Book description
“I'm an Arab Jew. I listen to classical music in the morning and
Arabic music in the evening.” Surprisingly for someone so young, Nuri
Imari (whose family we encountered in The Dove Flyer), is appointed
advisor on Arab affairs to the Israeli government. With little
guidance he is asked by his boss to “set up an office in East
Jerusalem, sniff around to see what's happening there, meet their
effendis, and provide me with your evaluations.”
Everyone is reeling from the aftermath of the Six Day War. The
Palestinians cannot comprehend their losses, whilst the Israelis are
waking up to a new political reality - and new responsibilities.
Nuri discovers complexities and loyalties he could never have
imagined. He tries to steer a humane course but soon finds himself
confronting bigotry and hatred on both sides.
And then he meets Yasmine, a Palestinian woman recently returned
from Paris…
Eli Amir was born in Baghdad in 1937 and, with most of the
Iraqi-Jewish community, left for Israel in 1950. His earlier novel The
Dove Flyer was published in English in 2010 and was shortlisted for The
Jewish Quarterly/Wingate Prize 2011. The Jewish Chronicle wrote:
"Amir paints a throbbing, colourful picture of Baghdad with its
soothsayers, rabbis, sheikhs, prostitutes, revolutionaries, Zionists and
princes. But, ultimately like the wings of a dove, the dreams of all the
main characters are broken as they go into exile. 'I write to show the
pain, the sorrow, the insult, of losing a homeland,' says Amir." A
social activist, as well as a prize-winning author, Eli Amir said in
Cairo on the Arabic publication of Yasmine: "How can there be peace
without us knowing each other?"
