I consider trees as symbolic of longevity, strength, endurance, selflessness and love. Imagine the number of stories that those mystical and majestic trees could tell us if they would. The stories of love, hope, perseverance and happiness along with those of loss, despair, indifference and sadness.
Recently I read a book called The Lemon Tree. I had not read or heard about the book before I picked it up from the library. It is the love for trees and the fact that I have a lemon tree in my backyard that made me take note of the book. (Strange ways in which a book can get your attention, I must say!)
This real life story is about an arab, a jew and the land that they share. The house that they both lived in during different times and the lemon tree that was planted by one family but gives fruits to the other, play a very important role in connecting the two main characters of the book. Dalia and Bashir and connected and divided by the land that they call theirs.
After reading the book when I looked up about the author and the book, I was the least surprised by the reviews and the accolades that The Lemon Tree and the author Sandy Tolan has received. I am sharing a link here for those who are interested in finding out more about the journey of the author which led to the book.
http://sandytolan.com/the-lemon-tree/#new-page-1
The author takes us through the two sides of the camp showing the devastation and agony of both sides without compelling us to judge any. The wrongs of history cannot be rectified without committing more wrongs today.  At the same time by accepting the wrongs of history and not doing anything to those who have been wronged is just prolonging their suffering. That is the irony of all situations where human lives are involved.
When the Arab owner (Bashir) revisits the house he was forced to leave, the new jew owner (Dalia) welcomes him with hospitality. Later when Dalia visits Bashir and his family in his new abode, she carries with her, some lemon from the lemon tree that Bashir’s father had planted. Numerous such acts of kindness and friendship take place in the backdrop of the war between the two sides.
I feel compelled to leave another link to the letter that Dalia wrote to Bashir before he was deported to Lebanon. And like she says in the letter, ” Perhaps some day, if we are both willing to make sacrifices, some kind of mutual forgiveness may yet emerge.”  

Dalia’s Letter to Bashir

I recommend this book if you like to read a well researched book on history that tells you the “human story beyond the heartbreaking images that are transmitted from the region.”
 
 

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