He spent much of the past several years shuttling from his home in New York City to Israel-Palestine, trying to follow Rami and Bassam’s suggestion that he harness his emotional reaction in a book. McCann is a gifted writer with a big reputation. They told of the friendship they formed and their belief that the group they co-lead, the Parents Circle – Families Forum, is helping dig a grave to bury “the Occupation.” Each told of his grief: Rami was hit when his 13-year-old, Smadar, was killed by suicide bombers in 1997 Bassam was hit when his 10-year-old, Abir, was shot in the head at close range by an Israeli soldier in 2007. They told of the killings of their daughters by armed elements of each other’s side. The Irish novelist says that he was “cracked wide open” when he met West Bank Palestinian Bassam Aramin and his Israeli Jewish colleague Rami Elhanan one evening in Bethlehem. The heroes are two living men, actually – one a Palestinian and the other an Israeli Jew – who together are struggling to change their far-from-normal world. How do you know when Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians is being normalized? That’s not exactly the question posed by Colum McCann’s new non-fiction novel, “ Apeirogon,” but it comes down to that for readers who believe that forcing a Zionist state into Palestine is the root of all the hatred, violence, and suffering the book’s heroes decry.
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