Memoir books from Palestine
Recommended memoir books (9)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into memoir here are some memoir books from Palestine for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
1.
Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour, David Hazard EN
Description:
The unforgettable story of Elias Chacour, a Palestinian Christian with deep love for both Jews and Arabs. The birth of the modern Jewish nation is set against ancient and modern history.
2.
Blood Brothers : The Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working for Peace in Israel by Elias Chacour, David Hazard EN
Description:
As a child, Elias Chacour lived in a small Palestinian village in Galilee. When tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and nearly one million forced into refugee camps in 1948, Elias began a long struggle with how to respond. In Blood Brothers, he blends his riveting life story with historical research to reveal a little-known side of the Arab-Israeli conflict, exploring whether bitter enemies can ever be reconciled. This book offers hope and insight to help each of us learn to live at peace in a world of tension and terror.
3.
En presencia de la ausencia by Mahmud Darwix (palestino) ES
Description:
En presencia de la ausencia es la autobiografía poética de Mahmud Darwix (1941-2008).
Volver... ¿adónde? Te preguntas mientras cuelgas cuadros en las paredes de tu nueva dirección. Ir... ¿adónde? Lo que tienes por delante es provisional. Lo que dejas detrás, transido de provisionalidad, está disperso. La eternidad que sube con la luz desde el jardín estalla en una carcajada. Le tomas el pelo diciéndole: También tú eres una exiliada. Y te preguntas: ¿Cuántas puntas has clavado en las parede... continue
4.
I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti EN
Description:
Palestinian poet Barghouti relates his homecoming to Ramallah after 30 years in exile, offering a moving account of what it means to be a Palestinian today. Winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.
5.
I Shall Not Hate : A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity by Izzeldin Abuelaish EN
Description:
A Harvard-educated Palestinian physician who was raised in a Gaza Strip refugee camp recounts the 2009 bombing attack that killed his daughters, describing how he has cared for patients on both sides of the conflict and won awards for humanitarian acts urging peaceful resolutions.
6.
Palestinian Walks : Forays into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh EN
Description:
“A rare historical insight into the tragic changes taking place in Palestine.” —Jimmy Carter From Palestine’s leading writer, a lyrical, elegiac account of one man’s wanderings through the landscape he loves, once pristine, now forever changed by settlements and walls—now with a new afterword by the author. “I often come to walk in these hills,” I said to the man who was doing all the talking and seemed to be the commander. “In fact I was once here with my wife, it was 1999, and some of your soldiers shot at us.” “It was over on that side,” the soldier pointed out. “I was there,” he said, smil... continue
7.
The Tale of a Wall : Reflections on the Meaning of Hope and Freedom by Nasser Abu Srour EN
Description:
Longlisted for the National Book Award A passionate prison memoir from a Palestinian man incarcerated for over 30 years in an Israeli prison—equal parts metaphysical love story and cry for justice “[A] kind of prose poem…that recalls the memoirs of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish”—New York Times “Fierce and lyrical . . . a devastating testament to the power of hope, and of its loss.”—Claire Messud One of more than 5,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons before October 7, 2023, Nasser Abu Srour was sentenced to life without parole in 1993 after a forced confession. His extraordinary wri... continue
8.
They Called Me a Lioness : A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom by Ahed Tamimi, Dena Takruri EN
Description:
A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir. “I cannot even begin to convey the clarity, the intensity, the power, the photographic storytelling of They Called Me a Lioness.”—Ibram X. Kendi, internationally bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Kirkus Reviews “What would you do if you grew up seeing your home repeatedly raided? Your parents arrested? Your mother shot? Your uncle killed? Try, for just a moment, to ima... continue
9.
We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I : A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh EN
Description:
Aziz Shehadeh was many things: lawyer, activist, and political detainee, he was also the father of bestselling author and activist Raja. In this new and searingly personal memoir, Raja Shehadeh unpicks the snags and complexities of their relationship. A vocal and fearless opponent, Aziz resists under the British mandatory period, then under Jordan, and, finally, under Israel. As a young man, Raja fails to recognise his father's courage and, in turn, his father does not appreciate Raja's own efforts in campaigning for Palestinian human rights. When Aziz is murdered in 1985, it changes Raja irre... continue