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In This Place Together: A Palestinian's Journey to Collective Liberation
A narrative meditation on joint nonviolence, opening a window to the questions of power, multiple narratives, and imagination that touch on struggles for justice everywhere.
As a Palestinian youth, Sulaiman Khatib encountered the occupation in his village and attempted to fight back, stabbing an Israeli. Imprisoned at the age of 14, he began a process of political and spiritual transformation still unfolding today. In a book he asked Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, an American Jew, to write, and based on years of conversation between them, Khatib shares how his activism became deeply rooted in the belief that we must ground all work—from dialogue to direct action to healing—in recognition of the history and humanity of the other. He reveals how he became convinced that Palestinian freedom can flourish alongside Jewish connection to the land where he was born.
In language that is poetic and unflinchingly honest, Eilberg-Schwartz and Khatib chronicle what led him to dedicate his life to joint nonviolence. In his journey, he encountered the deep injustice of torture, witnessed the power of hunger strikes, and studied Jewish history. Ultimately, he came to realize mutual recognition, alongside a transformation of the systems that governed their lives, was necessary for both Palestinians and Israelis to move forward. Still, as he built friendships with Israelis and resisted the occupation alongside them, he could not lose sight of the great power imbalance in the relationship, of all the violence and erasure still present as they dreamt forward together.
Intimate and political, In This Place Together opens us up to the dangers and hopes of working with others across vast differences in power and experience. And it opens a new space, shapes a third narrative, and finds another world that can exist—though it’s often hard to see—inside this one.
As a Palestinian youth, Sulaiman Khatib encountered the occupation in his village and attempted to fight back, stabbing an Israeli. Imprisoned at the age of 14, he began a process of political and spiritual transformation still unfolding today. In a book he asked Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, an American Jew, to write, and based on years of conversation between them, Khatib shares how his activism became deeply rooted in the belief that we must ground all work—from dialogue to direct action to healing—in recognition of the history and humanity of the other. He reveals how he became convinced that Palestinian freedom can flourish alongside Jewish connection to the land where he was born.
In language that is poetic and unflinchingly honest, Eilberg-Schwartz and Khatib chronicle what led him to dedicate his life to joint nonviolence. In his journey, he encountered the deep injustice of torture, witnessed the power of hunger strikes, and studied Jewish history. Ultimately, he came to realize mutual recognition, alongside a transformation of the systems that governed their lives, was necessary for both Palestinians and Israelis to move forward. Still, as he built friendships with Israelis and resisted the occupation alongside them, he could not lose sight of the great power imbalance in the relationship, of all the violence and erasure still present as they dreamt forward together.
Intimate and political, In This Place Together opens us up to the dangers and hopes of working with others across vast differences in power and experience. And it opens a new space, shapes a third narrative, and finds another world that can exist—though it’s often hard to see—inside this one.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published April 13, 2021
19 people are currently reading
1160 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 9, 2021
This is the story of Sulaiman Khatib, who was arrested when he was fourteen and spent many years in prison for it. It's a well-written tale, but I question lots of his ideologies. He goes from wanting to fight the Israelis to co-founding Combatants For Peace. And I have questions.
I want to mention what's happening in Sheikh Jarrah. Because this is colonialism. This is what colonialism is. This is what a military occupation looks like. This book wants to preach nonviolence--or at least Sulaiman does--but nonviolence doesn't always work. There are two mentioned incidents in this book of Israeli soldiers shooting at children for running down a street, one of whom was killed. The prisoners are beaten as a training exercise for soldiers. Tear gas is pumped into the cells routinely. The court of law is a joke, biased against Palestinians, some of whom aren't even charged with anything, simply arrested. Freedom of movement from town to town is limited and heavily monitored with armed soldiers. What's happening in Sheikh Jarrah has happened before. The occupation is allowed to just come into your home, beat you, and say it's theirs now. This is exactly what colonialism is.
Khatib's narrative feels like it's trying to put the blame near-equally on both Palestinians and Jewish settlers but relies on false equivalences. 2o Israelis dead, 300 Palestinians dead. 10 Israelis, 1400 Palestinians. Palestinians throw rocks, Israelis shoot into a crowd (even when using rubber bullets, which aren't safer anyway, they kill people.) Palestinians use handmade Molotov cocktails, Israelis use bombs. Palestinians uses homemade suicide bombs, Israelis bomb entire towns to get one or two people. These aren't equal at all.
This is essentially a biography, and this is only Sulaiman Khatib's point of view, but it's a point of view that seems heavily skewed. Even when he's talking about joining in with former Israeli soldiers and other Israelis for Combatants For Peace, they seem to demand some sort of concession from him. Yes, anti-Semitism is rife in the world and it's terrible and it should be eradicated. Yes, genocide against the Jewish happened. Yes, they were wrongfully blamed for things going wrong. If we wanted to have a discussion about that... it would have been better, frankly. They blame it on "Jewish fear," which is never really defined, but I presume means fear of genocide. The issue here is--that's exactly what they're doing to the Palestinians. They're killing them in droves becausethey're Palestinian. That is the definition of genocide.
I understand what this book is trying to do. Its main thesis is in chapter 18: “He [Souli] knew it then: using violence meant more and more sacrifice; it was time for something new.” The premise is simple: both the Jewish and the Palestinians have been victims of ethnic cleansing, and now it's time to set aside their differences and try for peace. A great concept in theory. But how will the realities be addressed? Israel isn't expected to abide by the decisions made by the U.N. or the International Court of Justice. They're heavily supported by America and Britain and receive weapons and aid to bomb Palestinians. (I presume America and Britain also use them as proxies to control the Arab world). They're allowed to take homes and make people disappear without any outcry. They have full control over the courts of law and the government. The media, heavily run by America and Britain, does not publish about these things at all. They have all the power, and the book never addresses how to make an equal peace happen with nonviolent means other than with nebulous concepts like hope and forgiveness. I suppose education is a good place to start, but again, this book is mainly him telling you armed struggle should stop. He almost makes it sound like armed struggle has never accomplished anything. It's an extremely odd position to take. I'm not entirely up-to-date with my history of armed struggle but I don't think the Irish would agree, for example.
As you can tell, I agree with almost nothing he says, and if I had more time and energy I'd argue more but I don't. I found this book to mainly be a test of endurance for me, but I will give credit where credit is due: I like Eilberg-Schwartz's writing style; it was very compelling.
I want to mention what's happening in Sheikh Jarrah. Because this is colonialism. This is what colonialism is. This is what a military occupation looks like. This book wants to preach nonviolence--or at least Sulaiman does--but nonviolence doesn't always work. There are two mentioned incidents in this book of Israeli soldiers shooting at children for running down a street, one of whom was killed. The prisoners are beaten as a training exercise for soldiers. Tear gas is pumped into the cells routinely. The court of law is a joke, biased against Palestinians, some of whom aren't even charged with anything, simply arrested. Freedom of movement from town to town is limited and heavily monitored with armed soldiers. What's happening in Sheikh Jarrah has happened before. The occupation is allowed to just come into your home, beat you, and say it's theirs now. This is exactly what colonialism is.
Khatib's narrative feels like it's trying to put the blame near-equally on both Palestinians and Jewish settlers but relies on false equivalences. 2o Israelis dead, 300 Palestinians dead. 10 Israelis, 1400 Palestinians. Palestinians throw rocks, Israelis shoot into a crowd (even when using rubber bullets, which aren't safer anyway, they kill people.) Palestinians use handmade Molotov cocktails, Israelis use bombs. Palestinians uses homemade suicide bombs, Israelis bomb entire towns to get one or two people. These aren't equal at all.
This is essentially a biography, and this is only Sulaiman Khatib's point of view, but it's a point of view that seems heavily skewed. Even when he's talking about joining in with former Israeli soldiers and other Israelis for Combatants For Peace, they seem to demand some sort of concession from him. Yes, anti-Semitism is rife in the world and it's terrible and it should be eradicated. Yes, genocide against the Jewish happened. Yes, they were wrongfully blamed for things going wrong. If we wanted to have a discussion about that... it would have been better, frankly. They blame it on "Jewish fear," which is never really defined, but I presume means fear of genocide. The issue here is--that's exactly what they're doing to the Palestinians. They're killing them in droves becausethey're Palestinian. That is the definition of genocide.
I understand what this book is trying to do. Its main thesis is in chapter 18: “He [Souli] knew it then: using violence meant more and more sacrifice; it was time for something new.” The premise is simple: both the Jewish and the Palestinians have been victims of ethnic cleansing, and now it's time to set aside their differences and try for peace. A great concept in theory. But how will the realities be addressed? Israel isn't expected to abide by the decisions made by the U.N. or the International Court of Justice. They're heavily supported by America and Britain and receive weapons and aid to bomb Palestinians. (I presume America and Britain also use them as proxies to control the Arab world). They're allowed to take homes and make people disappear without any outcry. They have full control over the courts of law and the government. The media, heavily run by America and Britain, does not publish about these things at all. They have all the power, and the book never addresses how to make an equal peace happen with nonviolent means other than with nebulous concepts like hope and forgiveness. I suppose education is a good place to start, but again, this book is mainly him telling you armed struggle should stop. He almost makes it sound like armed struggle has never accomplished anything. It's an extremely odd position to take. I'm not entirely up-to-date with my history of armed struggle but I don't think the Irish would agree, for example.
As you can tell, I agree with almost nothing he says, and if I had more time and energy I'd argue more but I don't. I found this book to mainly be a test of endurance for me, but I will give credit where credit is due: I like Eilberg-Schwartz's writing style; it was very compelling.
November 28, 2020
Is this a book of Israeli military occupation, Palestinian armed resistance, the Israeli prison industry, the fraying of Palestinian society, a 21st-century Jewish awakening, normalization, a transformation to nonviolence, or something else? It may be any, and all, of these, depending on the reader’s bias or open-mindedness.
This bold story of an all-too-ordinary Palestinian boy, prematurely made into a man, narrated by a white American Jewish woman, tells the Palestinian story while opening a myriad of taboo topics, without closing any. No matter the angle you enter this book, you will exit it slightly upended. For that alone, I invite you to the constructive uneasiness that many more will need to feel before any change on the ground bears fruit that we can all taste equally.
Sam Bahour
Businessman, activist, writer
Al-Bireh/Ramallah, Palestine
This bold story of an all-too-ordinary Palestinian boy, prematurely made into a man, narrated by a white American Jewish woman, tells the Palestinian story while opening a myriad of taboo topics, without closing any. No matter the angle you enter this book, you will exit it slightly upended. For that alone, I invite you to the constructive uneasiness that many more will need to feel before any change on the ground bears fruit that we can all taste equally.
Sam Bahour
Businessman, activist, writer
Al-Bireh/Ramallah, Palestine
April 18, 2022
This is Nonfiction/Politics. This wasn't quite 3 stars but I tend to round up when the message is one that needs more dialogue, compassion, and understanding by more people than those that are at the heart of this.
I have friends represented on both sides. It is hard when I listen to them talk. They all make valid points, but validity is not going to solve this.
Overall, this was a struggle to get through because I didn't really care for the narrator. She didnt' do this justice. Where was the passion for the content? Just a pet peeve.
I have friends represented on both sides. It is hard when I listen to them talk. They all make valid points, but validity is not going to solve this.
Overall, this was a struggle to get through because I didn't really care for the narrator. She didnt' do this justice. Where was the passion for the content? Just a pet peeve.
May 29, 2021
A truly remarkable book about the search for peace among Palestinians and Israelis as told by a superb (Jewish-American-woman) writer narrating the continually developing outlook and insights of a Palestinian man. If there is hope in the world for a non-violent solution to a massively difficult history, it just might be found in these pages. (Full disclosure: Penina Eilberg-Schwartz was one of my students, but I can claim no credit for her brilliance as a writer.) Read this book!
April 11, 2021
This book does a great job of telling the story of Souli, a Palestinian man who has dedicated his life to a peaceful resolution for the Israeli-Palestine conflict. It can be a bit confusing to follow from time to time, but overall this book is great. Highly recommend.
February 22, 2024
A book about the life of Sulaiman Khatib, the founder of Combatants for Peace, and his journey from imprisonment (he was jailed for 15 years for stabbing IDF soldiers at 14) to creating a movement of non-violent action and solidarity with Jewish Israelis. Interesting read if you're curious about Palestinian life in the West Bank, the experience of Palestinians in prison and the politics within the system, Palestinian society and politics, armed resistance vs. non-violent resistance, general history of the Holy Land from the First/Second Intifadas to the mid 2000's, the concept of 'normalization', and Palestinian-Israeli relations, collaboration, and partnership.
Was definitely an interesting read, found the historical overview and Souli's early life and life in prison the most interesting. The discussions of the relationships within CfP were also insightful, but I had mixed feelings overall, which could either be because of the writing and the 'neutral' stance of CfP, or because of my personal biases.
Was definitely an interesting read, found the historical overview and Souli's early life and life in prison the most interesting. The discussions of the relationships within CfP were also insightful, but I had mixed feelings overall, which could either be because of the writing and the 'neutral' stance of CfP, or because of my personal biases.
March 10, 2024
4.5 stars. This is an important and timely book, one in which a former Palestinian prisoner mobilizes education and introspection to help form a joint Palestinian-Israel movement, Combatants for Peace, which is focused on nonviolence as a process leading toward a better future for the two peoples that share the land of Israel & Palestine. It is clear from recent months that violence is not a solution for either "side" of the ongoing conflict, and Khatib's deep contemplation and difficult work of understanding multiple perspectives and the traumas of both peoples is something to which we can all aspire and endeavor.
Having a background in the history of the region and the various political parties and events is essential to comprehending this narrative; Khatib works hard to undo many of the presumptive histories that are pushed by mainstream voices, instead talking and learning from people on the ground and undoing the notions of who suffers more in this seemingly intractable conflict. Dialogue, so conspicuously missing from much of our society today, is the driving force towards making change. If only this methodology could reach the upper echelons of power, we might see the end of this senseless violence, and start to build a thriving, forward-looking society on this land.
What kept me from rating this book a 5 was the tone/voice of the co-author, Penina Eilberg-Schwartz. Khatib asked her to write his story, but I felt he could have written it himself. Eilberg-Schwartz is still very much a presence as a "white Jewish woman" (in her words, but "American Jewish woman" might be more accurate), and notes that she was careful to not insert too much of herself into the book. Yet the third person narrative projects a distanced lens on Sulaiman that I'm not sure was intended and made him feel rather detached from his own story.
In addition, I would have also liked to see a more nuanced bibliography, as well as a detailed map included with the Palestinian villages, for the intricacies of geography are what make the occupation's carving up of the West Bank especially egregious. Seeing the lines on the map of the checkpoints and the isolation of Hizma, for example, would be more impactful and help those who are less familiar with the region understand the challenges of Palestinian life in the West Bank due to these man-made fissures in the topography.
Having a background in the history of the region and the various political parties and events is essential to comprehending this narrative; Khatib works hard to undo many of the presumptive histories that are pushed by mainstream voices, instead talking and learning from people on the ground and undoing the notions of who suffers more in this seemingly intractable conflict. Dialogue, so conspicuously missing from much of our society today, is the driving force towards making change. If only this methodology could reach the upper echelons of power, we might see the end of this senseless violence, and start to build a thriving, forward-looking society on this land.
What kept me from rating this book a 5 was the tone/voice of the co-author, Penina Eilberg-Schwartz. Khatib asked her to write his story, but I felt he could have written it himself. Eilberg-Schwartz is still very much a presence as a "white Jewish woman" (in her words, but "American Jewish woman" might be more accurate), and notes that she was careful to not insert too much of herself into the book. Yet the third person narrative projects a distanced lens on Sulaiman that I'm not sure was intended and made him feel rather detached from his own story.
In addition, I would have also liked to see a more nuanced bibliography, as well as a detailed map included with the Palestinian villages, for the intricacies of geography are what make the occupation's carving up of the West Bank especially egregious. Seeing the lines on the map of the checkpoints and the isolation of Hizma, for example, would be more impactful and help those who are less familiar with the region understand the challenges of Palestinian life in the West Bank due to these man-made fissures in the topography.
February 9, 2022
I don’t know why I’m not giving this book five stars. I think I might give other books—especially in fiction where it’s difficult to create these complexities largely from imagination—five stars. For me, maybe that’s part of it—this book is too overwhelming for me to embrace it wholeheartedly. In any case, this is still a moving, transformative book that I recommend.
This is a story about competing narratives and shared narratives. It is a story about the harrowing effects of occupation, told primarily from a Palestinian perspective, which is a first for my synagogue’s Israel book club. It is also a story that has been filtered through the perspective and writing of an Ashkenazi, white* American Jew.
(*I disagree with Penina about the use of “white” in this context, how it erases the experience of a certain subset of Jews. But I respect her broader point of not wanting to co-opt someone else’s narrative. Also, a big part of this book is to showcase people communicating beyond their differences. So here we go!)
This is on purpose, part of the protagonist, Souli’s, quest for dialogue, it seems. Souli is in fact more open to a variety of Jewish perspectives, including right wing and nationalist perspectives, than is Penina. Penina is at least functionally anti-Zionist, and a member of the far-left group IfNotNow. She is my litmus test for accepting different Jewish perspectives, the same way that in the book, Souli often found himself at odds with other Palestinians. I kept imagining Penina as a Jewish friend of mine, a friend who has a lot in common with Penina politically, as my way of continually viewing this author with empathy.
And I should say that Penina did a good job of excising herself, and most of her opinions, of this story. As stated above, it was very important to her not to co-opt a Palestinian’s narrative. Much of the book is an accounting of Souli’s life and journey from before Penina knew him, a fluid narrative of reportage and interviews.
Sulaiman was born in the town of Hizma, near Jerusalem (known to Palestinians as al-Quds), a place that can serve as a microcosm for the injustices of the occupation with how it’s been dissected and cut off, due to “Israeli safety concerns” (in itself a paradox of who’s to blame for ongoing violence) and the rise of nearby settlements. When he was 14, in the 1980s, he and his friend stabbed two hiking Israelis whom they took to be soldiers. He was tried by an Israeli military court (as is custom for all Palestinians living under the occupation; they don’t go to Israeli civil court) and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In prison, Suliaman joined Fatah and adhered to a strict moral code of personal accountability and resistance strictly to Israeli military targets. As he went through prison and beyond, he grew frustrated with increased Palestinian violence against civilians, particularly with the advent of groups like Hamas, and he studied Jewish narratives about the connection to Israel beyond Herzl’s propaganda. This is what led him to embrace non-violence, and to start the group Combatants for Peace. Souli met with Palestinians and Israelis of similar leanings (a criteria for Israeli members of Combatants for Peace is a refusal to serve in the occupied territories.) He continued to challenge himself, including in the face of Israeli abuses in prison and military action that traumatized and killed family and friends, to accept the idea of a universal Jewish connection to the land alongside a Palestinian one.
It’s obvious that Souli wants his pain and history to be seen by Israelis and the broader Jewish community. In return, I feel seen, as a Jewish reader, for the acknowledgment of my own narrative ties to Israel. But, more divisively, there's still the issue of the inherent inequalities in the occupation. This is a movement based on getting Israelis and Palestinians to talk to one another, but one side still holds all the systemic power; in binary terms, it’s still the oppressor vs the oppressed. It’s difficult to get many people to agree to the idea of conversation at all; one need only look at other reviews of this book.
There are other means of inequality in the movement as well, particularly with regards to gender. It’s here that we’re supposed to see Souli as a more flawed human being, but the nature of this sort of nonfiction tends to strip that sort of human emotion from the piece. Penina also intentionally kept out some more controversial verbiage that might keep some readers, particularly Jewish readers, from considering the book. It certainly made things more palatable, and her acknowledgment of Jewish narratives also made it easier for me to disregard any anxieties I have about her far-left leanings, and realize that she’s capable of nuance.
I’m also reckoning with my own journey, as I try to move towards a place of greater empathy and acknowledge my own imperfections. I talk a lot about verbiage, which is at the heart of a conflict where both sides want to feel they belong. I can tell, from my own writings in Jewish/pop culture blog, how I’ve grappled with and ultimately acknowledged such words as “occupation” and “colonization.” I hope, like Souli, who is incredible guide if not a perfect hero, I can continue to challenge myself without losing sight of who I am and who I belong to. I’m sure I’m also censoring my words a little, and it’s easier to talk (or listen with) Jewish communities over non-Jewish ones. I still identify on the Left, albeit the more moderate Left, and I respect the idea of “safe spaces.” So long as we also take the time to leave our bubbles as well. Conversation is a journey for us all.
This is a story about competing narratives and shared narratives. It is a story about the harrowing effects of occupation, told primarily from a Palestinian perspective, which is a first for my synagogue’s Israel book club. It is also a story that has been filtered through the perspective and writing of an Ashkenazi, white* American Jew.
(*I disagree with Penina about the use of “white” in this context, how it erases the experience of a certain subset of Jews. But I respect her broader point of not wanting to co-opt someone else’s narrative. Also, a big part of this book is to showcase people communicating beyond their differences. So here we go!)
This is on purpose, part of the protagonist, Souli’s, quest for dialogue, it seems. Souli is in fact more open to a variety of Jewish perspectives, including right wing and nationalist perspectives, than is Penina. Penina is at least functionally anti-Zionist, and a member of the far-left group IfNotNow. She is my litmus test for accepting different Jewish perspectives, the same way that in the book, Souli often found himself at odds with other Palestinians. I kept imagining Penina as a Jewish friend of mine, a friend who has a lot in common with Penina politically, as my way of continually viewing this author with empathy.
And I should say that Penina did a good job of excising herself, and most of her opinions, of this story. As stated above, it was very important to her not to co-opt a Palestinian’s narrative. Much of the book is an accounting of Souli’s life and journey from before Penina knew him, a fluid narrative of reportage and interviews.
Sulaiman was born in the town of Hizma, near Jerusalem (known to Palestinians as al-Quds), a place that can serve as a microcosm for the injustices of the occupation with how it’s been dissected and cut off, due to “Israeli safety concerns” (in itself a paradox of who’s to blame for ongoing violence) and the rise of nearby settlements. When he was 14, in the 1980s, he and his friend stabbed two hiking Israelis whom they took to be soldiers. He was tried by an Israeli military court (as is custom for all Palestinians living under the occupation; they don’t go to Israeli civil court) and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In prison, Suliaman joined Fatah and adhered to a strict moral code of personal accountability and resistance strictly to Israeli military targets. As he went through prison and beyond, he grew frustrated with increased Palestinian violence against civilians, particularly with the advent of groups like Hamas, and he studied Jewish narratives about the connection to Israel beyond Herzl’s propaganda. This is what led him to embrace non-violence, and to start the group Combatants for Peace. Souli met with Palestinians and Israelis of similar leanings (a criteria for Israeli members of Combatants for Peace is a refusal to serve in the occupied territories.) He continued to challenge himself, including in the face of Israeli abuses in prison and military action that traumatized and killed family and friends, to accept the idea of a universal Jewish connection to the land alongside a Palestinian one.
It’s obvious that Souli wants his pain and history to be seen by Israelis and the broader Jewish community. In return, I feel seen, as a Jewish reader, for the acknowledgment of my own narrative ties to Israel. But, more divisively, there's still the issue of the inherent inequalities in the occupation. This is a movement based on getting Israelis and Palestinians to talk to one another, but one side still holds all the systemic power; in binary terms, it’s still the oppressor vs the oppressed. It’s difficult to get many people to agree to the idea of conversation at all; one need only look at other reviews of this book.
There are other means of inequality in the movement as well, particularly with regards to gender. It’s here that we’re supposed to see Souli as a more flawed human being, but the nature of this sort of nonfiction tends to strip that sort of human emotion from the piece. Penina also intentionally kept out some more controversial verbiage that might keep some readers, particularly Jewish readers, from considering the book. It certainly made things more palatable, and her acknowledgment of Jewish narratives also made it easier for me to disregard any anxieties I have about her far-left leanings, and realize that she’s capable of nuance.
I’m also reckoning with my own journey, as I try to move towards a place of greater empathy and acknowledge my own imperfections. I talk a lot about verbiage, which is at the heart of a conflict where both sides want to feel they belong. I can tell, from my own writings in Jewish/pop culture blog, how I’ve grappled with and ultimately acknowledged such words as “occupation” and “colonization.” I hope, like Souli, who is incredible guide if not a perfect hero, I can continue to challenge myself without losing sight of who I am and who I belong to. I’m sure I’m also censoring my words a little, and it’s easier to talk (or listen with) Jewish communities over non-Jewish ones. I still identify on the Left, albeit the more moderate Left, and I respect the idea of “safe spaces.” So long as we also take the time to leave our bubbles as well. Conversation is a journey for us all.
February 25, 2024
Awesome perspective and much needed story. Giving it 4 stars because there were some sentences that were unclear but overall a really easy and good read. It's a breath of fresh air for hope during these times of war and occupation
March 22, 2022
Sulaiman Khatib was a young happy peaceful boy who enjoyed going to the fields with his goats and loved nature. One day he was with his friend and they were with two Israelis and they attacked them to try to seize their weapons, after which they fled but they were caught and he was put in jail, sentenced to 15 years. Throughout his time in jail, he was subjected to beatings, and he went on hunger strikes with his jailmates to get more provisions.
In jail he learned Hebrew and English, and he thought of ways to peacefully protest the wars between Palestinians and the Jews when he was out. When he was in jail, a lot was happening on the outside. The Jews were occupying land and the Palestinians were rebelling. In December of 1987 the first intifada happened which was an uprising of Palestinians which led to more and more deaths. In 1993, there were the Oslo Agreement between Israel and Palestine which created the Palestinian authority to govern areas of the west bank and Gaza strip, and were divided into areas A, B & C. The Jews fought against the "land for peace" by building new settlements in area C, which made up 60% of the land.
These Oslo accords were signed again in 1995, but both the Jews and the Palestinians continued to fight over land and the Jews kept settling and occupying territory. More wars and protests and deaths ensued. In July of 2000, Yasser Arafat Ehud Barak & Clinton went to camp David for peace talks, but nothing came out of it, so the second intifada happened with more protests and suicide bombings and all of that. This intifada was more violent.
Then Sulaiman took a trip to Antarctica with some Israelis to hike a mountain to show to the world that his people could stand with them.
He founded the Combatants for Peace which focused on trying to achieve peace between the two states, and stop the occupation. He was able to get Israelis who refused military service to join as well as Palestinians who didn't want to join the intifada and protest the occupation with violence. It was evident as well that the Palestinians would serve longer jail times and have harsher punishments than the Israelis. Also with the law of return, passed in 1950, any Jew has the right to relocate to Israel and gain Israel citizenship.
He associated more with the Fatah instead of the Hamas, as the former was more left wing, and the latter was for the complete removal of Israel.
What really broke his heart was the Israel West bank barrier wall. It is a separation barrier in the West bank, along the green line. This made a property that his family had always visited every Sunday because it was a beautiful piece of land with olive trees which was a sort of nature preserve. Since the land was on the side of the wall of the Israelis, his family could only visit it once a year. He had Israeli friends that used to bring him there but his family and especially his father was heart broken to have to give up this land.
I think in general he didn't understand why the two people couldn't live side by side and had to endure such conflict. On one side there was the occupation, but on the other was the Palestinians with all of the violent protests. The Palestinians didn't even have a country.
In jail he learned Hebrew and English, and he thought of ways to peacefully protest the wars between Palestinians and the Jews when he was out. When he was in jail, a lot was happening on the outside. The Jews were occupying land and the Palestinians were rebelling. In December of 1987 the first intifada happened which was an uprising of Palestinians which led to more and more deaths. In 1993, there were the Oslo Agreement between Israel and Palestine which created the Palestinian authority to govern areas of the west bank and Gaza strip, and were divided into areas A, B & C. The Jews fought against the "land for peace" by building new settlements in area C, which made up 60% of the land.
These Oslo accords were signed again in 1995, but both the Jews and the Palestinians continued to fight over land and the Jews kept settling and occupying territory. More wars and protests and deaths ensued. In July of 2000, Yasser Arafat Ehud Barak & Clinton went to camp David for peace talks, but nothing came out of it, so the second intifada happened with more protests and suicide bombings and all of that. This intifada was more violent.
Then Sulaiman took a trip to Antarctica with some Israelis to hike a mountain to show to the world that his people could stand with them.
He founded the Combatants for Peace which focused on trying to achieve peace between the two states, and stop the occupation. He was able to get Israelis who refused military service to join as well as Palestinians who didn't want to join the intifada and protest the occupation with violence. It was evident as well that the Palestinians would serve longer jail times and have harsher punishments than the Israelis. Also with the law of return, passed in 1950, any Jew has the right to relocate to Israel and gain Israel citizenship.
He associated more with the Fatah instead of the Hamas, as the former was more left wing, and the latter was for the complete removal of Israel.
What really broke his heart was the Israel West bank barrier wall. It is a separation barrier in the West bank, along the green line. This made a property that his family had always visited every Sunday because it was a beautiful piece of land with olive trees which was a sort of nature preserve. Since the land was on the side of the wall of the Israelis, his family could only visit it once a year. He had Israeli friends that used to bring him there but his family and especially his father was heart broken to have to give up this land.
I think in general he didn't understand why the two people couldn't live side by side and had to endure such conflict. On one side there was the occupation, but on the other was the Palestinians with all of the violent protests. The Palestinians didn't even have a country.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2021
The sad story of Colonialism. Two centuries ago brown people would be forced to work onto the White man's plantation, or in the mines, or on the glorious railroads that brought the White man's World Wars closer. And the White man's preachers would come to the brown people and teach them about obedience, about how these will pass, and the Heavens would be opened only to those who served the power well.
Time has passed. And the White man's society is superficially very different. Yet the story is the same: the White man's preachers come and tell stories about after life and honor. About fighting the White man's wars. This way the Palestinians would have a peaceful life. Like the one found in Libya. Oh, what a wonderful place! The population was in poverty, but General Muammar Gaddafi was so well received at the White man's princely courts. Till he wasn't. But look how happy and free the people are! Or Syria. Or Iraq. Or anywhere.
So the brown people should feel the duty and die for the White man's games, because moving to the White man's land, that is heresy, punishable with deportation.
Time has passed. And the White man's society is superficially very different. Yet the story is the same: the White man's preachers come and tell stories about after life and honor. About fighting the White man's wars. This way the Palestinians would have a peaceful life. Like the one found in Libya. Oh, what a wonderful place! The population was in poverty, but General Muammar Gaddafi was so well received at the White man's princely courts. Till he wasn't. But look how happy and free the people are! Or Syria. Or Iraq. Or anywhere.
So the brown people should feel the duty and die for the White man's games, because moving to the White man's land, that is heresy, punishable with deportation.
February 19, 2025
This book is about a palestinian man who stabbed an israeli when he was 14 years old, went to jail for 10 years and then later co founded a joint palestinian-israeli peace group.
I felt the main message of this book is about listening to perspectives of "the other" not because you agree with them or want to make their views or actions legitimate, but because you want to bridge a gap and make peace, at the very least for yourself and your own people.
For anyone who wants to understand this conflict more deeply, while also reading a true story of a person directly affected by it, I highly recommend!
"The experiences were enormous, entirely shifting his understandings of reality and history. Each side had such different stories of the past and present, stories that lived in disperate worlds. If you were born on ome side, you had no idea where the story of the other came from, what it truly meant. Only through meeting and discovering the roots of these stories, he thought, could the two sides maybe live together peacefully."
I felt the main message of this book is about listening to perspectives of "the other" not because you agree with them or want to make their views or actions legitimate, but because you want to bridge a gap and make peace, at the very least for yourself and your own people.
For anyone who wants to understand this conflict more deeply, while also reading a true story of a person directly affected by it, I highly recommend!
"The experiences were enormous, entirely shifting his understandings of reality and history. Each side had such different stories of the past and present, stories that lived in disperate worlds. If you were born on ome side, you had no idea where the story of the other came from, what it truly meant. Only through meeting and discovering the roots of these stories, he thought, could the two sides maybe live together peacefully."
June 8, 2021
Deeply moving, detailed, and beautifully written, this book tells the story of a Palestinan boy, Suliman, fighting against the Israeli occupation.He spends many years in jail and grows into a man, Souli, of deep understanding and peace.
His journey traverses valleys of hatred and despair, arriving at open fields of trust and collaboration.
This is a book about a tiny piece of land lived in and loved by two peoples, each claiming its heritage for their own. Souli's integrity and ability to understand the conflicts and complexities are truly remarkable and give the reader hope about what is seemingly a hopeless conflict. A must read for all who believe in transformation and peace.
His journey traverses valleys of hatred and despair, arriving at open fields of trust and collaboration.
This is a book about a tiny piece of land lived in and loved by two peoples, each claiming its heritage for their own. Souli's integrity and ability to understand the conflicts and complexities are truly remarkable and give the reader hope about what is seemingly a hopeless conflict. A must read for all who believe in transformation and peace.
April 30, 2024
This book was fascinating and thought-provoking. The tension Suli faced, in this work and outside of it, in himself and outside of himself, is something that I will be thinking about for a long time. I thought it was really interesting the narrative choice to have a Jewish woman write this book--but it was, as she and Suli explains, something Suli insisted on. By the end of the book, it became clear to me, that tension, taking up space, as of course, part of the larger framework of space, and sharing this space "together" as they say, was effective.
October 31, 2023
The memoir of a young Palestinian boy who stabbed an occupying Israeli soldier and went to jail for 10 years and his subsequent evolution into a non-violent dialoger for peace. Written by an American Jewish woman to whom Sule tells his story, the two try to bring perspective to a deeply troubled history at the intersection of Israeli connection to the region and Palestinian hopes for freedom.
December 16, 2023
Sulaiman’s journey is beautifully rendered in this book. It offers the reader his vision for justice in Israel-Palestine and an end to the occupation, while also providing insight into the perspectives and lived experiences of many different people with whom Sulaiman has worked, including the author.
May 18, 2021
A vision of a way forward to resolve a terribly intractable problem that obviously needs a new approach.
This is written by a Palestinian activist in collaboration with a Jew with a pragmatic understanding of the obstacles to resolution of the conflict.
This is written by a Palestinian activist in collaboration with a Jew with a pragmatic understanding of the obstacles to resolution of the conflict.
September 19, 2021
The first book I completed during this pandemic was the beautiful and traumatic "novel" Peirogon. More than fourteen months later, I read In This Place Together: A Palestinian's Journey to Collective Liberation. I loved the book. There are overlaps in the characters and the stories of these two books. But what made this book unique was the voices. The book focuses on the journey of one particular Palestinian - his story is thought provoking, informative, vulnerable, inspirational and hopeful. At first I was concerned that the book wasn't in the first person, but pretty quickly I so appreciated the way his story was presented. I so believe that we all need to become better listeners. We need to listen to the stories of others. The author writes the book as an awesome listener. She is able to reflect to us the readers his story. Through her we are able to hear him and know the different versions of him. And we all need to hear and know all of him.
November 14, 2023
What a profound book. Souli’s voice is so strong. The way he spends much of the book reconciling was really hard and important to read: reconciling with how he avoids normalizing the occupation as he continues working (with Israelis) for peace. How as he met more Israelis he started, in some ways, unwittingly to distance himself from aspects of his Palestinian identity and how painful and unwanted that is for him. How he went from stabbing an IDF soldier to seeing nonviolence as the truest way to peace. This was a perspective I hadn’t read and it adds so much nuance and gray area to this conflict.
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