A Small Blue Sky

It can now be told … In May of 1948 a mortar shell hit a home in the Old City of Jerusalem. “A Small Blue Sky” is the true story of Miriam, a Jewish woman married to a Christian Arab, whose six children were killed that day. This is a story of survival. The story of Miriam’s years in a Palestinian refugee camp, where they had fled to escape the war, where she bore three more children, and where she saw her husband die. This is a story of wit and compassion. Of how Miriam raised her children alone, immersed in a dangerous sea of hostility, she fought for their dignity and honor, with uncanny judgment. This is a story of a woman’s unrelenting determination and courage. Of how they survived the bloody and ruthless Black September war between the Palestinians and the Jordanians, not knowing if or when their extended ordeal would end.

It can now be told … In May of 1948 a mortar shell hit a home in the Old City of Jerusalem. “A Small Blue Sky” is the true story of Miriam, a Jewish woman married to a Christian Arab, whose six children were killed that day. This is a story of survival. The story of Miriam’s years in a Palestinian refugee camp, where they had fled to escape the war, where she bore three more children, and where she saw her husband die. This is a story of wit and compassion. Of how Miriam raised her children alone, immersed in a dangerous sea of hostility, she fought for their dignity and honor, with uncanny judgment. This is a story of a woman’s unrelenting determination and courage. Of how they survived the bloody and ruthless Black September war between the Palestinians and the Jordanians, not knowing if or when their extended ordeal would end.

Dr Melmed is a graduate of the University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa. After working in Zimbabwe and Sweden, he trained in General Medicine, Liver Disease and Gastroenterology in the Academic Department of Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, and then at the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry in the Ultrastructure Laboratory, Middlesex Hospital Medical School, University of London. He took up a position as a Senior Physician in the Department of Medicine at the Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel, in 1972. His major academic interest over the last 35 years has been in the field of psychophysiology as it relates to stress and suffering in Internal Medicine. In 2001 he published his single-authored book called "Mind, Body, and Medicine: an Integrative text" (Oxford University Press, 2001). In addition, Dr Melmed has had a major interest in medical education. Formerly, Associate Professor of Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, he occupied the Israel S Wechsler Chair of Medical Education, and was Head of the Unit of Behavioral Medicine in Internal Medicine. Dr Melmed was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London) in 1987.