Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Archived Content

This archived Web page remains online for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. This page will not be altered or updated. Web pages that are archived on the Internet are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats of this page on the Contact Us page.

English Titles

		THREE WISHES: PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI CHILDREN SPEAK DEBORAH ELLIS TORONTO: GROUNDWOOD BOOKS, 2004. 110 P. ISBN 0888995547 (BOUND) ISBN 0888996454 (PAPERBACK) AGES 11 AND UP
Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak Source

Deborah Ellis, writer of the international best-selling trilogy The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey and Mud City met with 20 young Israelis and Palestinians, aged 8 to 18 years. Their experiences are recounted from their own perspective through personal testimonies.

Each youth is named and his or her photograph appears in the book -- thus, faces are given to the people who experienced the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Several Israeli youngsters talk about the threat of Palestinian attacks in their daily lives; they explain how they perceive their neighbours across the high security wall. Most have never played with a Palestinian youth. On the other hand, most do know someone who was killed by a Palestinian suicide attack.

Several young Palestinians share their grief about the daily hardships of occupation: crammed refugee camps, lack of jobs for their parents, curfews and forbidden zones. Twelve-year-old Wafa tells how her mother stopped talking when their house was destroyed for the third time by Israeli soldiers. Orphans, children who suffer deep trauma and angry young people share a life with no hope of education, a proper job or human dignity.

This is a riveting book that gives true accounts of what war leaves behind for the children. A must read!

-JP