I agree with Lee Jaffe that The Lemon Tree advances many non-Jews' view that European Jews unfairly usurped Arab families' land. I also found the Jewish characters to be less favorably portrayed: the Jewish mother accustomed to a comfortable life is described as unhelpful and as complaining almost incessantly when the family loses its home, while the Arab mother is portrayed almost heroically in her cheerful approach to harsh menial work and poverty.
I still found the book interesting and worth reading, although I would not recommend it to non-Jews or to anyone who would not perceive the subtle biases. Melinda Herman Melinda Herman Librarian Beth El Synagogue Northfield Road at North Avenue New Rochelle, NY 10804 (914) 235-2700, ext. 227 --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [email protected] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
