Matt Rees

My immediate response to this book was based on my own liberal western views - I was really uncomfortable with Omar Yussef's criticism of Palestinians. I soon discovered that Matt Rees has created a character who finds it harder to come to terms with the dishonest politics and the climate of hate and hopelessness of fellow Palestinians than he does with the arrogance of Israeli power which crushes ordinary people in an attempt to destroy the fanatic. Don't we all find more to criticise in those closest to us? The book doesn't pull its punches - horrible things happen. I had a sense of place and of lives being lived in incredibly difficult circumstances. It's a very good book set in a place we see all the time on the news.