Questions About Fast Times in Palestine

by Pamela J. Olson (Goodreads Author)

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Is this memoir politically biased? May an Israeli reading this be terribly offended (as I've heard from a friend)?

Pamela Olson I'm the author, and I can tell you that while the book certainly isn't balanced (as you can probably tell from the title), it does strive to be fair a…moreI'm the author, and I can tell you that while the book certainly isn't balanced (as you can probably tell from the title), it does strive to be fair and accurate. There are 100 or so footnotes from mostly Israeli or respected Western sources so that people can check for themselves if the stories and stats in the book are true. The first major character in the book is an Israeli, and there are visits to Israel in the book, but of course most of the action takes place in the West Bank, where I lived.

This book is not meant to be a complete source on the conflict, but it is meant to show what life is like on the "other side" -- the Palestinian areas that are so often demonized or sensationalized on the news so that people in American (and even Israel) often get a very biased notion indeed of what life is like for Palestinians.

I certainly don't wish to offend anyone, but there are some tough realities mentioned, and if people don't want to know about those realities (or flat-out don't believe them), it may come across as offensive to them. All I can say is, I either saw the things in the book with my own eyes or checked Israeli and Western sources (because skeptical readers would probably not believe Arab sources) to confirm things I heard or read about.

I would encourage people to read the book with an open mind, check the footnotes, read other books and sources as well, and come to their own conclusions.

Thanks for your question and all my best.(less)

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