The sheer amount of adversity Abuelaish has had to overcome is astounding, only surpassed by the incredible amount of humanity he somehow still possesses.

Abuelaish takes the time to humanise the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of the effect it has had on people on both sides - in particular in giving firsthand accounts of what daily life in Gaza entails, to grow up in poverty and insecurity, to be constantly denied basic rights, and to be treated as subhuman -, making it a fairly accessible introduction into this ongoing complicated quagmire.

Seeing as his main message is for peaceful coexistence, for both sides to come together through their shared humanity, he is extremely careful to attribute blame to both. As a result, the tone is almost too measured, perhaps intentionally (so as to avoid criticisms of politicising agendas via emotional manipulation) depriving what would have otherwise been intensely devastating scenes of their potency.

Thankfully, the inclusions of third person accounts of Abuelaish painted a more human portrait of him: someone who has had to hide every bit of dissatisfaction and frustration at the unfairness and inequality he is subjected to daily in order to go about his professional and personal life, to be beyond reproach by the Israelis so as to be in a position of power to effect change for Palestinians, but then perhaps then setting an impossible standard for future Palestinians?

I would love an update from Abuelaish (the book included one from 2011) about his thoughts on the current situation and his life since the book was published.

Extra: The Guardian's review is also well worth a read. ( )

Average writing. Abuelaish wrote the book with an obvious agenda, an admirable one—but probably because I was already 100% sympathetic with it, I didn't find it challenging or particularly interesting. I also have a hard time identifying with the author. He's a politician and sometimes he writes like one. (And how can he have eight children, and leave them for six months at a time?) ( )

What an incredible story. I'd like to thank the author so much for sharing it. I'd also like to thank him for not giving up on humanity as he lived through it.

I won't provide a complete summary of the book, you can read that elsewhere, but this is the true-life story of Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish who tells of his life in Gaza. His life of love and loss from his struggle to educate himself as a child, to gaining his degree in medicine, into fatherhood, to where his life is now. All of this while calling home a country whose borders are controlled by a government who hates him, just because he was born on the wrong side of that border.

Whether or not you share his faith, or agree with his lifestyle, I hope we can all learn a lesson or two from Dr. Abuelaish, and perhaps also put into perspective some of our own struggles, frustrations, and anxieties.

This is a First-Reads review of an ARC edition. ( )

The author of this book has an amazing story. He grew up in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and against all odds and eventually graduates from medical school. He then works at a hospital in Israel, while continuing to live in Gaza and go through the checkpoints regularly. He loses his wife to leukemia and just over a month later three of his daughters and his niece are killed when Israeli tanks target their home. The author has so much tragedy in his life, but he retains hope through it all and never resorts to hate. ( )

Heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. ( )