‘’I soon discovered a very basic fact: In Neve Shalom, nothing is agreed upon,
other than the agreement to disagree…’’
Facing Latrun’s Monastery, on a roundabout leading to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,
and Be’er Sheba, one can find the village Wahat Al-Salam-Neve Shalom, the
only settlement in Israel where Jewish and Arab families live side by side,
out of choice, and who have led a life of proximity, communal children’s
education, and an egalitarian life style, for the past three decades.
Amia Lieblich, whose unique books addressing Israeli communities
have been of great interest for many years, presents this time a collection of
fascinating interviews with members of the community, relating the story
of an exceptional community – a human laboratory, if you will, examining
in real time the key enigma of our existence here: Is integration possible,
against all odds? How does an ideological settlement truly sustain itself in
a world torn apart, with all the arguments, controversies, the struggles, and
the achievements implied therein? Is it possible at all to accurately portray
the complex situation of the village, rooted in Israeli society with all its
complexity in the second decade of the 21st century?
‘’I do not pretend to present the historical truth here’’, writes Lieblich, who,
in her way, aims to tell a story that has not yet been related. ‘’The book is
categorized as ‘’related history’’… as told to me by each of the participants…
All those filters associated with the so-called truth – if there is any, out there –
are those to paint it in a wide range of colors, revealing the richness of the
phenomenon called Neve Shalom’’.
Against All Odds is a work spoken in various voices, alive and diverse,
joining Amia Lieblich’s best-selling books: Tin Soldiers on Jerusalem’s Coast,
Kibbutz Makom, Transition to Adulthood During Military Service, Only
Birds, and Israeli Women in the New Family, which were published in
Schocken Press, and Kfar Etzion Children, which was published by Keter,
and the University of Haifa.
other than the agreement to disagree…’’
Facing Latrun’s Monastery, on a roundabout leading to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv,
and Be’er Sheba, one can find the village Wahat Al-Salam-Neve Shalom, the
only settlement in Israel where Jewish and Arab families live side by side,
out of choice, and who have led a life of proximity, communal children’s
education, and an egalitarian life style, for the past three decades.
Amia Lieblich, whose unique books addressing Israeli communities
have been of great interest for many years, presents this time a collection of
fascinating interviews with members of the community, relating the story
of an exceptional community – a human laboratory, if you will, examining
in real time the key enigma of our existence here: Is integration possible,
against all odds? How does an ideological settlement truly sustain itself in
a world torn apart, with all the arguments, controversies, the struggles, and
the achievements implied therein? Is it possible at all to accurately portray
the complex situation of the village, rooted in Israeli society with all its
complexity in the second decade of the 21st century?
‘’I do not pretend to present the historical truth here’’, writes Lieblich, who,
in her way, aims to tell a story that has not yet been related. ‘’The book is
categorized as ‘’related history’’… as told to me by each of the participants…
All those filters associated with the so-called truth – if there is any, out there –
are those to paint it in a wide range of colors, revealing the richness of the
phenomenon called Neve Shalom’’.
Against All Odds is a work spoken in various voices, alive and diverse,
joining Amia Lieblich’s best-selling books: Tin Soldiers on Jerusalem’s Coast,
Kibbutz Makom, Transition to Adulthood During Military Service, Only
Birds, and Israeli Women in the New Family, which were published in
Schocken Press, and Kfar Etzion Children, which was published by Keter,
and the University of Haifa.
