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| Palestinian Memoirs |
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This Side of Peace | |
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by Hanan Ashrawi
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Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood | |
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by Ibtisam Barakat
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I Saw Ramallah | |
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by Murid Barghuthi, Ahdaf Soueif, Ellen R. Shapiro, Edward W. Said
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Very moving personal account of a complex conflict by a Reader from Washington, DC, posted on Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 Mourid Barghouti's vivid memoir was a pleasure to read. "I saw Ramallah" describes the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the eyes of one of the millions of human beings and families directly affected by the conflict. We learn how the author was exiled because the 1967 war took place while he was studying abroad. We see how he was separated from his wife and kid by a second exile from Egypt due to his "Palestinianness". We get to cry with him when he hears of his brother's tragic death, also in exile. And we get a taste for his complicated feelings upon seeing his country for the first time in 25 years during the Oslo Peace process. This book truly shows that nothing is simple about the Middle East Conflict. It spares no authority from criticism - not the Palestinian Authority, not the Arab countries, and not Israel. At the same time, the book shows that in fact the Middle East conflict is simple: we are all humans at the base of it! Enjoyable reading, and very thought-provoking. | ||
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Enduring Hope: The Impact of the Ramallah Friends Schools | |
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by Patricia Edwards-Konic, Max Carter
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In Search of Fatima | |
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by Ghada Karmi An excellent insight on a first-hand experience of the nakba and it deals with issues of palestinian identity in and outside of Palestine, in a way many can relate to. | ||
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Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians | |
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by Staughton Lynd, Sam Bahour, and Alice Lynd (Editors) facts cannot be doubted, this is a real good read, gives a great overview on the whole problem of the MiddleEast. | ||
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Imm Mathilda: A Bethlehem mother's Diary | |
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by Alison Jones Nassar, Fred Strickert (Editor)
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I Am a Palestinian Christian | |
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by Mitri Raheb
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Out of Place: A Memoir | |
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by Edward W. Said
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Jerusalem and I | |
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by Hala Sakakini Hard to find, this memoir of life in Jerusalem before 1948 can be obtained from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center. | ||
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The most vivid depiction of the 1948 "war" by a Reader from Washington, DC, posted on Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 Many people around the world claim some attachment to Jerusalem - Holy City for 3 faiths. Few people really know Jerusalem as this author once did. Here we read this very personal story of one family, through the eyes of the youngest daughter, that lived in Jerusalem that city's most pivotal years. Hala Sakakini grew up in the then new West Jerusalem neighborhood of Katamon, under the British Occupation of Palestine. The first half of this book concentrates on her early life and personal story, an interesting account of what seems on the surface to be a normal childhood, marred only by a few tragedies such as the loss of her mother at an early age. Several incidents however betray what is to come. The pace quickens considerably as one gets nearer to the second half of the book - a collection of letters and pages from her diary. Suddenly, one is drawn into an accelerating succession of extraordinary events: random bombings, explosions, shootings, bodies on the street. These facts of the 1948 "war", reduced to mere lines or bullet points in the history books, come alive on the pages of this very personal memoir. I have read many books about the 1948 events, but never before have I seen such a vivid account. The bombing of the King David Hotel, for instance, in which the Jewish terrorist groups blew up the British military headquarters in Palestine killing scores of people, is usually glossed upon in the history books as an "act of war". But never before have I read of the significance of this then unprecedented act - one that can justly be termed the Palestinian September 11 - on the lives of Jerusalemites. Only reading this book was I able to understand the fear this cruel act inspired in the hearts of unarmed Arab civilians, many of whom lost relatives or acquaintances among the victims, or of the pivotal role of that event in the exodus of Palestinian refugees a few months later from West Jerusalem. This exodus, Sakakini dwells upon in great detail, day by day, hour by hour. By the time the Arab armies came to the rescue on May 15, Israel's official start of the "war for independence" [from whom one wonders], West Jerusalem was fully in Jewish hands. It was history for most people. It was a major personal tragedy for those who had to live through it. This book contains a lot of wisdom, in the author's own reflections as well as her quotations of her father's saying's (the famous educator Khalil Sakakini) and her brother's letters. It tries to achieve a balance between amusement and tears, though the latter part of the book is mostly tears. The author doesn't analyze events too much, she just describes what she went through, in great detail. In some parts of the book I wish she engaged in more self-criticism - for example her family's idea of political action was to gather around the fire for long nights with friends and neighbors, talking politics. Meanwhile, their Jewish adversaries were spending long nights in military training. But past is past. It cannot change but ought to be recounted over and over, and this book happens to be one of the best renditions of that period in Jerusalem's history! | ||
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Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape | |
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by Raja Shehadeh
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Strangers in the House: Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine | |
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by Raja Shehadeh, Anthony Lewis
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A Moving Story by a Reader from Washington, DC, posted on Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 Two stories interwoven into one poetic narrative. The story of the author's relationship with his father is enmeshed in the greater story of his people falling under Israeli occupation. There is much tension in this book: the tension of defending political prisoners subjected to torture in Israeli jails; the tension resulting from the author's choice not to follow in his father's footsteps and concentrate on human rights work rather than law practice; the tension from the destruction of land by the occupation and the erection of settlements. In the end, the two narratives unite as the the author's efforts to find his father's murderer are frustrated because of the occupation. A sad and moving human story, has much to tell for people everywhere. | ||
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When the Birds Stopped Singing: Life in Ramallah Under Siege | |
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by Raja Shehadeh
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The Object of Memory: Arab and Jew Narrate the Palestinian Village | |
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by Susan Slyomovics
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Day of the Long Night | |
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by Jamil I. Toubbeh
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A moving personal account of an ethnic cleansing experience by a Reader from Washington, DC, posted on Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 Some people today argue that the causes of the Palestinian refugee problem are "controversial" or up for debate. Some would question whether there was a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing. Revisionist historians with Zionist sympathies deny that key events ever took place. However, for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who had to endure that period in 1948, there is no controversy. What happened was a part of their own personal lives - a traumatic part of their lives. Jamil Toubbeh is one of those Palestinians, a Christian, and his autobiography is an eloquent description of what happened in 1948 and how it affected his life forever. Since the author is a Palestinian American, his autobiography contrasts his life in America with his life in Palestine, so it is very interesting from that perspective. "Day of the Long Night" also compares the Palestinian issue with the author's first-hand experience in Native American Affairs. "Day of the Long Night" is a very well-written, thoughtful, and evocative book, that kept me up for several nights in a row. A friend of mine once reviewed this book and said that the only flaw in this beautiful autobiography is that the author addresses some political issues in the second half of the book. When I read it, though, I found this criticism to miss the point. If anything, this book shows that Palestinian lives cannot be divorced from politics - external politics manipulate ones life and affect their destiny in so many ways that it becomes impossible to write an Palestinian biography without touching on politics. "Day of the Long Night" is recommended reading for anyone curious (and brave) enough to want to see faces behind the headlines. I dare you to read it! Also recommended: "I saw Ramallah", by Mourid Barghuthi. | ||
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