I Saw Ramallah

I Saw Ramallah

Winner of the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal, this fierce and moving work is an unparalleled rendering of the human aspects of the Palestinian predicament.

Barred from his homeland after 1967â€™s Six-Day War, the poet Mourid Barghouti spent thirty years in exileâ€”shuttling among the worldâ€™s cities, yet secure in none of them; separated from his family for years at a time; never certain whether he was a visitor, a refugee, a citizen, or a guest. As he returns home for the first time since the Israeli occupation, Barghouti crosses a wooden bridge over the Jordan River into Ramallah and is unable to recognize the city of his youth. Sifting through memories of the old Palestine as they come up against what he now encounters in this mere â€œidea of Palestine,â€ he discovers what it means to be deprived not only of a homeland but of â€œthe habitual place and status of a person.â€ A tour de force of memory and reflection, lamentation and resilience, I Saw Ramallah is a deeply humane book, essential to any balanced understanding of todayâ€™s Middle East.

From the Trade Paperback edition.
Country USA
Manufacturer Anchor
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2008-12-10
Format Kindle eBook

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