Eleven Lives: Stories from Palestinian Exiles

There has been a substantial amount written in English about Palestinian refugees by academics, journalists, activists, and literary figures, but the voices of ordinary Palestinians growing up in the refugee camps is rarely heard. This book seeks to remedy that; it consists of a collection of 11 stories about Palestinian refugees written by the protagonists themselves. The essays are written by authors of different ages, genders, and perspectives and together they provide a glimpse into the lives, struggles, dreams, of these individuals as well as the collective Palestinian refugee experience. Salem Yassin poignantly describes his coming-of-age experiences in a refugee camp through what he calls "the popular and free press," namely the graffiti on the walls, while Nadia Fahed describes with humor and simplicity the daily challenges she faced taking care of her young daughter as well as her aging grandmother. Mira Sidawi describes a succession of unique characters inhabiting Burj al-Barajneh camp, where she grew up. Others write more reflective essays. Yafa El-Masri ponders the meaning of exile through a discussion of her dreams, friendships, and family relations. Meanwhile, Hanin Rashid reflects on the meaning of her name (which means 'longing' in Arabic) in relation to the lives of her father and grandmother. In contrast, Wedad Taha draws us into her life from early childhood in the United Arab Emirates to adulthood in Lebanon, where she came face to face with a Palestinian society she is alienated from. Some authors chose to write about the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948. Intisar Hajaj recounts the quintessential Palestinian experience through the story of her maternal grandmother Khadijeh, a Lebanese woman who lived a Palestinian life, while Ruba Rahme brings us back to the painful present, to the latest disaster: the flight and dispersal of the Palestinian refugees from Syria. What joins these and the other essays together is their deeply personal nature; they embody the lives and thoughts of people whose voices we seldom hear.