The entire title (which didn't fit above) is
We Just Want to Live Here: A Palestinian Teenager, An Israeli Teenager - An Unlikely Friendship

from amazon.com:
The two authors, now 18, met in Switzerland during an exchange program in 2000, and returned to a Jerusalem soon gripped by the second intifada. After falling out of touch, they exchanged the letters collected in this book from August to November of 2002, cycling through anguish, accusation, artifice, allowance, appreciation-all of the beginnings of real friendship.

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I enjoyed this book & I think others would too. I learned a lot about Israel that I didn't know and I found the opinions of Amal and Odelia interesting. Outside of their cultural and political differences, they are very different personalities. I thought the history given by family members was also interesting. Thoughtfully, the author has included historical maps and a glossary of Hebrew and Arabic words to help the reader.

I'd like to offer this as a bookray:

Participants (in shipping order, subject to change):
bookworm2525 (USA)
azuki (USA)
jessibud (Canada)
aunt-sophie (Canada)
CanberraPenny (Austria)
j4neyo (UK)
ababaigalit (Israel) <- it's here! :=D

Mailed out last night to bookworm2525.

Got this in the mail today. Reading a book at the moment but this looks like a quick read so I'll set that one down and keep this one going.

Very good book. I think it proves what I've said for a long time. People can get along so why can't governments. I mean people can disagree about a lot of things and be from totally different mindsets. They do not want to kill each other for it. Sent to the next in line.

Got it before the weekend but I didn't get a chance to journal till now. Sorry to scare bookworm2525. Interestingly, I just finished Reading Lolita in Tehran, and the bookring before that was The Story of My Life, about a girl in Afghanistan. And my bookclub is reading The Kite Runner this month. As bookworm2525 said, I will soon become a ME expert on CNN. (thankfully, my next ring is The Good Women of China!)

Thanks dancing-dog for sharing this book of the exchange between two young girls. Their personalities, their maturity, their understanding of the political situation, their love and pride of their cultures and religions, their desire for a peaceful world, shine through strong and bright. It is admirable that they are willing to converse with someone "on the opposite side" and try to understand and share their views, rather than simply tune off into a you vs us world. I admit that I now have a better understanding of the cultures and the history of the events.

I have jessibud's address, and will mail it out next time I go to the post office.

ETA: mailed by air, 10/23.

This book arrived today. I just finished writing all my education plans for school and this looks like the perfect book to reward myself with, small and easy to read through because of the letter-writing format, a genre I love.

Thanks for this.

Lovely bookmark, too!

This was an interesting read and quite an eye-opener, even for me. I love the idea of two teens attempting to bridge a seemingly unbridgeable chasm between two cultures and people. I think Sylke Tempel's project and guidance were wonderful but I did have a few problems with it, initially.

Although I don't know why I should be surprised, I still was, to learn how very insulated and ignorant of basic Muslim beliefs, the Israelis were. It seems unthinkable to me that Israeli schools do not teach anything about their Arabic neighbours and citizens to Israeli children. That an organization (Peace Child Israel, I think it was called) could actually exist and organize a co-cultural trip abroad, without sufficiently or properly preparing the kids with enough basic knowledge about each other, then expect all to go smoothly, seems unbelieveable and ludicrous. Their ideals may be in the right place but such an oversight doesn't speak well of their organizational skills and educational or even, psychological, insights. How could they not know, for example, that Muslims don't drink and therefore, should not be invited to go to a pub for an evening of socializing??! And if the organizers don't know this, how can they expect the kids to?

That said, the project seems to have gone fairly well. The letters between these two young women were articulate, thoughtful and sincere. Even though I found Odelia to be a bit blunt at times, I attribute that to her youthfulness. She was still quite likeable, as was Amal.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would love to know where they are today and if they remained in touch after Odelia's army service.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this book, dancing-dog. Mailed today to aunt-sophie.

By the way, I really loved the bookmark that was in the book when I received it. I don't know who put it in, but since there was no specific note about it, I hope no one minds that I kept it. I replaced it with another, though, one that is Canadian and is for *a hope for peace*. Appropriate, I thought.

Received today. Will read after the book I am currently reading.

That was really an amazing book! I'll try to find a copy for myself and have my friends read it too. It really makes you understand all the subtleties of that long conflict, and the difficulties of cross-cultural relations in general. I was also shocked to see how little the Jews know about the Muslims beside whom they live... It was really an interesting point of view, to have two ordinary girls from two different backgrounds exchange views. Thank you for organizing this ray!

I already have CanberraPenny's address, so I should mail the book sometime over the next days.

Received this book yesterday. Am really looking forward to reading this - will be able to move it on straight after Christmas (when things eventually open again here!).

This ended up being a very quick read. I found the book really interesting and the strength of character of both girls was clear. The book didn't change my opinions regarding the situation in Israel/Palestine but it did humanise the conflicts a little. Sending this book to j4neyo tomorrow (22 December 2006).

Arrived safely in the post. Many thanks to CanberraPenny.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted to ababaigalit in Israel

Well it is safe and soun in the Holly Land. I'll start reading it right away because it is a subject that it is very intresting.