Where did you get the inspiration for The Almond Tree?

When I was at Harvard, I met an Arab from Israel who was doing his post doctorate jointly with his Israeli professor and a Nobel Prize winner and I saw how strong we could be if we focused on our commonalities to advance humanity instead of on our differences.
The Almond Tree is a fictional story about one man’s life and I chose to focus on the glimmer of hope that I saw rather than the years of darkness because I think we will all benefit if we can try and remember the beautiful values Judaism teaches. The Almond Tree isn’t about being Palestinian or Israeli. It’s about being human. You may think I’m naïve, but I refuse to say there’s hatred that can’t be overcome so I won’t even try. History has shown us that it can. Look at South Africa.
My book doesn’t advocate hatred. It advocates peace and love and that there’s a better way. I don’t give the political solution of whether there should be one or two states or the status quo. All I try to do is create empathy and appeal to Jewish values.