An Israeli and Palestinian who bonded during war share vision for peace in a new book

0:00Michele Kelemen:You know, every day on Up First, NPR's Golden Globe-nominated morning news podcast, we bring you three essential stories. At the heart of each story are questions. What really happened? What really mattered? What happens next? At NPR, we stand for your right to be curious and to follow the facts. Follow Up First wherever you get your podcasts and start your day knowing what matters and why.

0:26Maoz Inon:Today on State of the World, two men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, find brotherhood after suffering devastating personal losses and share their vision for peace in a new book.

0:41Maoz Inon:You're listening to State of the World from NPR, the day's most vital international stories, up close where they're happening. It's Friday, April 17th. I'm Christine Aerosmith. The war in Gaza has hardened positions across the Middle East and around the globe. But for two authors, a Palestinian and an Israeli, the trauma from the war has brought them closer together. It's made them even more convinced that the future is peace. That's the title of their new book. NPR's Michelle Kellerman met with the authors and has the story.

1:14Michele Kelemen:Palestinian Aziz Abusara and Israeli Mao Zinon lived parallel lives before the war. They both ran travel businesses and both suffered traumas in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Now, Inan says, they're inviting readers to walk in their shoes.

1:31Aziz Abu Sarah:Because both Aziz and I are experienced tour guides and pretty good storytellers, I would be not modest by saying so, we are inviting the readers to join us on an eight-day shared journey across the Holy Land.

1:47Michele Kelemen:The book begins in an Israeli kubutz near Gaza, where Inon's parents were killed in the Hamas-led October 7th attack in 2023. Inon says Abusara reached out to him at a time when he felt he was sinking into an abyss.

2:03Aziz Abu Sarah:He stood with me in the hardest time that anyone can imagine can come. And I lost my parents on October 7th, but I want a brother.

2:13Michele Kelemen:In Jerusalem, they visit Aziz Abusara's house, where there's still a picture hanging of his older brother, who died after being beaten in Israeli custody more than 35 years ago. Abusara reads one passage from the book about his birthplace. Jerusalem is my home, and it's my first love. My connection to it is rooted in my soul. But no place has ever broken my heart like Jerusalem. In their book, they take turns telling their stories. And while many Palestinians describe the war in Gaza as a genocide, which Israel denies, Abu Sara says they do not engage in debates over language. We can sit and argue about language while people dying, or we can go and do some work to stop it.

3:00Michele Kelemen:Whether if you don't think it's a genocide, that's fine. If I think it's a genocide, that's fine. Are we going to be able to stop whatever we might not agree to what we call it instead of just debating the name? So the language changes in the book depending on who's writing. Mao Zinan says they also try to stay on equal levels with their language, especially when they talk about their own personal trauma. So if Aziz says, I lost my brother, I lost my parents.

3:28Aziz Abu Sarah:Aziz says, my brother was killed, my parents were killed. My brother was murdered, my parents were murdered. We are modeling equality.

3:37Michele Kelemen:Palestinian Abusara says they don't shy away from difficult topics, but also want to give readers some inspiration to work for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. It's personal, it's vulnerable, but it also doesn't end with, here's how bad it is, but rather, here's our connection and here's how we want to move forward. They know they face hardened positions on all sides in the Middle East, but Mao Zedong says public opinion can change.

4:08Aziz Abu Sarah:We believe that a journey has the potential to transform oneself and the public. And this book is a journey. It's a shared journey that is transforming despair into hope, fear into recognition, revenge into reconciliation.

4:29Michele Kelemen:Mao Zedong and Aziz Abusara are bringing that message on their U.S. book tour, even as the Middle East is in new turmoil with the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Washington.

4:51Maoz Inon:That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.