Can you give me some information about your background?

I’m a Jewish American. After graduating from yeshiva, I went to Israel in high school with our rabbi’s daughter and lived there for 7 years. Although I came from a Zionist family, I really knew next to nothing about Israel or the conflict. To be honest with you, at 16, I thought Palestinian was a synonym for Israeli and referred to the Jews who lived in Israel before 1948.
I was so upset to witness the situation and I wanted to do something to help advance peace. I did my BA at Hebrew University and MA at Harvard both in Middle Eastern Studies and then law school. Back then, I didn’t know of any way to help.
Fast-forward 15 years. I read The Kite Runner and realized a writer can reach into readers’ hearts and so I wrote The Almond Tree. You should understand that I have very strong Jewish values. The quote from Rabbi Hillel has always remained in my head: “That which is hateful to you, do not unto another. That is the whole Torah. The rest is only commentary.”