Author Sayed Kashua explains reason for leaving Israel

Sayed Kashua, an Israeli-Arab author who wrote extensively about his determination to integrate into mainstream Israeli society, has decided to move permanently to the United States, citing Jewish “extremists in the streets of Jerusalem.”

In an interview with NPR, Kashua, who says he strove to write a common narrative for Israeli Jews and Arabs, explains that “when Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the young Palestinian teenager, was kidnapped and executed, I felt that I cannot really let my daughter take the buses in the streets of Jerusalem. But I think that more than anything else, it was this very strong feeling that I lost my world, in my case – because it’s true.”

Click here for the full interview.