Jerusalem: Soaps

A Palestinian Family

Part V

If "Noor" was on TV, the house went completely still. Mom and Dad didn't like the Turkish prime time soap opera, but they watched. Mom still kept tabs on the plot even when she wasn't there. The boys dropped in for an update from their sisters. Salsabil pulled a chair right under the TV to watch glued and deaf to everything else. Mom and Dad's biggest concern about the soap? Muhanad and Noor, the two main characters live together unmarried.

City of Oranges: An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa

City of Oranges written by Adam LeBor is one of my favorite reads on contemporary Israeli-Palestinian history. The book is written through the stories of prominent families, Arab and Jewish humanizing their struggle and conflict. I also appreciate that the stories are told around the city of Jaffa instead of Jerusalem which holds more political rancor.

The theme I gleaned from the book was that Jew and Arabs have gotten along for centuries with only minor scuffles. The story line picks up at a point when the dynamics of the area change with an influx of people who really don't understand each other.

One of my favorite parts was when a Jewish family returned to their old Cairene neighborhood to find that their long time Arab friends missed them. It touched me and gave me hope for the future relationship of two peoples I care about.