“We are afraid of imaginary losses and difficulties that we may never encounter.”
― Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self
― Living Presence: A Sufi Way to Mindfulness & the Essential Self
“In my rendition, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah was not a noble rescue mission by the fledgling Jewish state but the self-serving instrument for the transfer of the Jews from their homeland.”
― Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew - WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE
― Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew - WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE
“Trees don’t ask why they don’t move from place to place, nor do they ask any other meaningless questions. But their branches tremble when the birds leave them,”
― The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq
― The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq
“There’s a saying in Syria: the tea has to steep. It takes time. You need to have the patience to let the tea leaves become saturated– that’s the only way to achieve perfection.”
― Le pianiste de Yarmouk
― Le pianiste de Yarmouk
“The ethnic cleansing of Palestine created empty spaces, and these spaces had to be filled by Jews from anywhere they could be found, including Jews from the Middle East, even those who had no desire whatsoever to relocate to Israel. The same colonial institutions that displaced the Palestinians were tasked with absorbing the Jewish migrants from the Arab lands. And the same arrogant, Eurocentric, Orientalist mindset greeted the Jewish newcomers from the East.”
― Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew - WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE
― Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew - WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE
Ilona’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ilona’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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