Presentation of the book "Walls,
tears and za'tar"
Cittadellarte, Biella, 17th April 2008
The Director of the Anna Lindh Euro–Mediterranean
Foundation for the dialogue between Cultures Gianluca Solera
has been invited by Love Difference to present his last book "Muri,
lacrime e za’tar" (Walls,
tears and za’tar. Life histories and voices from Palestine)
around the Mediterranean Table in the Arte al Centro Space
of Cittadellarte.
The author has explained his experience, two intense years in Palestine,
his relations and his point of view about conflicts, hate and war.
Gianluca Solera faced this trip to research about his own Jewish roots
(as his serfardite last name “Solera”) and to learn the
Arabic language. The trip therefore was not a pretext to write the book,
moreover it was the result of the necessity to make public the stories
he had lived there.
The wall, named in the title, is a symbol for the separation between
Israelis and Palestinians and can only be knocked down with the dialogue
and the cohabitations between two cultures who should not be afraid
of getting to know each other.
The closed attitude, typical also of our culture, should be changed
through curiosity, dialogue and research about what we do not know and
frightens us: the Other.
After talking about dramatic stories about revenge and anger but also
about hope and the search of identity, the author has closed the meeting
narrating how the people’s awareness of the little things, like
za’tar (sesame seeds with salt) can be a small plug that constitutes
a small but fundamental part of a mosaic where still many pieces are
missing.
Gianluca Solera is collaborating with Love Difference in several projects..
