Book Launch: "The Children Laugh"

On Wednesday, April 4, 2018, we gathered at the school for a special and unique event organized by the Wahat al-Salam - Neve Shalom Pluralistic Spiritual Center: The launch of a bilingual children’s book in Hebrew and Arabic by renowned Syrian author Zakaria Tamer who lives today in Oxford, UK.

The book, The Children Laugh, translated by Alon Fragman and published in the series Maktoob, Olam Books and the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute Press, 2017. The book launch was conducted in cooperation with the Van Leer Institute.

Yoni Mendel, the deputy editor of Maktoob, a series of Arabic-language books published in Hebrew, greeted the audience. Two girls from the school, Nuran Salameh and Hagar Singer Gofer, read from the book in Arabic and Hebrew.

Afterward, the children attended a creative workshop based on the drawings of the book with the children’s author Shoham Smith and Primary School teacher Lutfiyeh Ganima.

The adults stayed in the hall and heard two lectures. Loaay Wattad, a researcher of Arabic children’s literature at Tel Aviv University, spoke of "naked emperors and laughing children: subversive children’s literature in Arabic." He talked about children’s literature in the Arab world and on his thesis on versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" in Palestinian society.

The translator, Alon Fragman talked about the life and work of Zakaria Tamer and told of an exciting meeting he had with the author in Oxford, less than a month ago. He said that Zakaria was moved by the translation of his book and its appearance in a bilingual edition. Alon read in Arabic a children’s story written in 1974 by Zakaria Tamer, "Why the River Fell Silent?" And translated it into Hebrew while reading. Listening to the story was a thrilling experience for us.