When will this hatred finally come to an end?

The debut "Ismael`s Oranges" by Claire Hajaj, who has even a Jewish and a Palestinian parent, gets to the heart and represents the still smoldering Middle East conflict from two perspectives. A book in which the question "When is this hatred finally come to an end? ".

The story of Ishmael and Judith begins with creation of Israel in 1948.Der reader is familiar with the two main characters, with Ishmael, who lives in a house in Palestine, in whose garden on the trees, the sweet Jaffa oranges ripen. Each newborn son a new tree is planted, the one who must harvest at a certain age. But Ismael experienced this no longer, although this tree means a lot to him, because the family fled during the war, which ignited after the proclamation of the State of Israel and is expected to continue up to the present time, repeatedly interrupted by peace negotiations, which end this conflict should.
He flees with his family to Nazareth, where his father later died and his mother's family is leaving with her youngest son. Torn between his love for his country and the despair that his mother left the family and has never reported again, he moved to England and begin study there in the hope here to get recognition and employment.
At the same time the reader learns the story of Judith, growing up as the daughter of Holocaust survivors in England and longs just afterwards, to live a happy life, the policy does not interest them.
Judith and Salim get to in the fifties of the 20th century, know and love in London. Despite their different origins and the enmity of their peoples with each other, they get married and have two children, against the resistance of their families. Will this love last?

The debut of Claire Hajaj has fascinated me, touched and made understandable that feelings and thoughts affect people of these two nations, which are actually not so different and have lived peacefully side by side before 1948.
Salim, the proud Arab who has been deprived not only his home but also his pride and also in England does not get the recognition he has wished for, detects the passage of time, that he can not escape this conflict, even in his family not having yet begun with so much courage and good will. Again and again he is drawn back to his roots and the ideas of his people and this disunity determined his life.
Judith, the somewhat more liberal in this marriage, conferring upon the life and the satisfaction of their children a top priority, also depends on the tradition of her family, but is the marriage to the forefront and has the will to keep this family together.

The author is to show the ambivalence of these two figures well done and explains the conflict between Israel and Palestine understandable. The language of this novel I liked very well, especially the flowery language of the Arabs is well integrated in the text and this book can be read very well. A list of names I have missed something at the beginning, was in the course of the book, but no longer needed. But the glossary at the end of the book that the diversity of ideas of Jewish and Arabic explains, I have found to be very helpful.

On top I found the idea to donate 3 Euro for each incoming voice reader to the "dialogue instead of war". Let's hope that not only the money but also peace will help to ensure that these two peoples at some point finally find peace.

I met the author at the Leipzig Book Fair and was allowed to participate in their reading. The winning way as she has presented her book has touched me greatly. I wish this book and its author many readers. It is worth it.