We Wish You Great Harm

"I listened to Barack Obama’s first inaugural address on a bus, in the desert, in Israel, while jets flew overhead to bomb the Gaza Strip. I was with 35 other American Jews and a half-dozen Israeli soldiers. Next to me sat Amit, who had, not a week earlier, killed Palestinians as part of the ground siege in Gaza. 'It’s not like I looked them in the face,' he told me. 'We were all shooting.' To avoid nightmares, he hadn’t been sleeping. 'When I close my eyes,' he said, 'I see things.' Yet he carried himself lightly, had perceptive eyes, a kind face...."

I wrote about belonging, and citizenship, and inaugurations for BLARB at the LA Review of Books. Find it here.