Bashir And Dalia In The Lemon Tree

In the beginning of the book we are introduced to Bashir Khairi and his cousins who

travel to Al-Ramla, a city in central Israel. Bashir and his cousins have not been in Ramla

since the The Arabians were ravaged and lived in poverty. Many of them lived as refugees

or savages. Later, we meet Dalia Eshkenazi, a Jewish woman who escapes the horrors of

the holocaust. Dalia’s family and Bashir’s families have been through much pain, and both

characters understand being hated and loved by people. Eventually, Bashir travels to Dalia’s

home , which was his former place. Dalia visits Bashir and I can see the bond these two

people have even though they are coming from two different backgrounds.

Dalia who becomes inspired, she questions Bashir

from her beliefs of the Palestinians
and her Jewish role in Israel. Dalia visits the city ‘Ramallah’ to see Bashir’s family,
and is treated kindly and respectfully. Later on, Dalia and Bashir create an argument and
Dalia becomes angry saying ‘ she wanted to scream’. As I read, I noticed even though
Bashir and Dalia have a relationship, they do not always agree with each other. After all,
Dalia is comforted, saying ‘she felt the depth of the Khairis’ gratitude for her having simply
opened the door to the house in Ramla’ (161).
Circumstances intervene, and Dalia and Bashir do not see each other again for some
time. Bashir is arrested for his alleged role in violent attacks made by Palestinian forces,
and Dalia feels betrayed by this, believing that conversation and understanding are the way
to make change, not violence. However, she still feels compelled to write to Bashir to
remind him of their previous friendship and express her views. Bashir writes in response,
and respect is maintained between the two, even though they still do not always agree.
Dalia maintains contact mostly with Bashir's family through the years, since Bashir is in and
out of prison, though they do have the chance to come face-to-face again and marvel at
how much they have meant to each other over time. Unfortunately, Dalia and Bashir don’t
see each other, until later in the story. During, Palestinian attacks, Bashir was arrested for
his supposed part in the attacks. Dalia who felt betrayed wrote a letter to Bashir because of
their relationship. Bashir writes writes Dalia back and a better friendship is continued. After
years, Dalia talks with Bashir’s family and even though Dalia talks with Bashir’s family and
even though Dalia doesn’t see Bashir, their relationship is still honored.
Towards the end of the book, Dalia’s parents die and she left home, where she lived.
The Khairi family wish to return to Ramla but the city is still an unpleasant place for Arabs,
so the family cannot return. Instead, Dalia turns the home into a school for Israeli and
Palestinian children, in order to for “peace” and “unity”. The story ends with the first Lemon
Tree dying, but the students at the school plant another one. Even though the story doesn’t
describe how the Israeli conflict will end, it finishes with a peaceful, ambiguous conclusion.
A theme that is mentioned throughout the novel, peace and existing with others.
When the Nazi leaders urged other leaders to deport Jews and send them to concentration
camps, some Bulgarian citizens constantly fought this idea. The Jews in Bulgaria found
peace and refuge in churches, and christian leaders-pastors intervened the government
leaders and officials who supported the idea. Usually, nations and countries under Nazi rule
often had the citizens that would fight against each other. Violence and instability were
common.
The Lemon Tree contained themes and symbolism that relates to the book, one of
them was the ‘Lemon Tree’. Other than the ‘Lemon Tree’ being stated as the title, it is
known for and symbolizes peace and unity between all Arabs and Israeli’s. The tree that
was re-planted stands for hope for the the future of peace.
Criticisms
This novel which talks about an Israeli and an Arab should be praised and should be
kept as an important story for peace, and unity.

Sandy wrote the novel in a way that the

anyone who takes the time will enjoy the story. Even though the book does not solve a

problem-which it wasn’t supposed to, this book is a novel that deserves it’s credit.

In the Lemon Tree, Tolan focused on Bashir and Dalia’s life, and a slight perspective

on both sides of each story. The Lemon Tree was well written, but I believe that Tolan

overlooked information about Israel and Palestine. Tolan overlooked that the Palestinians in

Israel never dealt with murder or genocide because of their race. Israel allowed Arabs that

were outside of the border to be citizens of Israel.The leaders were just trying to make

Israel a Jewish nation, which is one of the most Jewish populated countries. Secondly, the

Arabs from Palestine started the war in 1948, but the Jews were targets because of their

race.

Furthermore, During the Arab massacres of the Jews, many of the Jews escaped-

making the city become more Palestinian populated. Also, Sandy says that Al-Ramla was a

Muslim dominated town, but Ramla had Jews long before Ramla. Even more, Tolan doesn’t

write about how Jews were in the middle east for thousands of years. Tolan rarely

discusses
that Jews built cities and towns in the Middle East.
Another part of information that Sandy overlooked was the fact that, In 1947, the
arabs were given the chance to own their own territory. The Jewish people had to deal with
the arabs because the Palestinians declined to create a state on their own. The Jews had to
immigrate to Israel or they would have been executed in the concentration camps . Also,
the Palestinians had allies, and assistance from other Arabs throughout the world, while the
Jews didn’t have any defense for themselves. Tolan mentions that the Palestinians’ nations
in the war of 1948, but an Arab Palestinian country has never been created. There was an
attempt to create a Palestinian state in the 1940s and in the 21st century, by the United
Nations.
The Jewish and Palestinians have a different knowledge and understanding of Israel
because of religion, and how each parent raised them. Anyone can tell the differences and
views of Bashir and Dalia. On page 160 of the Lemon Tree, Bashir responds to a question
that Dalia asks for ‘Western occupying powers in Israel’, Bashir says ‘ First, to get rid of
you in Europe. Second, to rule the East through this government and to keep down the
whole Arab world. And then the leaders started remembering the Torah and started to talk
about the land of the milk and the honey, and the Promised Land.’ Dalia comments and
says ‘ But there is good reasons for this. And the reason is to protect us from being
persecuted in other countries.’ Both characters share their opposing views and we cannot
fully understand them without living their lives and understanding the Middle East. We
cannot understand the views and comments of both characters, until you view ancient
history and information like the Bible. We all know the story about the Philistines
(Palestinian) and Israelites and the Bible is a historical reference that should be looked at
when understanding the views of Palestinians and Israelis.