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The Anteater And The Jaguar: Is This Our Destiny? A Story From the Oasis of Peace
The Middle East has undergone vast, often sudden changes since World War I, and this lack of stability leads to conflict. But while the political situation in Israel and Palestine is complex, peace is not impossible.
Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace), an intentional community of Jews and Palestinians (Christians and Muslims), has become known the world over for its unique approach to conflict and interfaith dialogue. Receiving tens of thousands of visitors a year, this community has learned what it means to live in harmony despite long-standing differences between cultures and deep-seated strife in the surrounding area.
Despite its success, little has been written about the Oasis of Peace—until now. Rayek R. Rizek, one of its founding members, has served his community in government, public relations, and now the written word. In a memoir that is not to be missed, Rizek pulls back the curtain on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and demonstrates that, with fellowship and diligence, even entrenched discord can be overcome.
Rabbi Dr. Marc Gopin of George mason University,Arlington VA, wrote:
Rayek Rizek's Masterful Volume is a unique contribution to the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict like none I have ever read before. I have been studying,writing and working inside this conflict for 32 years. Never have I seen this combination of insights about the past, the presence and the future, about the self in the context of conflict, about the central importance of story, the taking of personal responsibility, and the inescapable unity of the land and its peoples.
If you seek a spell-binding story,an odyssey into the soul, and a beacon of hope beyond war, enter here.
Emeritus Professor Oliver Ramsbotham of Bradford University UK, wrote:
Rayek Rizek's book is essential reading, not only for those wanting to find out about the unique Oasis of Peace voluntary experiment in Jewish/Palestinian cohabitation, where the author has lived for 33 years, but also about the wider conflict.
The Anteater and the Jaguar is that rare thing - a book that offers the reader the fruits of a lifetime of action, study and commitment by a principled and highly impressive participator.
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 29, 2017
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27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 24, 2018
The Anteater and the Jaguar is a book about Rayek Rizek's (the author) life in the intentional Palestinian-Jewish community Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam (or Oasis of Peace in English) as well as his past in his native Nazareth, the Orthodox Christian community which he belongs to, his family roots and some insights on the history of the region and how the border changes throughout the history of the conflict affected the local people. It is a very easy read, full of interesting historical and personal anecdotes. The author also takes us with him on his journey of personal development. He concludes that things improve once we stop acting from a place of anger and take responsibility instead of waiting for an apology from our antagonists.
The Oasis of Peace is a community where Israeli Palestinians and Israeli Jews have chosen to live together, and the book gives detailed accounts on how this community came into being, what difficulties they had and are having, how they educate their children in this village and so on. The author sincerely tells about his harshly painful experiences because of the conflict, and how his response to the conflicts in the country and the community evolved over time for the better. I liked that he does not paint the Oasis of Peace as a complete success, which gives the reader even more confidence when he says that living in Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam has been ideal for him and his family given the circumstances.
This book offers history, personal anecdotes, politics, accounts on the life in the Oasis of Peace, but more than anything there is of hope coming out of this book. It's a highly engaging book, a really fast-read. I am really glad I had the chance to read it. It also came right after I read Amin Maalouf's "Deadly Identities" and "Ports of Call", so it gave me even more to think about. Reading personal stories, wether fictional or factual clearly makes a huge difference in accepting different sides of one story, at least for me.
Reading this book did a few things to me: First, it taught me more about the history of the people of Palestine, and some attention-grabbing details about the Palestinian diaspora. Second, it gave me yet a new perspective on the conflict. I love hearing different opinions on one single issue, and I always loved to somehow to synthesise the antitheses instead of going with only one thesis. But in the case of this particular conflict (Israel- Palestine)it has been so hard to grasp the truths. This may be because most people choose to be way too aggressive when they try to communicate their side and it throws me off completely when there is so much resentment and negative feelings behind their arguments. Yet, Rayek Rizek does the opposite, he gives a wonderfully honest and humane while still personal (I assume somewhat subjective as all are) explanation of the situation. I was fully immersed in his story while reading. At some point maybe my inner voice raised some questions, of the "What about this? What about that?" kind of nature. But I told myself to focus on what he was trying to say instead of what I wanted to hear. Because if you think about it, this is his story, it's unique, and only he can tell you how he sees things from his own personal experience. So you better listen (at least that's what I said to my inner voice). In the end, it was like my mind absorbed all the information slowly as our skin does with sunscreen, and now those stories are with me. To add a last thing, this book gave me bits and pieces of information here and there about famous Palestinian intellectuals and artist as well as cultural and historical aspects and now I am curious to dig deeper to find out more in the literature!
Something else I would like to mention is that in my country (Turkey), the Palestinian cause is often used for islamic propaganda and it is rarely remembered separately from the typical "we must choose the side of our Muslim brothers" rhetoric. It was so nice and refreshing to hear the Palestinian side of the story without the religious Islamic narrative.
I can only think of two criticisms for the book, and they are pretty trivial: In personal reflexion parts (which were very nicely scattered in different chapters), affirmations and questions were a bit repetitive. This did not slow down my reading though. Maybe the author wanted to keep reminding those points over and over again. I just thought it would be better without the repetitions. The second thing is the question of religion in the book. In a few instances, as this conflict is very much a religious one (although not only), Rayek Rizek also uses the religious arguments for peace. This is maybe something a spiritually religious person would approve of and enjoy. But I as a non-believer thought that these were irrelevant, since religions advocate for violence as much as (or more than)they advocate for peace. I had a difficult time having sympathy for the religious perspective and accepting the wishful-thinking about the Abrahamic religions. It is the "if we fear all one God" kind of sentence that I couldn't have empathy with, because in my mind, what if we did not (like the followers of non-Abrahamic religions or the non-believers) fear the same God? I don't think it would change a thing, therefore that tiny bit was irrelevant to me. However, I can totally see that those arguments can be useful for the believers and people who have a soft spot for religion.
Overall, I think a book is good if it changes you. This one did it for me.
The Oasis of Peace is a community where Israeli Palestinians and Israeli Jews have chosen to live together, and the book gives detailed accounts on how this community came into being, what difficulties they had and are having, how they educate their children in this village and so on. The author sincerely tells about his harshly painful experiences because of the conflict, and how his response to the conflicts in the country and the community evolved over time for the better. I liked that he does not paint the Oasis of Peace as a complete success, which gives the reader even more confidence when he says that living in Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam has been ideal for him and his family given the circumstances.
This book offers history, personal anecdotes, politics, accounts on the life in the Oasis of Peace, but more than anything there is of hope coming out of this book. It's a highly engaging book, a really fast-read. I am really glad I had the chance to read it. It also came right after I read Amin Maalouf's "Deadly Identities" and "Ports of Call", so it gave me even more to think about. Reading personal stories, wether fictional or factual clearly makes a huge difference in accepting different sides of one story, at least for me.
Reading this book did a few things to me: First, it taught me more about the history of the people of Palestine, and some attention-grabbing details about the Palestinian diaspora. Second, it gave me yet a new perspective on the conflict. I love hearing different opinions on one single issue, and I always loved to somehow to synthesise the antitheses instead of going with only one thesis. But in the case of this particular conflict (Israel- Palestine)it has been so hard to grasp the truths. This may be because most people choose to be way too aggressive when they try to communicate their side and it throws me off completely when there is so much resentment and negative feelings behind their arguments. Yet, Rayek Rizek does the opposite, he gives a wonderfully honest and humane while still personal (I assume somewhat subjective as all are) explanation of the situation. I was fully immersed in his story while reading. At some point maybe my inner voice raised some questions, of the "What about this? What about that?" kind of nature. But I told myself to focus on what he was trying to say instead of what I wanted to hear. Because if you think about it, this is his story, it's unique, and only he can tell you how he sees things from his own personal experience. So you better listen (at least that's what I said to my inner voice). In the end, it was like my mind absorbed all the information slowly as our skin does with sunscreen, and now those stories are with me. To add a last thing, this book gave me bits and pieces of information here and there about famous Palestinian intellectuals and artist as well as cultural and historical aspects and now I am curious to dig deeper to find out more in the literature!
Something else I would like to mention is that in my country (Turkey), the Palestinian cause is often used for islamic propaganda and it is rarely remembered separately from the typical "we must choose the side of our Muslim brothers" rhetoric. It was so nice and refreshing to hear the Palestinian side of the story without the religious Islamic narrative.
I can only think of two criticisms for the book, and they are pretty trivial: In personal reflexion parts (which were very nicely scattered in different chapters), affirmations and questions were a bit repetitive. This did not slow down my reading though. Maybe the author wanted to keep reminding those points over and over again. I just thought it would be better without the repetitions. The second thing is the question of religion in the book. In a few instances, as this conflict is very much a religious one (although not only), Rayek Rizek also uses the religious arguments for peace. This is maybe something a spiritually religious person would approve of and enjoy. But I as a non-believer thought that these were irrelevant, since religions advocate for violence as much as (or more than)they advocate for peace. I had a difficult time having sympathy for the religious perspective and accepting the wishful-thinking about the Abrahamic religions. It is the "if we fear all one God" kind of sentence that I couldn't have empathy with, because in my mind, what if we did not (like the followers of non-Abrahamic religions or the non-believers) fear the same God? I don't think it would change a thing, therefore that tiny bit was irrelevant to me. However, I can totally see that those arguments can be useful for the believers and people who have a soft spot for religion.
Overall, I think a book is good if it changes you. This one did it for me.
November 16, 2017
Reviewed at Online Book Club. I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review.
August 6, 2019
Often I have thought about the case of our two peoples as being similar to a description of an encounter between the Anteater and the Jaguar. In his book, Life on Earth, David Attenborough alludes to this story as follows: "There is a tale of the bodies of a jaguar and an anteater being found out in the Savannahs, locked together. The anteater had been dreadfully torn by the jaguar's teeth, but its claws were sunk in the jaguar's back".
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews