Separate Ways Together: A Love Story (Paperback)

"Separate Ways Together" is the path taken by two students who find love while on summer break at American University in Washington, D. C. Ellen Levin is Jewish and is flying home to Israel while Camell Rasheed, an Arab, is returning to Lebanon. Standouts on campus, he is markedly handsome and she is a beauty often referred to by the men as a "hottie." They have never met but know each other through their reputations and campus sightings. And now, they are together on a flight to Rome where he will transfer to go on to Beirut and she, to Tel Aviv. Although their seat assignments are nowhere near each other, fate brings them together when seating arrangements are shuffled to accommodate a family returning to Rome. Being together like this would rarely happen on campus and, even though their homes are in countries with a common border, they are far apart philosophically and could just as easily be on two different planes flying in opposite directions. Conversation during the long flight finds them taking forthright positions on the ever-present topic of Arab and Jew, but, however improbable, an undeniable feeling of enduring trust develops between them. Just as improbable, but after all they are not total strangers, Ellen and Camell fall in love, so much so that they make plans to meet in Tel Aviv during their break. Ahead in Rome, dedicated men are making plans of their own, plans that will play a major role in the couple's destiny. The young lovers know their romance is not just a fleeting summer fling and vow their love will continue on campus in the fall. Far fetched? An Arab and a Jew, really! Doubters will call it a fairy tale. Some so-called realists will dismiss it out of hand. Dismiss it? Who would do that to a love story?