Kenizé Mourad. Our sacred Land. (El perfume de nuestra Tierra)
Mourad’s book provides a wide overview on the impact of the political and military characteristics of the conflict on the way that the poeple live, communicate and think from both nations. It is a very harsh book in terms of the explicit pictures that it allows you to portray while reading the experiences from the people. However the value of its objectiveness is extremely important to understand how people react to the experiences that they have lived.
Opposite to what some people think, not all of the Israelis and Palestinians hate each other. On the contrary, even though they have sometimes suffered first hand violence from the other side, they still think think that a process of reconciliation is possible. That is because they know that the brutality coming from one side does not generalize to a whole nation.
This book is also intended to generate a historical memory process in which neither of the side forgets why they are at war, and the crimes and actions committed at war. This is done by the interviews that Mourad did to both children and adults about their experiences throughout the war. That includes terrorist attacks, blockades, famines, house destruction, exclusion and all negative feelings involved in these experiences. On the other hand, it also includes the positive feelings generated by having a realistic but optimistic view on the conflict.
The more you read, the more you can understand the complexity of the conflict. I would say that the message of the book is of hope, reconciliation and unforgetting. By contrasting all the views, opinions and experiences from the victims of both sides, it is shown that a possibility to get to a dialogue among the parts is actually possible but not easy.
More than recommended!
An Intellectual Revolution - The Sumak Kawsay 