radical
Palestinian organisation on the right.
There is the Jewish-american woman
fighting her “progressive” parents’ inhibited
racism to marry a Palestinian, as a young
Palestinian man struggles to overcome his
mother’s trepidation before marrying a
Jewish girl.
However, the writer also deals honestly
with the desperate environment that drives
young Palestinians to become suicide bombers.
One chapter in the book discusses in
great detail the case for and against military confrontation with Israel and while
the deliberations do not seek to persuade
the reader one way or another, they help us
better appreciate conflicting views.
not many writers have made the effort
to examine the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
outside the polemic historical discourse
and, historical interpretations aside, The
Almond Tree is a journey that puts the
reader in touch with people directly affected by the perceived “irrational and convoluted” Middle East conflict.
It is one author’s humble contribution
to help people, especially Zionists, remove
their subliminal bigoted blinders and is a
message that we should leave our parochial
shells and discover humanity outside the
tribe.
Jamal Kanj is an author and Gdn
columnist who writes frequently on Arab
issues and is an expert on the Palestinisn-Israeli Conflict.
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