Customer Reviews

We Just Want to Live Here: A Palestinian Teenager, an Israli Teenager -- an Unlikely Friendship

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is interesting to see the views of two young women caught up in this conflict. My main complaint about this book is the chronology in the back of the book.

1. Under 1947 Temple writes "The Jewish population in Palestine rises from 24,000 to 630,000 due to several ways of immigration (aliyah; plural, aliyot) between 1882 and 1948. This more than triples Palestine's Jewish population at that time" It seems to me that the Jewish population increases by 26 times, why use triple? I really have no idea what she is referring to.

2. Under 1948 Temple writes "Declaration of the independent state of Israel on May 14 by Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Guerion. On the following day, troops from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia attack Israel. The Jewish underground movements, Lechi and Ezel, launch a wave of attacks against Arab civilians, which culminates in the massacre at Deir Yassin, where 245 inhabitants lost their lives. According to UN estimates, 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of their homes." Deir Yassin occurred on April 9, five weeks before Israel declared independance and Arab armies intervened. Most of the Palestenians who were driven out of their homes were expelled before May 14.

3. 1956 - Not mentioned, England, France and Israel invade Egypt. Retreat under US pressure.

4. 1987 - Temple writes "In opposition to the nationalistic PLO, Israel supports the foundation Islamic factions, which will be the origin of he fundementalist Hamas (Arabic for "enthusiasm/excitement") under its leader Sheikh Achmed Yassin."
Hamas was formed in the late 1970's and had been supported by Israel from the beginning.

5. 1994 - Temple writes "Hamas commits suicide bombings with the goal of sabotaging the peace process." Hamas committed it's first suicide bombing in response to murder of 29 muslims at a mosque in Hebron by Baruch Goldstein an american born far right settler. Temple leaves out the part about Baruch Goldstein.

There are some other things that I don't think she is very evenhanded or possibly even correct about in the chronology but I don't have time to research everything. The most glaring error is getting the date of Deir Yassin wrong, simple historical research.

Forget the negative reviews---this is a wonderful, sweet, realistic and educational view of what it's like to live in Jerusalem, as seen through the eyes of two teenage girls...one Muslim and the other Jewish. I am impressed with the intelligence of these two young women. They don't chat about rock music or Britney Spears or trendy clothing--instead, they describe the love they feel for their city and how they can each do their part to create lasting peace. The girls get into serious political debates and they disagree quite frequently, but they respect each other as human beings and the friendship is strong. It's fascinating to learn what young Israelis think of America--Odelia, for instance, believes it's far more dangerous to live in New York than in Jerusalem! This is a warm and endearing book. I recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary Jerusalem (or all of Israel) and what life is like there. I learned a lot from reading it.

In the summer of 2000, a group of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers were invited to Switzerland. Despite many misunderstandings between the Jews and Muslims on the trip, tentative friendships were formed. However, just before the students returned home to Israel, the second Intifada broke out reminding each participant of their differences. Two young women on the trip who did become friends were Palestinian Amal Rifa'i and Israeli Odelia Ainbinder. Two years later, in June of 2002, journalist Sylke Tempel began looking for a young Israeli and a young Palestinian to exchange letters and ideas in order to create a book that would tell the story of Palestine, Israel and the Intifada in their own words. She found the ideal pair in Amal and Odelia. The result is WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE, a series of letters and conversations between Amal and Odelia.

Just 18 years old when they begin corresponding, the women are wise beyond their years and patient with each other's points of view. There is much potential for name-calling, disrespect and worse in such a dialogue, but Amal and Odelia behave with a restraint and open-mindedness often sorely lacking in regards to this difficult and delicate subject. Covering topics such as Jerusalem (where they both live, geographically close but socio-cultural worlds apart), school and the Israeli army, both women are not only quite honest and articulate about their feelings, but are also well versed in their cultural and religious history and tradition. To further illustrate certain points, each invites family members to share her story and thus we read about Odelia's parents and Amal's grandfather in their own words.

Even with such an open dialogue, Amal and Odelia realize there are some things they may never see eye to eye on --- each has a different interpretation of the formation history of the State of Israel, each interprets the plight of the Palestinians in a very different way. Yet they both agree that continued violence is not the answer and hope for strong leadership for the Israelis and the Palestinians. One major problem they both identify is the lack of knowledge about each other's culture, religion and history. Knowledge, they stress, is key to a sustainable peace.

As the book was being written, both Amal and Odelia faced adult life and responsibility --- Amal was engaged to be married and Odelia was preparing for her mandatory service in the Israeli army. Yet the tone of the book still reflected a youthful hopefulness and youthful frustration.

Poignant, brutally honest and sometimes heartbreaking, WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE is written with the idealism of youth and the cynicism of those who grow up amid war and violence. This is a book that puts a human face on the violence and destruction of the Israeli-Palestinian war and invites the reader to question her beliefs and opinions. Amal and Odelia are brave and admirable, willing to open their hearts and minds to each other.

WE JUST WANT TO LIVE HERE is not about solutions or roadmaps to peace. It is the tale of a friendship and intellectual exchange in spite of the most difficult circumstances imaginable. I highly recommend this book for those who want a glimpse of what life is like for teenagers in Israel.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

This book was required reading for my high school World History class. It was an appropriate read for high school, however I would not recommend it for anything else. The girls' letters give a wonderful and sympathetic insight to different ways of thinking in the Middle East. But their conversations tend to go in circles and they very, very often repeat themselves, as we all do when we feel confronted. Since the girls often confront each other, it is perfectly understandable; it is just rather tedious to read after a while. Overall, a good book, but I would not consider it an overly enlightening read.

"Boom," a bomb goes off two blocks away from your school, just as you are leaving class. This isn't that rare of occasion for the two teenage co-authors of the book, We Just Want to Live Here. In this book they are often left to decide how they feel about the suicide bombings and other occurrences in their hometown, Jerusalem. Sylke Tempel put the fascinating letters between these very different teenage girls together into this great factual book about living in Jerusalem during the second Intifada.
Sylke Tempel does a great job putting together the letters in a logical order that helps the reader to understand the conflict in Jerusalem from both opinions. By using a Palestinian girl (Odelia Ainbinder) and an Israeli girl (Amal Rifa'i) you were flushed with both aspects of such topics as the suicide bombings, the army, school and even normal girl talk such as boys. Through both girls' lives, their views of the other side were only composed of what they heard from their friends, family and media making them only see a glance of the big picture. The girls' way of expressing their feelings made you get in the shoes of both sides of the conflict. They didn't leave anything out about their beliefs on what should be done to solve the conflicts between the Palestinians and Israelis. their feelings are even supportive of the other side. For example they agree on such things as how influential their parents were to their lives, yet abruptly disagree on such issues as whether Odelia, the Israeli girl, should join the army after her year off. Sometimes all they would do through their letters was learn more about the other persons culture, which is what happened when they started talking about such things as school and getting married and moving in with boys. This book is very un-biased because it shows how real teenagers on both sides feel about the conflict. Sylke Tempel makes it very clear that she wants people to receive no bias towards either side. She does this by showing both sides of the argument and showing how neither girl is evil. Because of the way Tempel broke up the book, it reads very fast and is easy to understand. The girls' discussion was very interesting and sometimes even shocking to learn how they felt on different issues.
We Just Want to Live Here, is a great read for people of all ages. It would probably be better for girls to read because it is written by girls and sometimes would get a little into girl talk. Being the letters of real girls, this book would be great to read as a class in history or English. This is because it is very factual and a great un-biased way to learn about the conflict in Jerusalem. Before reading this book I would suggest to have previous knowledge of the conflict to better understand what girls are talking about. Overall this was a great, educational book filled with many different opinions and thoughts. I would definitely recommend this book to someone wanting to expanse his or her knowledge in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Forget hope, forget walls and fences, forget peace...for the Israeli conflict to truly end it will take one word...FRIENDSHIP. The book We Just Want To Live Here is a captivating tale of two teens, a Palestinian and Israeli, who use each other to channel anger, hold heated and powerful discussions, understand the other side, and of course, express their own side of the story. The book is mainly set in Jerusalem the most important city for both sides. However this is not one's typical read because the book is almost all dialogue and is formatted as a script. Basic interest seems to be the thing that always strengthens their bond. For instance when they first meet, they talk about what they want to be when they grow up and how their two fields of work relate. The message of the book is simple, "If we can be friends, you can be friends." And, as if teenagers don't have bad enough relations with their parents, the two teens feel like they are talking to stone walls whenever they talk to their parents.
The girls first met in Switzerland at one of those bonding camps and programs (which are commonly believed as gimmicks) later to find out that they live pretty close to each other. They are always writing letters to keep in contact because they know they have something special. The book is a short read (under 200 pages) with complete seriousness, which can be agitating because reading something funny always makes the better book. However, if you feel very attached to the book, there are a lot of related programs if you want to get involved.
This book is not a normal book, but somehow is able gives the reader some hope in the complex Palestinian and Israeli issue. It's real and possible. Also what makes this book great is the fact that the teen's anger is not sugarcoated, the fear is not puckered up, and their feelings are real. It must be a lovely thing to be encouraged to address your feelings and get your crazy thoughts off your chest. I would recommend this book to someone who is a realist and wants to read something different and short.

Samantha
April 16, 2004
English, M.E book review

We Just Want to Live Here
Amal Rifa'i, a Palestinian, and Odelia Ainbinder, an Israeli; are two teenage girls living in Israel who create a friendship that is unlike any other because of their nationalities. They both live in Jerusalem only a few minutes apart but because Amal is Muslim and Odelia is Jewish their lives are completely different. They write back and forth to each other in this fast-paced, non-fiction book. They met during a Switzerland exchange program; weeks after the program their friendship develops when they write letters to each other. They talk about their hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts, and feelings about the newly erupted war in their homeland: the Intifada. They both are against the war and want to live in peace, yet; they both claim that Israel is their homeland. This sparks interesting conversations, and debates about their lives in Israel.
These girls are very different; yet so similar. Amal is a Palestinian, who wants to study in an Israeli college. Odelia is getting prepared for the military, and is currently started in a community service with a socialist-Zionist movement. In their letters they talk about different themes such as social, political and family issues. There is almost no bias in the book because both of the girls are just stating their own opinion about the crisis. They tell each other how they feel about the issues, and get to know each other through the letters they write about the controversial topics. Sylke Tempel shows the reader that two teens on different sides of the fight can get along and learn to accept their differences.
I would recommend this book to readers who would like to delve into the thick issues in Israel. The chapters seven through nine would be good for a school that would like to read a section of the book. This part deals with issues that everyone goes through; school and finding out who you really are. Throughout the whole book Amal and Odelia are very open-minded about the matter. The book lacks talking about the current issues at hand, such as checkpoints, suicide bombings, murders, and the issues that are making up this brutal battle. This would make the book a little more interesting, if it discussed the issues that we read about in the newspaper and see on TV. The book is full of new friendships and everlasting wars between the Palestinians and Israelis.

This book was such an amazing read because it provided a direct look into the lives of an Israeli teenager and a Palestinian Teenager. Instead of being the biased or skewed words of a reporter, the true feelings of the people in Israel are instead written. But these letters were not the thoughts of soldiers or politicians fraught with radical views and unyielding opinions, but instead the pleas and observations of those forced to live in this situation. The girls are full of dreams and wishes for their country, but also quite realistic about their circumstances. Not afraid to disagree, they discuss topics ranging from their cultures, the Israel situation, their families, politics, and the living situation in Jerusalem and how their lives differ. While clearly on opposite sides of this conflict, they manage to find common ground and respect each other's opinions, lighting a spark of hope that suggests one day a peace may be attained in Israel. A history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the back was particularly helpful as well as a glossary of words used from the Arab and Hebrew languages. The chronology was a bit scrambled because of the author's wish to keep topics grouped together, but this did not detract from the inspiring message this book delivered. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a clear view into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ashley Southard
English Book Review
April 16, 2004
The Arab/ Israeli conflict has been discussed in many books, and Americans hear of it every day in the news. But do you really know both sides to the story? We Just Want to Live Here, a story of teenagers Amal Rifa'I (a Palestinian) who is planning on studying special education in an Israeli college, and Odelia Ainbinder (an Israeli) who is part o a socialist/Zionist movement before she gets ready to join the military living in Israel, shows the opinion of both sides of the conflict. Amal and Odelia met one summer while at an exchange program in Switzerland. After, they were asked by journalist Sylke Tempel to begin writing to each other discussing the conflict in which they are living.
This non-fiction book is presented as a compilation of the letter the girls wrote to each other. In these heart-to-heart letters, Amal and Odelia discuss political, social and ethnic issues. This book was published for people who are passionate about the "bad blood" between the Palestinian and Israeli issues. These letters really dig deep into the soul of the people of Israel, Palestinian and Israeli alike, and readers begin to feel compassion for these girls. One of the only weaknesses of this book was the fact that there was really no plot or suspense to keep a person reading. Many people watch TV shows consistently because of the suspense, and many people like books that are the same way. This book lacks that appeal, and it is easy to become bored with this book if you don't wish to delve into the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

Unlike most books, these letters truly had no bias. Each teenager is from one side of the conflict, and they discuss the modern issues in such a way that the reader genuinely gains an understanding of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Readers begin to realize the stupidity of the prejudices that people hold and realize that you cannot make judgment about this dispute until you completely understand the emotions of both peoples.
I would recommend We Just Want to Live Here for readers who are interested in this dispute. People who are passionate about this ongoing war will not become bored with the lack of plot in these letters. The letters really help to achieve true understanding of this everlasting issue.

We Just Want to Live Here

Now, finally, I am a full-fledged believer, for the youth possess the power to end the conflict in Israel through unity, friendship, and discussion. We Just Want to Live Here by Sylke Tempel is a convincing story on the future of the conflict, and how our only hope may be the future of our children. All we hear now in Israel is terror, hate, and discrimination, even after years of in-depth discussion on how to end the conflict. Yet this book may hold the key to the solution, for the friendship that these girls have found between themselves defeats the boundaries in which religion enslaves them while entrapped in the heart of this war. This book is convincing. You cannot learn to like someone without first being friends. This friendship is evident in Amal and Odelia. As a core step to understand the differences between the two faiths of Islam and Judaism, these two girls show knowledge and wisdom past their years. They hold in-depth discussions about marriage, faith, the war, school, and other topics that make this book easy to relate to for everyone. Odelia and Amal not only show how they might be able to solve the conflict, but prove that amity, eagerness for peace, and common moral beliefs can lead regular people just like these young girls to friendship, maybe even peace. This book proves that besides the terrorist bombers that we hear about in the news, there are Palestinians who only seek peace. Although this book covers the beliefs of these two children well, an improvement to this book would be to not only cover these girls, but describe more in-depth the conflict and how ordinary people on both sides may not be helping this conflict. This book is for anyone with interest in how friendship, leadership, and resoluteness may not only lead to peace in the Israeli Palestinian conflict, but may become a reference for problems around the world. I am sure of it now. Leadership and peace lie in the hands of children.