In his collection of interconnected stories, Rubble Children (University of Alberta Press, July 2024), Aaron Kreuter delves into themes of Jewish identity, settler colonialism, Zionism, anti-Zionism, and its complexities. The stories are told from rotating points of view centered around a fictional Reform synagogue in a Toronto suburb. This book, in its indispensable way, may make some readers uncomfortable as it amplifies voices and conflicting generational narratives around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within its own community.
In the title story, a group of Jewish girls fixated on the Holocaust realize they are not alone in inhabiting the ruins of history. They discover that the Palestinian young women they meet, “hailing from all corners of the Palestinian diaspora, were smart, dedicated, kind, lovely. They put us to shame. These girls were actually out there doing something. We might have been children of the rubble—though, as we had learned yesterday, we are all children of the rubble—but these women were not just wallowing, they were building something new, fighting for a better world for their own children.”
The girls encounter a young Palestinian woman who educates them about the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians of 1948 during the Arab-Israeli war and the hundreds of thousands of refugees. They learn about the “open-air prison that is Gaza,” and they ultimately question:
“How the Nazis and the Holocaust were used to justify the attempted erasure of an entire people that had nothing to do with the Second World War.”
Kreuter challenges readers to examine their current biases and narratives, succeeding in presenting a complex issue in an accessible and honest way. By doing so, he allows readers to deeply empathize with the characters. Through the engagement of his narrating voices Kreuter spurs a broader understanding and encourages readers to consider perspectives they might not have previously encountered, writing, “The narrative we took at face value crumbled into dust.”
The authentic dialogue of contemporary voices layered with complex emotions draw the reader in and welcome her to join the conversation, regardless of her affiliations or beliefs. Ultimately, Rubble Children invites readers into a nuanced and vital discourse, making it a compelling and thought-provoking read.