Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor

By: Yossi Klein Halevi

Narrated by: Yossi Klein Halevi

New York Times Bestseller

“A clarion call, not to arms but to empathy. . . a profound and original book.”—Wall Street Journal

Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbors in this taut and provocative book, empathizing with Palestinian suffering and longing for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes. And now, in a new epilogue, Palestinian readers have been given a chance to respond through their own powerful letters.

I call you ""neighbor"" because I don’t know your name, or anything personal about you. Given our circumstances, ""neighbor"" might be too casual a word to describe our relationship. We are intruders into each other’s dream, violators of each other’s sense of home. We are incarnations of each other’s worst historical nightmares. Neighbors?

Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is one Israeli’s powerful attempt to reach beyond the wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians and into the hearts of ""the enemy."" In a series of letters, Yossi Klein Halevi explains what motivated him to leave his native New York in his twenties and move to Israel to participate in the drama of the renewal of a Jewish homeland, which he is committed to see succeed as a morally responsible, democratic state in the Middle East.

This is the first attempt by an Israeli author to directly address his Palestinian neighbors and describe how the conflict appears through Israeli eyes. Halevi untangles the ideological and emotional knot that has defined the conflict for nearly a century. In lyrical, evocative language, he unravels the complex strands of faith, pride, anger and anguish he feels as a Jew living in Israel, using history and personal experience as his guide.

Halevi’s letters speak not only to his Palestinian neighbor, but to all concerned global citizens, helping us understand the painful choices confronting Israelis and Palestinians that will ultimately help determine the fate of the region.

Historical and Personal

Loved the historical and political background stamping the letters with emotional commitment to the land, his personal experiences, and empathetic openness toward Palestinians.

Israel 101 - but for Jews

The author wrote this for our neighbors “across the hill”. I don’t share his optimism as I do not think the Arabs will ever be reconciled to our return to our ancestral lands. It’d be nice, but I don’t think explaining our story will help. That’s the sort of method we take with convincing other Jews of our opinions, and in effect this “letter” is a missive that’s asking Arabs to be more like Jews in their empathy for “the other”. Rather, I believe where this book best blazes a trail is with those Jews in Israel and elsewhere who are ambivalent about the country, due to empathy for “the other”. I have not encountered a more accurate description of the conflict as Israeli Jews see it and feel it. To read this book will help in gaining the understanding for why so much effort has gone into making peace, and why it keeps failing. Most importantly, it offers an excellent sense for outsiders for why, after all the failures, Israelis find it difficult to throw their hands up in desperation. For those who see Israel in a bad light, read this book. If you’re honestly interested in learning about how this conflict appears on the ground to us, rather than pat political bromides designed to reinforce what you think you know about how we see it, you will be enriched by the time you finish. I doubt you or anybody will get more from it, but it can’t hurt, right?

Excellent

If you're looking for an encapsulation of the Israeli (Jewish) and Palestinian conflict, look no further. Mr. Halevi's letters address communication issues and longstanding, entrenched narratives that are far from pragmatic. His letters are factual yet empathetic. They are not at all patronizing. If you have an opinion concerning the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict, read or listen to this book.

Worth the listen

A thoughtful narrative of Israel’s history and it’s current conflict with Palestine from an Israeli’s point of view. The author is transparent in that this is the story from Israel’s side and invites the listener to a conversation.

Honest, raw

I appreciated the slower & thoughtful way the author read his book in consideration of those listeners for whom English is not their primary language.