Holy Land Mosaic: Stories of Cooperation and Coexistence Between Israelis and Palestinians

In this hopeful book, Israeli journalist Gavron visits sites in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to demonstrate how Palestinians and Israelis can live together, ""as proved by the fact that some of them do."" Indeed, these aren't isolated communities where the region's political tensions aren't felt, but wide swaths of mainstream life. Though readers may wish Gavron would stay longer in one location, the depth and breadth of cooperative Israeli-Palestinian efforts is Gavron's main point, and he finds them in hospitals, schools, neighborhoods, media outlets and other organizations working within and without the government (one highlight is the profile of Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land, an ""improbable, eccentric"" refuge for abused livestock). Conversations between Israelis and Palestinians, concerned largely with the nuances of their situation, are eye-opening for the tension and anxiety they reveal; as such, they make statements of solidarity (""The occupation is not natural. It won't last, and then we will live together in mutual respect and co-operation"") that much more remarkable. In its accumulation of small, promising revelations, this book makes a large impact.