This book was found and purchased from the sale shelf of Twinbrook Library in Rockville, Maryland.

I'm reading this book now.

Phew! Here is a book that forces me as a Jew to experience what it feels like to be a Palestinian Arab. Not the Palestinian that throws rocks, but the poet who simply lives his life in a small village, only to have his home and life shattered by attending college in another country and then losing his right to return - not only to his home but to his homeland. He becomes an outcast in whatever country he visits or resides because he is a refugee.

This was a tough read for me, but it gave me a better understanding of how Palestinian Arabs turned into the people they have become today. I never think of Israelis as occupiers, yet to those who lost their homes in 1948 and fled to other countries with no right of return, that's what they are.

What was missing from this book, I think, were ideas for where we should go from here. I liked the poetic voice of this author and would like to hear more from him. I have no idea where he is living now, but I will be sure to follow his path.

There is one poem in this book that I particularly liked which begins "She wants to go to a planet away from the earth...". It talks about how a mother always wants her children to return. I can really identify with that. Arabs and Jews...they're so alike in so many ways. The first step in resolving our differences is to listen to one another. Painful as this book was for me to read, I suggest that others also give this book a chance.

Released to a fellow LibraryThing member currently living in New York.

Received from SqueakyChu after hearing from her what a powerful book it is. Hoping this one will get read sooner rather than later :)