Americans for Peace Now invites you to join us in “Three Weeks of Contemplation: Hate, Peace, and Reconciliation,” featuring a hand-picked selection of current books by Israeli and Palestinian writers.

The three weeks on the Jewish calendar from the Seventeenth of Tammuz until the Ninth of Av (Tisha B’Av) are traditionally a solemn and contemplative period. Due to the tragedies commemorated during this period, particularly the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem that are said to have both occurred on the ninth of the month of Av, this has been treated as a time of mourning and caution, reconciliation and healing rifts.

Literature is a powerful way to facilitate contemplation, and in this spirit, APN will be recommending two books in each of the next three weeks (plus a bonus 3rd book in week 3). Authored by Israelis and Palestinians, these books are largely personal explorations that deal with the themes of hate, peace, and reconciliation, and encompass joy, tragedy, humor, hope, and everything in between. See below for the first week's recommendations - Jerusalem, Drawn and Quartered by Sarah Tuttle-Singer, and Native by Sayed Kashua.

With a donation to APN of $108 or more (indicate "Jerusalem/Native" in the comments box), we will send your book selections directly to you. They also make for a great gift, which would both provide the gift of contemplation to others and contribute to the cause of peace.

B'Shalom, Jim Klutznick, Chair, and Debra DeLee, President and CEO
Americans for Peace Now

APN's 3 Weeks of Contemplation - Week 1 Books

Exposing the divisions that exist in Israeli society between different ethnic, religious, and political groups.

Jerusalem, Drawn and Quartered is an exploration of Jerusalem by American-Israeli blogger Sarah Tuttle-Singer. Long known for her thoughtful and sometimes provocative blog posts about life in Israel, Tuttle-Singer embarked on this project by spending a year in Jerusalem, living for three months in each quarter of the Old City. Tuttle-Singer brings her raw honesty, dark humor, and intimate love for Jerusalem to life in this unique travelogue to give readers insight into the holy and contentious city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life is a collection of Sayed Kashua’s satirical Haaretz columns. Kashua is a Palestinian-Israeli writer and journalist best known for his humorous columns in Haaretz and his popular satirical sitcom, Avodah Aravit (Arab Labor), which both explore the turbulent day-to-day experience of living in Israel as an Arab citizen. Native transforms Kashua’s newspaper shorts into an autobiographical arc of life in Israel during the Arab Spring, rocket attacks, and the 2014 Gaza war that is at once wry, absurd, earnest, and exhausted. The inherent contradictions and absurdities of being Arab in Israel come to light as Kashua slowly comes to the conclusion that he must leave Israel.

Join in APN's 3 Weeks of Contemplation. For a donation of $108 or more, APN will send you these 2 books. Please be sure to put “Jerusalem/Native" in the comment field, and you can also direct us to send one or both of them to someone as a gift from you. Please note that all but $25 of your donation will be tax deductible. Thank you.