Questions About The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East

by Sandy Tolan

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Answered Questions (4)

Is it a true story?

Vickie Yes. Highly researched and vigorously annotated.

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What other questions people have asked about the book?

Sara
1) The brutality of Israeli actions often appear to be occurring in a vacuum rather than in reaction to Arab provocation. Israel would probably not ex…more
1) The brutality of Israeli actions often appear to be occurring in a vacuum rather than in reaction to Arab provocation. Israel would probably not exist today had they not taken swift action against their enemies, even pre-emptively. Did the means justify the ends?
2) If two friends could not come to a single cohesive conclusion about how they could live together in peace, how can two separate peoples who desire the same country to call their own, find a pathway to peace?
3) One wonders if once that is acknowledged and accepted and land divided equally with respect for both cultural perspectives, looking forward and not dwelling on the past, could there be a chance for peace? It has happened in Ireland and Scandinavia. Why not Israel?
4) Because time has passed since the book was published, the fluid situation in Israel has changed and it is now even more threatened by newly formed terrorist groups, by other Arab nations who have experienced the Arab Spring and by an Iran that will possibly soon acquire nuclear weapons. Who knows if there is even a plausible way out?
5) Why is it that the Six Day War received a full chapter in which Tolan harked on how aggressive Israel had acted in the lead-up to their attack while the Yom Kippur War which was initiated by Egypt and which represented a devastating blow to Israel received just a brief paragraph mention?
6) Why is it that the prime ministers of Israel are portrayed as war mongers and associated directly with acts of war while Arafat manages to appear throughout this whole book without once being mentioned in conjunction with an attack he coordinated against Israeli civilians?
7) What if the present wave of Muslim refugees decided that they had a right to have their own country in the middle of Europe, perhaps Liechtenstein, sanctioned by, say, the U.N. and the Arab League? How would that go down?
8) Who is to know what is to come out of this conflict that still constitutes human history?
9) Is there a cause you would be willing to die for?
10) What is your assessment of the Israeli-Palestian situation before reading this book?
11) What religion, if any, is the author?
12) Has news reporting changed much from the description in the Introduction on page XVIII?
13) On page XIX, is the statement, "understanding can only come from a recognition of each other's history." Has this ever applied to your way of thinking?
14) What will happen to the lemon tree at the house?
15) What if someone else was determined to take, or take back, your home?
16) What made the Americans think they could do in Iraq what the British failed to do in Israel in leaving a fractured state?
17) Can we ever truly stand in each other's shoes and from that vantage point find a way out of this morass? Can Dalia internalize that even after 60 plus years, Bashir sees al-Ramla as his home and how painful it is to see his community--down to the street names-- wiped out of existence? Can Bashir internalize that Dalia is no more a Bulgarian then he is a Jordanian, and to remove her from her country, Israel, is just as painful?
18) Can personal connection lead to peace despite ideological differences?
19) How do we break a cycle of pain and retaliation?
20) Dalia says that as she learned from Bashir, her love for her country was “losing its innocence…” – Has your country-love lost its innocence? Does it need to?
21) What if your certain assurance of your status as a beloved child of God gave you the ability to listen to those with whom you disagree without fear, without combativeness, without the need to be right? What might that look like?
22) Who/what have you been afraid to address?
23) What rights are you willing to surrender in order to bring peace?
24) What else stood out to you from the book?
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How does the book suggests a solution for the Arab Israeli Problem?

Roslin Sinclair I don't believe that's the point of this book. It's telling a true story of a Jewish woman and an Arab man and how they're lives were intertwined. It …moreI don't believe that's the point of this book. It's telling a true story of a Jewish woman and an Arab man and how they're lives were intertwined. It isn't meant to give a suggestion, it's showing the Israel/Palestine conflict/war through a very niche, human lens. (less)

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Accuracy of this book?

Roslin Sinclair I'm not sure what you mean by accurate. This is a non-fiction book, which was vigorously researched by Sandy Tolan (footnotes and sources are referenc…moreI'm not sure what you mean by accurate. This is a non-fiction book, which was vigorously researched by Sandy Tolan (footnotes and sources are referenced). There are two people who are really focused on in the book, Bashir and Dalia, who were interviewed. I suppose their accounts are as accurate as any account you're basing off of memory. (less)

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Unanswered Questions (1)

Is this a true story?

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