One Step

This week, our Tuesday daytime book group concluded our conversations about The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan. I mentioned the book in my sermon on Sunday; our Gospel told the story of Jesus weeping for Jerusalem, and Bashir and Dalia are the contemporary face of what Jesus is talking about, a Jerusalem that "kills its prophets." The title comes from a lemon tree, planted at the home of an Arab family in Palestine. When they are driven out during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Dalia's family, having escaped the holocaust, occupy the house. Dalia grows up being told that the Arabs who had lived there before simply fled. Why would they leave such a nice house, she wonders as she grows up, but doesn't pursue the line of thought until Bashir appears at her doorstep, wanting to see the house his own family had been forced to leave years before, when he was a child.

The book chronicles many long years of relationship which continue, even now. Dalia says they are not quite friends: "It is something beyond friendship; friends choose each other, and we have each other whether we choose one another or not." They see one another periodically, discussing their intractable positions; the house-the land-is home for both of them, but neither has peace and neither has what they truly want. Bashir is convicted and imprisoned for 15 years for a supermarket bombing; he does not say whether he has engaged in terrorism, only that the armed struggle of the Palestinians is a legitimate response. Even with the honesty and love that Bashir and Dalia clearly have for one another, their disagreement continues. Bashir is exiled-again-for his work in the intifada. Dalia comes to visit him, but he can never go back to see his house, or even the city of Jerusalem.

Ramle, Ramla; it's the same place, in a different language. Somehow, Dalia and Bashir begin to understand each other. When Dalia's parents die, she does not want to sell the house and keep the money for herself. She feels strongly that it was her home, but also Bashir's-she offers him payment for it, but he won't accept. Rather than take money, Bashir suggests that something be done for the Arab children of Ramle "because I lost my childhood there." Before exile, his left hand was blown off when he picked up an Israeli grenade. Today, Open House has a nursery school for Arab children and supports Peace Camps for Israeli and Palestinian children. (see www.friendsofopenhouse.org).

Even in this deep conflict God's grace opens a tiny window. Bashir and Dalia still disagree. Dalia sees giving up the place she'd grown up as a personal decision; politically, she doesn't advocate for reparations for all Palestinians, or the right of return. Bashir still believes in armed struggle. But it's one step, for them, that ripples out to each child who meets another child who is different from them. One thing that Dalia and Bashir share is the deep sense of exile; what we all have to pray for is that they can find a place where they can both come home.

To hear the original radio documentary that gave rise to the book, click here:
www.thirdcoastfestival.org/audio_library_2001.asp

To read Dalia's 1988 account of their relationship, published in the Jerusalem Post as "Letter to a Deportee" click here: www.friendsofopenhouse.org

Blessings,
Sara+