May 13, 2013
When David Harris-Gershon and his wife, Jamie, moved to Jerusalem, they were young and full of hope. Then a bomb ripped open Hebrew University’s cafeteria, hurling Jamie across the room, puncturing her body with shrapnel, killing the friends sitting next to her. The bombing sent David on a psychological journey which, years later, led him to East Jerusalem and the family of the Hamas terrorist who set everything in motion — the terrorist he was seeking. Not out of revenge. Out of desperation. This is the story of one man’s attempt to heal by understanding his enemy — an enemy who inexplicably expressed remorse upon being captured by Israeli police. It’s the story of reconciliation between an American Jew and the Palestinian family of the perpetrator. And it’s the story of digging, of unearthing shadowy decisions made by Israel which undermined a historic cease-fire attempt by Palestinians just days before the attack. Part Autobiography/Memoir, part journalistic investigation, this fearless debut confronts the personal costs of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and our capacity for recovery and reconciliation.
Read David Harris-Gershon’s Posts for the Visiting Scribe
How My Memoir Convinced the New York Post to Advocate for Israel’s Destruction
Claiming Myself as a Victim of Terror