Democracy for Some, Apartheid for Others
April 26, 2023
25 Comments
The Israeli army closed the city of Jericho on one of the busiest tourist days of the year. We spent hours waiting outside the checkpoint.
Umm Forat
Raising My Kids in Israel/Palestine
Is your mother one of those soldiers?
August 17, 2022
29 Comments
When my daughter said that I speak Hebrew, a girl in summer camp pantomimed firing a gun and asked, “Is your mother one of them?”
In Loving Memory of Tally Kritzman-Amir (May 7, 1979 – May 14, 2022)
May 23, 2022
46 Comments
Under different circumstances, I would have asked my wise friend Tally for advice on how to be a good friend to someone who is dying.
Looking for a School that Can Handle My Kids’ Identities
April 7, 2022
24 Comments
My children’s cousins in the Jabalia refugee camp are fasting for Ramadan. On the other side of our family, their cousins are doing Passover cleaning.
Forat Discovers the Truth about the Tooth Fairy
March 23, 2022
8 Comments
I enjoyed cultivating the Tooth Fairy as a heroine. Forat deals with so many grown-up issues – I wanted her to retain some childhood magic.
Winning a Literary Prize, Reclaiming the Hebrew Language
February 7, 2022
32 Comments
The Israeli Minister of Culture gave me a Hebrew literature prize. I’m grateful. And trying to reclaim Hebrew from those who use it to oppress.
After two years of evasion, COVID caught up with our family
January 27, 2022
14 Comments
We turned our lives upside down trying to evade the coronavirus. It finally arrived in a weakened form, leaving us in maddening, beautiful isolation together.
When is it OK to teach children about inequality and oppression?
December 28, 2021
7 Comments
Children are aware of stratification by gender and ethnicity. They notice who works in preschools, who their parents’ bosses are, and who cleans public toilets.
In the US, Neighbors Want Our Kids to Be Seen and Not Heard
December 13, 2021
11 Comments
“Do you think one of the neighbors would try to hurt the children?” Osama asked, trying to decipher the societal codes that surprised us both.