Category: Books

Revealing and poignant, Crossing the Line is the true story of a pair of star-crossed lovers—Mya, an American-Israeli immigrant woman, and Mohamed, the son of a Palestine Liberation Organization member who was deported by the Israelis from the West Bank in the 1970s. With a reporter’s eye for detail and a storyteller’s knack for nuance, Crossing the Line is a human story that portrays a psychologically complex couple bucking convention and breaking the greatest taboo on both sides–loving one’s “enemy.” This compelling memoir is also a tortured love letter to the land and the two peoples that, paradoxically, both nurtured Mya and Mohamed’s relationship while simultaneously casting them out.

Drawing on a decade of pioneering reporting, Mya Guarnieri Jaradat brings us an unprecedented and compelling look at the lives of asylum seekers and migrant workers in Israel, who hail mainly from Africa and Asia. From illegal kindergartens to anti-immigrant rallies, from detention centers to workers’ living quarters, from family homes to the high court, The Unchosen sheds light on one of the most little-known but increasingly significant aspects of Israeli society.

In highlighting Israel’s increasingly harsh treatment of these newcomers, The Unchosen presents a fresh angle on the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling into question the state’s perennial justification of national security for mistreatment of Palestinians. More fundamentally, this beautifully written book captures the voices and the struggles of some of the most marginalized and silenced people in Israel today.