Teen Voices from the Holy Land: Who Am I to You?

by Mahmoud Watad, Leonard Grob

Overview

This uplifting book takes a creative approach toward reaching greater understanding between two peoples who have known little but mutual hostility and suspicion for over fifty years. Based on interviews of thirty-four Palestinian and Israeli teenagers, the authors present candid, first-person narratives of these young people's day-to-day lives. They describe their interests, facts about their families, friendships, and neighborhoods, as well as their spiritual concerns and dreams for the future. Photographs of the youngsters accompany the narratives, and together both picture and story offer a revealing glimpse into the common humanity that Palestinians and Israelis share.

The voices that speak movingly from these pages offer many insights into the perceptions and feelings of young people in this strife-torn area of the world. They hold out the hope that the shared dream of peace may eventually overcome the differences that now divide the two sides.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591025351
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/01/2007
Pages:	221
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Mahmoud Watad, Ph.D. (Salisbury Mills, NY), is associate professor of management at the College of Business Administration of William Paterson University.
Leonard Grob, Ph.D. (Stony Point, NY), is professor of philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a book about hope. We really can have peace in the Middle East one day. Daniel says it best: ‘If children had been in charge of their countries, things would not have happened the way they did. Children know how to get along with one another despite everything.’ As we pass our world along to the next generation, I know they will do better than we have in the peacemakng process.” HOWARD DEAN Former Governor of Vermont “Congratulations to Professors Watad and Grob for compiling the articulate Teen Voices from the Holy Land. May the decision-makers hear them! We are inspired by the honesty and the promise of youth. These Israeli and Palestinian teenagers share with us a collective dream of human beings resolving our differences, no matter how difficult, in a civilized manner consistent with the meaning of Holy Land.” LINCOLN CHAFEE Former US Senator from Rhode Island

From the Publisher

Gr 6 Up
This book is a collection of 34 short narratives in which Palestinian and Israeli teenagers tell about their lives and how they feel about the conflicts in the region. Black-and-white photos accompany the interviews. Readers without prior knowledge of the region may find it difficult to understand some of the issues; the introduction summarizes broad points from the teens' interviews rather than providing background information on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The authors, who have founded a nonprofit peace organization called the Global Oral History Program (GOHIP), are well intentioned, but there is a sameness and repetitiveness about the narratives, possibly because there is not a wide variety of viewpoints represented. The teens are all fairly secular and tend to express similar sorts of opinions. There are no interviews with Orthodox Jewish or Conservative Muslim teens. Deborah Ellis's Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak (Groundwood, 2004) and Amal Rifa'i and Odelia Ainbinder's We Just Want to Live Here (St. Martin's, 2003) are stronger and more engaging choices. Voices is an additional purchase.
—Kathleen E. GruverCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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