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8 Feb, 2014

A voice D.C’s Jewish leaders don’t want you to hear – The Washington Post

By Sharon Jacobs

On Tuesday, I got an e-mail from the Washington DC Jewish Community Center: The JCC was refunding me for a ticket I had purchased to an event in its “Authors Out Loud” series. I had paid to hear David Harris-Gershon, whose memoir, “What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?,” traces his emotional journey following his wife’s serious injury in a Jerusalem bombing. Ultimately, Harris-Gershon sought reconciliation with Mohammad Odeh , the imprisoned Palestinian man responsible for the remote-controlled bomb, and his memoir describes his experience meeting the Odeh family.

I was moved by the story — mostly because, as one review noted, Harris-Gershon’s “background is so recognizable and familiar, while the journey he chooses to take is so radical.” I bought a ticket to the talk because I wanted to learn more about this journey. I wanted to ask whether Harris-Gershon’s mind-set about Palestinian society had changed gradually or all at once. I wanted to hear about what sort of resistance he encountered from his Jewish community as his perspective changed and he began to seek reconciliation with the perpetrator of such a bloody attack.

Read the rest: A voice the JCC doesn’t think we should hear – The Washington Post.