" ... and there was light!" - Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel

Good news is rarely worth reporting - not even when it comes from Israel. But there is, and it can be read in the new book "'... and there was light!' Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel" by Israeli journalist and author Igal Avidan. He reports from an eventful society in which Jews and Arabs have long since found a way of living together that does not correspond to the notions of eternal hatred (often fomented by politicians on both sides). A peaceful and at the same time fragile co-existence on the volcano - this is what you learn about in these reports on everyday life in Israel.

The conclusion of this encouraging book is that Israeli society is in the process of growing together, despite all the setbacks.

But what is left of this after the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023 and the war in Gaza? Is a way back even conceivable for his former Arab and Jewish interlocutors?

Igal Avidan, born in Tel Aviv in 1962, studied English literature and computer science in Israel and then political science in Berlin. Since 1990, the Middle East expert has been working as a freelance reporter from Berlin for Israeli and German newspapers and radio stations. In 2017, he published his book "Mod Helmy. Wie ein arabischer Arzt in Berlin Juden vor der Gestapo rettete (dtv) and in 2023 "'.... And there was light' Jewish-Arab coexistence in Israel" (Berenberg).