PDF Summary:The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has deep historical roots and remains one of the most contentious issues in modern geopolitics. At its center is the question of Palestinian refugees' right to return to homes they left in 1948—a right Palestinians view as fundamental, but one Israelis believe would threaten their state's existence.

In The Lemon Tree, journalist Sandy Tolan explores this conflict through the story of two people: Dalia, an Israeli woman whose family moved into an Arab house in 1948, and Bashir, the Palestinian man whose family was forced to flee that same house. Through their unlikely friendship and their disagreements about the path forward, Tolan examines the moral complexities of occupation, the possibility of coexistence, and the structural barriers that keep Israelis and Palestinians from finding common ground.

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The West Bank is a landlocked territory in the Middle East, bordered by Israel to the west, north, and south, and by Jordan to the east. It covers an area of about 2,183 square miles and is home to approximately 3 million Palestinians and 400,000 Israeli settlers. The West Bank is a significant part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both Israelis and Palestinians claiming historical and religious ties to the land. The territory is divided into three administrative areas (A, B, and C) under the Oslo Accords, with varying degrees of Palestinian and Israeli control. The status of the West Bank remains a central issue in peace negotiations, with Palestinians seeking it as part of a future independent state and Israelis citing security concerns and historical connections to the land.

The Lemon Tree as Narrative and Symbol

In Tolan’s narrative, the citrus tree symbolizes the interconnected pasts of the Eshkenazis and Khairis. The backyard tree at the house in Ramla was planted by the Khairis and cared for by the Eshkenazis. Though it died in 1998, Dalia wished for the Khairis to eventually return to the Ramla home and grow a new lemon tree to symbolize renewal. In 2005, Dalia and a collective of Arab and Jewish teenagers planted another lemon tree in the backyard.

(Shortform note: The lemon tree’s symbolism is rooted in the region’s history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the area around Ramla and Jaffa became a major citrus-export hub under Ottoman and British rule. Orange and lemon trees became symbols of prosperity and connection to the land for both Arab and Jewish communities. The citrus industry’s growth also fueled tensions over land ownership, labor, and national identity, making the lemon tree a potent symbol of both shared heritage and contested claims.)

We'll next examine the personal and political implications of these histories.

Personal Encounters and Moral Dimensions

According to Tolan, Bashir and Dalia’s encounters highlight the moral complexities of their shared history. Dalia’s family lives in the house that Bashir’s family was forced to leave. Despite this, the two meet and become friends, and Dalia visits Bashir’s family in Ramallah, where they now live. Bashir's relatives welcome Dalia with hospitality, but she feels the weight of the history between them. She asks Bashir how it feels to have someone else living in his family’s house. Bashir explains how much it hurt to lose his house and his longing to return. Dalia reflects on her own connection to the home and the need to acknowledge both families’ histories.

(Shortform note: Bashir and Dalia’s encounters highlight the moral complexities of their shared history by forcing them to confront the human impact of the conflict. When Dalia visits Bashir’s family in Ramallah, she experiences firsthand the hospitality and warmth of the people who were displaced from her home. This direct contact with the “other side” challenges her assumptions and forces her to empathize with their loss. Bashir, in turn, must grapple with the reality that Dalia’s family also has a deep connection to the house he longs to reclaim. Research by Pettigrew and Tropp shows that intergroup contact can reduce prejudice by increasing empathy and perspective-taking, but it can also create psychological discomfort as individuals are forced to re-evaluate their moral judgments.)

Later, Dalia offers to put the home up for sale and provide the money to Bashir’s family, but Bashir refuses. Instead, he suggests transforming the house into a preschool for Arab children in Ramla, so they can have the childhood he lost. Dalia agrees to this idea.

(Shortform note: Bashir’s decision to reject compensation and instead propose a preschool in his former home echoes a concept in transitional justice known as “symbolic reparation.” In Between Vengeance and Forgiveness, legal scholar Martha Minow argues that reparations are not only, and not always primarily, a matter of money or property.)

We’ll now look at how Dalia and Bashir’s individual perspectives on the Israel-Palestine conflict inform their ethical frameworks. We’ll also examine their efforts to promote coexistence and their remaining disagreements.

Individual Perspectives and Ethical Frameworks

Dalia and Bashir have different perspectives regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tolan explains that Dalia believes the land should be divided into separate Jewish and Palestinian states. Bashir, however, believes that there should be a single democratic state for people of any religion or ethnicity.

Dalia cannot support Bashir's vision or his belief in Palestinians' right to return to their previous homes, as she thinks one state would lead to Israel's demise. She offered to return her house to Bashir, or at least to find some way to share its legacy, but she explains that this was a personal choice, not an endorsement of a broader right of return for the Palestinians. Bashir believes that the fight for freedom and sovereignty can't be compared to aggression, expansionism, and oppression. He sees Zionism as an evil manifestation that needs to be opposed entirely.

Ethnic and Civic Nationalism

Dalia and Bashir’s political visions reflect a broader intellectual debate about the nature of nationhood and statehood. In Blood and Belonging, Michael Ignatieff explores the tension between ethnic nationalism, which defines nationhood by shared ancestry and culture, and civic nationalism, which bases citizenship on shared political values and territorial belonging. Dalia’s support for a two-state solution aligns with a civic nationalist perspective, emphasizing the importance of shared political institutions and territorial boundaries. Bashir’s vision of a single democratic state reflects a civic nationalist ideal that transcends ethnic divisions, but his emphasis on the right of return also incorporates elements of ethnic nationalism by prioritizing ancestral ties to the land.

Tolan adds that Dalia struggles with the ethical implications of her family residing in a home in Ramla. Her family moved into the home in 1948, believing it to be abandoned by its previous owners. She later learned that the house belonged to a Palestinian family who had been forced to flee during the war. This knowledge made her doubt the morality of her family's presence in the home and feel empathy for those who had lost it.

Confronting the Past

Dalia’s ethical struggle over her family’s house in Ramla can inspire us to reflect on our own relationship to the land we live on. In Learning from the Germans, Susan Neiman argues that we all have a responsibility to confront the injustices of the past, even if we didn’t personally commit them. She suggests that we can start by learning about the history of the land we live on and the people who lived there before us. We can then find one specific way to support those communities today, whether through volunteering, donating, or advocating for their rights.

Coexistence Efforts and Remaining Disagreements

According to Tolan, Dalia and Bashir had different views on the path forward for the Israeli and Palestinian people. Dalia believed in a two-state approach, with Israel and Palestine coexisting as neighbors. Bashir envisioned one state that was democratic and secular, ensuring equal rights for everyone regardless of religion or nationality. Dalia thought that a unified state would spell the end for Israel, so she couldn't back Bashir’s concept or his conviction that Palestinians have a right to go back to their previous homes. Conversely, Bashir believed that without the ability for Palestinians to return, the conflict would never end.

Power-Sharing in Divided Societies

In Patterns of Democracy, political scientist Arend Lijphart argues that stable democracy in deeply divided societies is best achieved through consociational arrangements that deliberately share power among all the significant segments of the population. This power-sharing normally requires a grand coalition of segmental leaders at the executive level, mutual vetoes to protect each group’s vital interests, proportional representation in elected bodies and public offices, and a considerable degree of segmental autonomy so that each group can govern its own affairs in those matters that concern it most directly. Lijphart’s research suggests that for either Dalia’s two-state approach or Bashir’s one-state vision to work, both would require a rigorously designed power-sharing constitution that locks both national communities into joint control over the state’s core decisions.

Tolan also notes that Dalia and Michail Fanous worked together to promote Arab-Jewish coexistence. Michail was a Christian Arab whose family had resided in Ramla for centuries. His father, a Christian clergyman, was captured as a POW by the Israeli army after they took over al-Ramla in 1948. Michail spent a significant part of his life coming to terms with his identity as an Israeli Christian Palestinian. In 1989, he won a seat on the Ramla City Council, becoming just the second Arab to do so after 1948.

(Shortform note: In Israel’s Palestinians, Ilan Peleg and Dov Waxman explain that the Palestinian citizens of Israel are an indigenous Arab minority that has lived in the region for centuries. After the 1948 war, they were placed under a prolonged system of military rule, subjected to large-scale expropriation of their land and resources, and systematically excluded from meaningful participation in state and municipal power. This was especially true in the “mixed cities,” where Jewish political control over local government was carefully preserved. At the same time, these citizens have developed complex, multilayered identities that combine a strong sense of Palestinian national belonging with Israeli citizenship and everyday integration into Israeli state structures.)

He centered his campaign around antiracism and supporting the rights of Israel's Arab minority. Dalia and Michail met at the cultural center in Ramla and quickly became friends. Dalia shared her own story and that of the house Ahmad Khairi constructed in 1936 with Michail. Michail wanted to serve the Arab population of Ramla, and Dalia suggested that he, as a Christian Arab, partner in a project that would preserve the legacy of Arabs and Jews. The plans featured a kindergarten for Arab kids in Ramla and a facility to promote Arab-Jewish unity. In October 1991, the initial group of four Arab children began kindergarten in the house. The mission soon expanded to include a space for Jewish and Arab people to meet. They named it Open Home.

The Ripple Effect of Intergroup Friendship

The Open Home kindergarten may have started with just four Arab children, but its significance extends far beyond the walls of a single house in Ramla. Research by Pettigrew and Tropp shows that when people from different groups form real friendships, it can change how they see not just each other, but also other marginalized groups. When Jewish and Arab families build friendships through everyday institutions like kindergartens, it can lead to more openness toward other groups and political issues. This kind of change happens slowly, but it can shift a society’s deeper norms about equality.

Political Impasse and Structural Barriers

Tolan explains that the Palestinian movement faced internal divisions over refugees' return and compromise with Israel. There was disagreement about accepting the UN resolution acknowledging Israel, as it might signify the end of the dream of return. Bashir and his fellow prisoners discussed these topics nonstop. Bashir believed refugees must have the ability to return home.

(Shortform note: Some Palestinians have argued that the movement should give up the demand that refugees return. In What Is a Palestinian State Worth?, Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh argues that Palestinians should consider relinquishing the right of return in exchange for a sovereign state with secure borders and civil rights.)