Two Boys of Jerusalem
Brent Ashbranner, Paul Photographer Conklin
Hardcover
(Julia MacRae, March 15, 1987)
"Gavriel lives with his family in the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Jemal a Palestinian boy, lives with his family in the Old City's Arab quarter. Their homes are less than a mile apart, but the guilt of fear, suspicion, and hate that separates the boys is wide In many ways, however, Gavriel and Jemal's lives are remarkably the same. Both boys have comfortable homes with loving families. Both go to good schools. Both are free to practice their religions, which are so important to the. Both play with their friends in the streets and on the massive walls that encircle the Old City. But there is a tragic difference. One boy has a homeland; the other does not. ... goes beyond the daily newspaper headlines about Middle East tensions and explores in human terms the lives of a Jewish boy and a Palestinian boy growing up in a city that is holy to Arabs, Jews and Christians alike. They are ordinary boys, but they are very important. If the conflict between Arabs and Jews - a conflict that threatens the peace of the world - is ever to be solved it is young Israeli Jews like Gavriel and young Palestinians like Jemal who someday must solve it.