2007-09-27 A nicely designed mystery story

The main character in this crime novel is Omar Yussef. He's been a history teacher in Bethlehem for many years and enjoys keeping up with his former students. When one of his former students, George Saba, is arrested for collaborating with the Israelis in the killing of a Palestinian guerrilla, Louai Abdel Rahman, it comes as a shock for Omar Yussef. George Saba, a member of the Palestinian Christian minority faces the possibility of execution if he is not cleared of the charges.
The situation becomes more complex for Omar Yussef when another of his former students, Dima, the wife of the murdered man, is herself murdered. He begins to suspect the head of the local al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade is the true collaborator. No one else is willing to stand up to the Martyrs' Brigade who seem to hold the real power in town. Yussef is on his own to investigate and find the truth.
The plot is very carefully devised. It's a first novel by Matt Beynon Rees who based the story on actual occurrences he covered as a journalist during the second Intifada. The story is part war story, part political thriller and a murder mystery. Omar Yussef becomes a hero not through his actions, but by keeping an open mind about the situations happening around him. The background of the action is interesting too: the conflicts between Christians and Muslims in Palestine.