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Book Details
Abstract
This is a gripping account of what it is like to live as a Palestinian - as a refugee in your own homeland. Born in Jerusalem, Muna Hamzeh is a journalist who has been writing about Palestinian affairs since 1985. She first worked as a journalist in Washington DC, but moved back to Palestine in 1989 to cover the first Palestine Intifada - the war of stones. She then settled in Dheisheh, near Bethlehem - one of 59 Palestinian refugee camps that are considered the oldest refugee camps in the world.
The book consists of a diary which Hamzeh wrote between October 4th and December 4th 2000, telling the story of the second Intifada. Facing the tanks and armed guards of one of the best-equipped armies in the world, the Palestinians have nothing. They fight back with stones. The anguish and terror that Muna and her friends face on daily basis is tangible. Who will be the next to die? Whose house will be the next to burn down? This deeply moving personal account brings to life the harsh realities of the Palestinian struggle.
Refugees in Our Own Land is a look into the hearts and minds of Palestinian refugees. It is a tribute to the bravery of the Palestinian people, and a wake-up call to the world that has ignored so much of their struggle and their suffering.
'Lays bare the whole spectrum of human emotion that she, her neighbours and friends undergo as the relentless series of events unfolds. Visceral fear of Israeli shelling and terror of settler attacks is interlaced with deep pain at the loss of yet another young life. Exhaustion, hopelessness, and bitterness are the constants'
Journal of Palestine Studies
'With great warmth, anger, admiration and depression she pens the life of a camp through history and politics'
Red Pepper
'A unique insight into women's everyday life during the Al Aqsa Intifada - anger, sorrow, frustration fly off every page. This book is a slice of living history which will now never be forgotten'
Victoria Brittain
'This riveting first-hand account of life in the Palestinian refugee camps should be required reading for anyone interested in a resolution of the wrenching conflict between Palestine and Israel'
Elizabeth Fernea, University of Texas at Austin
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contents | iii | ||
| Dedication | vi | ||
| Preface | vii | ||
| PART ONE | 1 | ||
| 1 Ordinary Days in Dheisheh (2000) | 3 | ||
| PART TWO | 71 | ||
| 2 Farewell Washington (1988) | 73 | ||
| 3 Welcome to Dheisheh (1990) | 77 | ||
| 4 Urging on the Scuds (1991) | 81 | ||
| 5 Diary of a Blockade (1993) | 86 | ||
| 6 Fatima (1994) | 89 | ||
| 7 Dheisheh Will Never Fall Again (1995) | 94 | ||
| 8 Where is Peace? (1996) | 97 | ||
| 9 When Time Stood Still (1996) | 101 | ||
| 10 The French Connection (1997) | 104 | ||
| 11 The Glory of the Intifada (1997) | 108 | ||
| 12 Where Do We Belong? (1997) | 111 | ||
| 13 Remembering Our Dead (1997) | 115 | ||
| 14 Where Did Santa Go? (1998) | 118 | ||
| 15 Male vs. Female Honor (1998) | 121 | ||
| 16 Celebrating Independence (1998) | 125 | ||
| 17 From Dheisheh to Jerusalem (1998) | 128 | ||
| 18 Making it in a Man's World (1998) | 133 | ||
| 19 Diving with a Splash (1998) | 136 | ||
| 20 Life's Four Seasons (1998) | 139 | ||
| 21 Checkpoint Jerusalem (1999) | 142 | ||
| 22 The Pope in Our Midst (2000) | 150 | ||
| Index | 161 | ||
| Abdullah, neighbour, 112 | 112 | ||
| Abed, neighbour, 143 | 143 | ||
| Abu Aker, Hazem | 108 |