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The Book of the Week is “Native, Dispatches From the Israeli-Palestinian Life” by Sayed Kashua, published in 2016. The author compiled journal entries from 2006 through 2014 on his Arab family’s life and times in various residences in Israel whose political status was in dispute, in connection with Jews and Arabs.
The author and his wife, both of Arab origin, were raised in the central Israeli city of Tira, whose north and south regions are very different. At the book’s writing, the city did not have a library. The author, who was born in the mid-1970’s, entered a library for the first time in his life at fourteen years old, when he was sent to boarding school in Jerusalem.
Kashua spoke Arabic, Hebrew and English. In an unlikely move, he became a columnist for the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz. When he traveled internationally for work, he didn’t bring his computer because if he did, security at Ben Gurion airport would automatically assume he was a member of Hezbollah.
The author’s parents instilled in him a dogmatic belief that he must reside in his homeland his whole life, because that’s where his ancestors were from. His thinking was more flexible, as he wrote that he would allow his children to move elsewhere or study abroad if they wanted to.
The author and his wife adopted a Westernized lifestyle with electronic toys and modern cars; they were non-religious. They moved to a Jewish neighborhood in order to send their children to Israeli schools, which they perceived to be superior to those of their own ethnic group.
Kashua was pleasantly surprised by some of the cultural conditions he encountered in the United States– no water stoppages, delivery of food and mail right to his postal address (rather than having to pick up mail or food at a post office box or eatery), and having utility services turned on in a timely manner. He marveled at street signs, paved roads, sidewalks and greenery.
The author– who was made a “Palestinian citizen of Israel” regardless of whether he wanted to become one– did readings of his book on an international tour. He wrote, “Everyone wanted to talk about identity, about nationality, foreignness, about detachment, self-determination… language, the future…” He wrote that yelling at the opposition that they’re traitors wasn’t going to change anything.
Kashua applied for a visa that allowed him to move his family to the United States for a year. One form asked him his ethnic group but listed only “white, black, Hispanic or Asian.” Read the book to learn of many more of his trials, tribulations, and interesting factoids, through vignettes of his life.