Eli Amir

Eli Amir (Hebrew אלי עמיר; born 1937 in Baghdad ) is an Israeli writer who was born in Iraq and immigrated to Israel in 1950.

Life and work

In Jerusalem he studied Arabic language, literature and the history of the Middle East and worked in the Ministry of Immigration. He was personal assistant to Shimon Peres, consultants in education and in peace negotiations under Golda Meir and Rabin Jizhak.

He is currently a lecturer at Ben- Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba.

He has published several novels, all of which were in Israel bestsellers.

Were translated into German: The pigeon fanciers of Baghdad, Shaul's love, In the shade of orange groves, Nuri's idea, Nuri and jasmine.

These books tell of the difficult search for identity emigrated Middle Eastern Jews and the difficult construction work of the State of Israel.

In 2008 he Tel Aviv University gave an honorary doctorate. The Bar - Ilan University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2011.

Selected German book editions

• The pigeon fanciers of Baghdad: Bastion Luebbe Paperback, Bergisch Gladbach, 1998, ISBN 3-404-15189-5
• Jasmine. C. Bertelsmann - Munich, 2007, ISBN 978-3-570-00933-8 ( description of a very difficult love affair between the Jews Nuri, advisor to the Israeli government, and Jasmine, a Palestinian Christian ).

Quotes

• Europe is facing a clash of civilizations. And what does it do? It runs away.
• Israel has made mistakes. But the greatest tragedy is that the Arab states do not accept Israel.
• Jews and Muslims must learn that compromise is not a sign of weakness.