A Lover’s Country

In the course of their passionate relationship, Tom Markson and his much younger Jewish lover Naomi Branath support a Palestinian leader, Fadeela Qubra who has been awarded an international prize for peace and who knows the details of a murder and a massacre. Fierce opponents of Dr. Qubra want her story suppressed and the award to her cancelled. Tom and Naomi find the courage and the stamina to resist the opposition and eventually enable Fadeela to leave Ramallah, fly to Australia to tell her story and receive her award. Despite death threats and opposition from powerful lobbies, human rights are upheld, love triumphs and the story is told. Told with a compelling immediacy, A Lover's Country sheds light on the intrigue, struggle and behind-the-scenes wrangling associated with the nomination of a Palestinian woman as the recipient of a major peace prize. With a cast of memorable characters, a tightly crafted plot and touches of memorable poetry, A Lover's Country is an illuminating tale of justice with a hard won message of hope. In particular it is a must-read for anyone interested in the current plight of the Palestinians, Arab Israeli relations, and the presentation of these questions by the Western media. WILLIAM LANE AUTHOR OF THE HIGHLY ACCLAIMED NOVELS, OVER THE WATER AND THE HORSES This is a beautifully written and engaging story. It traces the kind of love that can only develop when people fight for the rights of others and never waver despite incessant and dangerous opposition. In events set largely in San Francisco, London, Sydney, Jerusalem, and Ramallah, that opposition includes powerful politicians and a compliant media who try to stifle accounts of a murder and a massacre. In spite of the pressures which confront them, the leading characters weather the storms and show how courage defeats compromise, principle overcomes pragmatism and how the passion of gutsy individuals lives up to the ideals of A Lover's Country. ADAM COURTENAY AUTHOR OF THE DRAMATIC, REVEALING HISTORY AMAZON MEN

Stuart Rees has been a human rights activist in several countries and has taught in major universities in the UK, Canada, the USA and Australia. For twenty years he was Professor of Social Work & Social Policy at the University of Sydney. He was co-founder of that university’s Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies and the founder of the Sydney Peace Foundation. In his numerous books on social justice issues and in several anthologies of poetry, he has been described as one of the most humane voices of our (Australia’s) generation, a writer always committed to passionately illuminating questions about social justice and to crafting answers to the biggest question of all, what does it mean to be human.