The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the Jewish/Arab Divide

240 Pages·2007·1.31 MB·English

by  Susan Nathan

Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
1 - THE ROAD TO TAMRA
2 - DEATH OF A LOVE AFFAIR
3 - SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS
4 - ECHOES OF APARTHEID
5 - THE MISSING LEFT
6 - A TRAUMATISED SOCIETY
7 - WHERE NEXT?
GLOSSARY - by Jonathan Cook
SOURCES
About the Author
Copyright Page
In memory of my parents,
Sam and Maisie Levy,
and for my children,
Daniel and Tanya
The State of Israel
Northern Israel, including the Galilee
Palestinian towns and villages depopulated during the foundation of Israel in
1948
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It was a sweltering July night nearly two years ago when friends introduced me
to Jonathan Cook, a British reporter based in the Israeli Arab city of Nazareth.
The place of our meeting was the Beit al-Falastini (the Palestinian House), a
renovated ancient stone building in the city’s old market that during the day
serves as a coffeehouse and at night is the nearest thing Nazareth has to a pub.
We chatted in the dim surroundings of the cavernous interior, barely able to
make out each other in the flickering candlelight. But it soon became clear from
our conversation that we shared a concern about the direction Israel is taking.
For both of us, this was of more than academic interest: I have adopted this
country as my new home, and Jonathan has adopted it through his marriage to
Sally Azzam, a native Nazarene.
After our first meeting, Jonathan, ever the inquisitive journalist, arranged to
come to Tamra to talk to me again. He published the interview in Britain’s
Guardian newspaper on 27 August 2003, under the headline “A Jew Among
25,000 Muslims.” That article sparked worldwide interest in my story and
brought me to the attention of HarperCollins, who have now encouraged me to
publish a much fuller account of my journey from one side of the ethnic divide
to the other. My deepest thanks go to Jonathan, who has been a companion on
that journey, helping a novice author give expression to her thoughts,
experiences and impressions. Without his guidance, I have no doubt this would
have been a poorer book. But most of all I want to thank Jonathan for his
dedication to reporting the truth and his unwavering commitment to creating a
more just and humane society in Israel.
My thanks also go to Sally Azzam Cook, for her patience, suggestions and help
to Jonathan; Dr. Asad Ghanem, head of politics at Haifa University, and his
wife, Ahlam, for opening their home to me and helping to change the course of
my life by teaching me about the reality of theirs; Dr. Uri Davis, for his steadfast
friendship and sound advice on a wide variety of subjects and his enormous
contribution towards explaining the essence of the conflict; Rabbi Dr. John D.
Rayner, for his support and enthusiasm regarding my move to Tamra; Dr. Afif
Safieh, the Palestinian delegate to the United Kingdom and the Holy See, for his
support, guidance and encouragement; Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, head of the
Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs (PASSIA),
East Jerusalem, for his friendship and support and the use of his wonderful
library; Dr. Daphna Golan, director of the Minerva Centre for Human Rights,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for her friendship, shared concerns and time;
Dr. Adel Manna, of the Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem, whose phone call of
support was deeply appreciated, for his historical input; Dr. Said Zidanem,
associate professor at Al-Quds University, East Jerusalem, for enlightening
conversations held in his family’s home in Tamra and for his continuing support
of my endeavours; Amin Sahli, Tamra’s city engineer, for teaching me the
difficulties of planning in a town without land; Eitan Bronstein of Zochrot, for
his shared vision of what life could be in Israel and for his courage; Harry
Finkbeiner of Kibbutz Harduf, for help with research; the Gaza Community
Mental Health Care project, for their guidance of and support for my work for
Mahapach, and for their generous invitation to visit Gaza to learn from them;
Wehbe Badarni of Sawt al-Amal (Voice of the Labourer) in Nazareth, for
teaching me about employment discrimination and for his devotion to his work;
Abdullah Barakat, assistant to the governor of Jenin, for helping me meet the
people of Jenin; Mayor Adel Abu Hayja and the Municipality of Tamra, for
welcoming me into their community; Richard Johnson, my editor, for his
determination to see my story in print and for his continuous encouragement; Dr.
Carlos Lesmes, anaesthetist, for his ongoing help and support with pain control
and his interest in the book. My deepest thanks go to Nan Talese and Doubleday
for their belief and constant support of my endeavours and their determination to
publish this book. Dr. Oded Schoenberg for his patience and compassion, and
the rest of the team at the Herziliya Medical Centre who have been on my case
for the last five years; Arlette Calderon, Dr. Nissim Ohana, Dr. Daniel Kern, and
Avi Millstein; Professor Ya’acov Pe’er and the Department of Ophthalmology at
Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, without whom I would never have got this far;
Mahapach, for their unique contribution to Israeli society; and my friends, too
numerous to mention individually. Special thanks go to my “family” in Tamra,
for their trust in me and for the remarkable way in which they absorbed me into
their circle.
Finally, I have changed the names of some people who appear in the book,
including my family in Tamra, for reasons of confidentiality and safety.
Susan Nathan
Tamra, Israel
December 2004