This is the best book review I have ever read about "The Lemon Tree". And since I feel guilty of not posting my review for the same book which I received from Sandy Tolan (the author) few months ago; I can't be thankful enough to Tolan for such a great book but to recommend reading Mary's review, which is very comprehensive and worth the time reading.

I've read the book during the last Israeli War on Lebanon, and to be honest, it has changed my life. It has shaped and reshaped many thought I had in my mind since I learned the word "Palestine" (Falasteen) in my childhood, and corrected many others I had toward the "good" Zionist.

The book is simply the story of every uprooted Palestinian and the Zionists living in our forefather's occupied homes. It takes back every uprooted Palestinian to his home and engraves the story of the occupation in the Palestinian memory that didn't live the moment of occupation in person.

If you don't know the history of Palestine and Israel, this true story is for you. The book is full with facts and events that are documented in the extensive source notes.

If you know the history, and need new tools to use when discussing the subject with others, read this book for back-up.

If you follow the news of the region, and therefore you despair, like so many people who have questions about the Middle Eastern conflicts; all of those questions are answered in this book and will explain to you why Palestinians will always try to sneak across borders to go home.

It must have been extremely hard for Sandy Tolan to write a book about such a difficult subject and remain accurate to all the facts as well as fair to all sides of the conflict.

At the end of the day, every uprooted Palestinian has a tree in the backyard of his forefather's occupied home!

Quoting Mary, she said (and unlike the Pope, I adopt what I'm quoting here - no offense):

Dalia admits that Israelis are raised to be suspicious of Arabs. As a matter of fact, unlike most others in her place may have done, as a teenager she welcomed Bashir into her home without hesitation. She does not like to come off as a “good” Israeli, yet she realises that Palestinians have only known the Israeli as the oppressor and usurper. Despite the fact that she agrees with the interpretation of most of the events, she still refuses the moral solution of the Right of Return or even of a unified State. She is not critical of Zionism, and she does not see it as an oppressive force. I cannot figure out a single valid reason why she maintains that there is something good about Zionism, when the results of it are before our very eyes. Taking the land of Zion from another people is simply unethical and it allows a vision of colonialism to be masked as a demographic solution to a humanitarian problem. The enormous ethical and practical problems inherent in it were contemplated even in the days when it was not practiced but merely theorised, and no cultural Zionism has ever been possible, grounded as it is in the realpolitik of populating a land already inhabited by another group of people. Yet, her gesture is coming from a good place, her humanity, and perhaps that is the place we have to keep looking if we want to see a change in heart that will bring about a change in practice.

Read her thoughtful review here...

And get the book from here...