In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story
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Book Overview
"One of the finest, most eloquent and painfully honest memoirs of the Palestinian exile and displacement."
-New Statesman An intimate memoir of the 1948 Nakba, exile and the dispossession of Palestinian lands
In Search of Fatima reflects the author's personal experiences of displacement and loss against a backdrop of the major political events which have shaped conflict in the Middle East. Kharmi was born in Jerusalem but her family were forced out in 1948, following the Nakba, when Palestinians were dispossessed of their lands at the hands of the Israeli state. In this moving account of exile, she charts her family's displacement to Jordan, and finally to Golders Green, London, where she initially refused to lay down roots in alien soil. Through this journey, Kharmi charts the personal account of a young woman's search for identity: as a Palestinian far away from home. Speaking for the millions of displaced people worldwide who have lived suspended between their old and new countries, fitting into neither, this is a nuanced exploration of psychological displacement and loss of identity.
-New Statesman An intimate memoir of the 1948 Nakba, exile and the dispossession of Palestinian lands
In Search of Fatima reflects the author's personal experiences of displacement and loss against a backdrop of the major political events which have shaped conflict in the Middle East. Kharmi was born in Jerusalem but her family were forced out in 1948, following the Nakba, when Palestinians were dispossessed of their lands at the hands of the Israeli state. In this moving account of exile, she charts her family's displacement to Jordan, and finally to Golders Green, London, where she initially refused to lay down roots in alien soil. Through this journey, Kharmi charts the personal account of a young woman's search for identity: as a Palestinian far away from home. Speaking for the millions of displaced people worldwide who have lived suspended between their old and new countries, fitting into neither, this is a nuanced exploration of psychological displacement and loss of identity.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1804297097
ISBN13:9781804297094
Release Date:April 2024
Publisher:Verso
Length:480 Pages
Weight:0.85 lbs.
Dimensions:1.2" x 5.2" x 7.8"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
What happened to Palestine and the Palestinians
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
This is an excellent and thoughtful book that takes the reader through the events that led to the destruction of Palestine and forced hundreds of thousands of people, like Fatima and her family from their homes. For many Palestinians, reading this book relives memories of a tragedy that so many of us have suffered and so little of the American public knows. I highly recommend it as an introduction to Palestine and the origin of the conflict between Palestinians and Israel. The second half of the book which deals with the protagonist's search for identity in England is also very characteristic of what the Palestinian families who were forced to emigrate to different countries all over the world have to face: complete assimilation versus living in the injury done to us by the creation of the Israeli state. There is no need for "the other viewpoint" in this book. This is the personal story of a Palestinian in the Palestine-Israeli conflict. Ms. Karmi does not need to justify the Israeli's feelings, although I think she actually tried.
In Search of Fatima
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
G. Karmi's book presents a side of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict that is seldom seen. Through the eyes of this little girl (8-9 years of age) we see the tragedy that has been inflicted on the stateless Palestinian people through no fault of their own. Ghada writes of her family's terrifying escape from Jerusalem under Israeli gunfire--leaving their home and possessions behind. 50 years later, Ghada does return to what is now Israel--and toher city of Jerusalem. Briefly, she is able to visit her childhood home, now occupied by Jewish immigrants. She and her family were never compensated in any way for theirloss of home, possessions and country. The author presents many insights about the culture in Jerusalem before the Israeli takeover. She describes the open, social interactions between Jews, Christians and Muslims at that earlier time. She and her family are Muslim.
The real tragedy in Palestine
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
This book is probably one of the best to reflect the true impact of what happened in Palestine in the 1940s and what it has meant for millions of Palestinians to grow up in exile. People tend to focus on the everyday violence, the blood shed and the lives that are lost, and while this is a true tragedy, we have to remember that the real tragedy is the loss of a whole people's citizenship, homes, past and future of generations who have been forced to abandon their land, and homes and with them their culture, and their sense of identity. The real tragedy is to know you have a home and that someone else is living in it.
a must read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
are you interested in knowing the truth? read this book.. it tells you a lot in an easy narrate.. Ghada Karmi did well, we needed such a book. Thank you Ghada.
History, psychology, and culture
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
It is a wonderful integration of history, psychology, and culture all backed strongly by Karmi's extroadinary literary abilitis.
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