OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Operation Olive Tree" by Jemil Metti.]

Operation Olive Tree by Jemil Metti features an atypical school in Israel and shows the Israel-Palestinian conflict from the early 1980s. This historical fiction novel primarily follows two characters, an Israeli teenager named Irith Goldman and a Palestinian teenager named Jamal Shaheen. The two of them attend a school known as both Neve Shalom and Wahat-Al-Salam, and this school exists to promote peaceful coexistence amidst the political turmoil between Israel and Palestine. In their quest to promote peace, Neve Shalom and its teachers support Irith and Jamal as an opera-singing duo. The goal is to show unity through music, but not all is well. Political tension and strife in the community boils around the two of them, ultimately showing that the teenagers are simply pawns in a much larger game. In this action-packed, thrilling historical fiction novel, the question shifts from whether Irith and Jamal can bring unity to their peoples through music to whether they themselves can successfully make it to adulthood.

My favorite part of this novel was definitely the relationships in this story. Jamal and Irith’s relationship was realistic for both their situations and the time period they existed in. Between Irith’s defense of Jamal and Palestinians in general and Jamal’s protective actions of Irith, one could tell that they sincerely cared about each other. I love the way some characters use their relationships to sway other characters into doing what they want, and how each relationship was different from all of the others. Each character was unique and had varied interests, goals, and personality traits. The diversity of thought in the cast was incredible yet realistic.

I think that this book is exceptional, and it seems to have been well edited. There was not anything that I personally disliked about the story itself. The plot is very intricate and complicated, and at times it can be confusing if one did not pay close attention. I enjoyed this aspect of the book, but some readers do not, so choose this book when looking for a very involved read.

I am very pleased to give Operation Olive Tree the rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I enjoyed everything about the story, the wording and phrasing, and the characters.

This book is an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, espionage stories, political stories, or anyone who wants to learn more about some of the issues in the Middle East in a more fun and relaxing way than reading news articles or textbooks. Additionally, there are multiple perspectives in the book, so it seems more balanced than many books on the subject. However, this book is not for people who are sensitive towards themes of racism, child abuse, police brutality, terrorism, homosexuality, or homophobia. There is also violence and death in this novel even though none of it is particularly graphic. There is some realistically-used profanity, but there is nothing erotic in this novel.

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Operation Olive Tree
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This story seems right up my alley. I love when fiction can teach the reader about modern-day issues. Thanks for the great review.

An action-packed book about friendship, music, hostility between two nations sounds interesting. Thanks for the review.

This book sounds like a new take on a centuries-old conflict. I would love to see more unity like the teenagers have between Israel and Palestine in real life. Very positive review!

I like it! finding peace through music to produce unity building up friendship

This sounds like a beautiful read! I love historical fiction and I feel like you can learn so much through books of this kind! Thank you for the review, I am adding this one to my list!

The frienship of two looking forward for peace through their music.despite of being conflict individual as palistenian and israelites, still they both have the same interest and it is a PEACE.

There are multiple perspective in this book,the frienship of two looking forward for being peace through their music,this book is interesting and good.

I'd really love to read this book, the plot alone seems interesting enough, and I like character-driven stories. Thanks for the great review!

I will skip this book because, as I read in the review there is child abuse, violence...etc. But its nice to see that both teenagers want to show unity through music.

Operation Olive Tree is a good read. The students involved may be fictional, but the school is real. So too the hopes and dreams, as well as the challenges and responses of the characters. For those interested in looking at the conflict from a different perspective, or simply a book dealing teens and their dreams and challenges, I recommend the book.

I've always believed that music brings people together (aside from food )

I love the theme of this novel. A great story of friendship in the middle of conflict between countries. I can feel that you genuinely enjoyed reading the book. I would love to read it, thus, I'm putting this onto the bookshelf! Thank you so much for an exciting review. I can't wait to see it for myself!

It's not my type of read but it sounds interesting and there would be a lot to learn from this book. Great review!

I'm not a fan of historical fiction so I am going to pass on this one.

Great review, Rayasaurus.
Operation Olive Tree by Jemil Metti stands a different novel narrating story about two buddies from two different origins. Looks inspiring to read the journey of the passionate students, Irith Goldman, an Israeli, and Jamal Shaheen, a Palestinian. The friendship has no barriers and boundaries. Looks vice prose. A must read, indeed.