Bissan, Mayar, Aya, Noor, Smadar, Abir ...

Few years ago I read a book about a Palestinian doctor losing three of his daughters and his niece during Israel's attack to Gaza on January 16, 2009. They were at their home when an Israeli tank shell hit their house and killed them. The book title was "I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey". This is an incredible story of forgiveness and hope for future. After losing his three daughters, Bissan, Mayar and Aya, and his niece, Noor, Dr. Abuelaish goes against revenge and hate. He believes forgiveness is the key element of bringing peace to that region and avoiding similar losses in future (for more see here).

After reading this book I was curious to see how other families in that region react to similar tragedies. I read  the novel "To the End of the Land" which is about a mother of a soldier serving in Israel's army and awaiting his son's return. David Grossman started writing this novel when his son was serving in the army and finishes the novel when his other son loses his life fighting in Lebanon. The mother in the novel leaves the city and goes on a hiking trip, hoping that not being at home will stop the arrival of the bad news.

Another book I read recently was "The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine". Miko Peled starts the book by talking about his family and his father, an Israeli general who fought in 1948 and 1967 wars. He then talks about the tragic loss of his niece, Smadar, to a suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 1997, when two young Palestinians blew themselves up. She was thirteen years old. This tragedy sets him on a path to understand why those two young Palestinians decided to kill themselves and others. He starts by participation in Israeli and Palestinian discussion groups in San Diego for few years before traveling to West Bank and Gaza. One of the people he meets on West Bank is called Bassam. Two years after they first meet, on January 16 of 2007, an Israeli soldier shots Bassam's 10 year old daughter, Abir, while she was walking home from school.

Unfortunately there are more stories like these than there should be. Bereaved Families for Peace is a group of Israeli and Palestinian families that have lost loved ones and are promoting peace and tolerance to stop this from happening to others.

Agatha Christie

Every now and then I like to read one of Poirot's adventures. Recently I read the Murder on the Orient Express. The story revolves around a group of people on the Orient Express travelling from Istanbul to London. While the train is forced to stop because of a winter storm, a murder is committed and Poirot is commissioned to solve the crime. There were couple of things in this story that I found interesting.

First it was the fact that the story starts in Aleppo. This city is one of the oldest cities in the world that has been inhibited continuously. At the time that I started reading the book Aleppo and Syria were on the news everyday. It is sad to see what is happening in Syria and I hope for the violence to stop soon and people of Syria live in peace again.

Second interesting thing for me about this book was that the story is happening in the Orient Express passenger train. This train is mentioned in Bram Stoker's Dracula and Ian Fleming's James Bond from Russia with Love.

Dune

I don't read science fiction too often. I probably should.

About a year ago I asked a friend of mine for a good science fiction book and he recommended Dune by Frank Herbert. This book was written in 1965 and Herbert later wrote four more sequels to it. I enjoyed reading this book a lot and I can see why lots of people consider this book the best science fiction book of all time. I am planning to read the next two books in the series. I've heard the rest are not as good and it is best to stop after reading the third one :)

My favorite quote from this book is:

"You cannot avoid the interplay of politics within an orthodox religion. This power struggle permeates the training, educating and disciplining of the orthodox community. Because of this pressure, the leaders of such a community inevitably must face that ultimate internal question: to succumb to complete opportunism as the price of maintaining their rule, or risk sacrificing themselves for the sake of the orthodox ethic.
—from “Muad’Dib: The Religious Issues” by the Princess Irulan"

Let me know if you have other favorites ...