Dancing Arabs

Rating:
Summary: A compelling read!
Review: A young boy, growing up in the Arab village of Tira in Israel's Galilee region, describes life within his family and how it feels to be an Arab living in the overwhelmingly Jewish country of Israel. He gains entrance to a Jewish boarding school and finds it difficult to fit in.

I was afraid to begin this story because I didn't want to read a book filled with Arab hatred for Jews. My hope in choosing this book was to get beyond the tragedy of the current political and socioeconomic situation in Israel and truly see an Arab as he lives in Israel. I was soon captured by this young boy's story. It was so interesting and full of such vivid detail that I felt as if I were reading an autobiography rather than a novel, much in the same vein as I felt reading Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.

The story is sad because it reveals grimmer aspects of Arab-Jewish relations, but it also offers a glimmer of hope (much in the way that the Seeds of Peace did), that an important way to peace is through being open to learn about someone different. The words of this novel are simple, but the emotions behind the narrative are far more complex. In conveying those feelings to his readers, the author does a stunning job. The plight and confusion of a man caught between two cultures is so clearly shown.

In a way, it is a depressing story. Nonetheless, I appreciate the fact that the author has provided this insight into the Israeli-Arab culture for the wider world to share. It shows just how difficult it is for an Arab to find a place as a valued member of the country in which the majority of the population is Jewish, and, once he finds a way to co-exist comfortably among Jews, how he finds that he has alienated himself from his own culture.


Rating:
Summary: Interesting View of Israel
Review: I found this book extremely well-written and a good examination of the clash of cultures that occurs for young people growing up in the Palestinian areas of Israel. The book examines the life of an anonymous boy/man throughout his life in short sketches describing events that occur to him. The only problem I had with the book is the main character eventually degenerates into a whiny, unmotivated blob that wishes for great things but never takes the initiative to make them happen. Overall, I would recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Funny and sad portrayal of Arab life in Israel
Review: I really enjoyed this quick read. Engrossing honest depiction of life for Arabs in Israel- not what you would expect.

Rating:
Summary: He's just as much human as I am
Review: Not knowing much about the Arab war, I felt a bit lost in between the spotty chapters, which could easily be read as diary entries of an Arab voice, a boy coming of age at a time of uncertainty. The structure of the book adds to the personality, development and characterization of storyteller... brief, honest, private, and vulnerable. Some of the words were left in the original language, giving the story a taste of authenticy, but also leaving me, the reader, hanging, knowing that i am missing the entire meaning of the word, sentence, feeling. The person we come to know is one who lives in constant confusion, through distorted memories, and also complacency. He seems to live life on the other side of a window, never fully grasping onto opportunities and allowing quality to slip away. He seems to watch his life move along each day without taking ownership of his life. The book comes to an end without satisfying the reader w/ any glimpse of hope; instead, the storyteller never overcomes his fears and does nothing proactively to change himself for the better. Though I personally felt unfulfilled and somewhat disappointed in the main dude, I was reminded that I know people just like him in my culture, my society, my community. His challenges and fears are just as prevalent as in my life... but he does not take action. I guess in the end, he is just as much human as I am.