Rami was in his car when he heard about the suicide bombing he would later find out took his daughter’s life. He scrambles trying to think where everyone in his family was at that time. He pulls over to call his wife at a payphone. She says their daughter went downtown, which is the same area as the bombing. Rami moves easily, almost magically, through traffic as he heads to the area to find his daughter. Smadar died in 1997, and Abir died in 2007—ten years apart.

Bassam was once in Boston, where he met with Senator John Kerry. In the meeting he leaned forward and told Kerry, “I’m sorry to tell you this, Senator, but you murdered my daughter” (138). The meeting went much longer than the allotted time, and Kerry vowed to never forget the story of Bassam’s daughter.

The tear gas used by the Israeli Defense Forces was made in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania in 1988. This caused an outrage at the time; politicians and activists became involved. Production was eventually halted only to start up again a year and half later. In 1995, the production moved to Jamestown, PA, only 100 miles away.

McCann spends a few sections discussing different monks and their habits.