PalFest

I went along to a few workshops which were held as part of PalFest, the Palestinian Festival of Literature. A few of my friends were involved in organising this great event.

I attended the workshop led by Susan Abulhawa, the author of 'Mornings in Jenin', a novel which traces the experience of a Palestinian family from before the 1948 Nakba until the Jenin Massacre in 2002.

Abulhawa herself travelled from the USA to Jenin when she heard about the massacre, and helped to pull the bodies from the rubble of the refugee camp.

Although I have some issues with the novel, I do see it as a very valuable book; it is accessible to readers around the worldwide, and it brutally and poetically describes the impact of Israeli policies on the Palestinian people.

My mother's book club read the book last year and it opened their eyes to the injustice faced by generations of Palestinians since they were removed from their land 65 years ago.

Abulhawa spoke of the need for young Palestinians to link up with victims of oppression around the world, all of whom can act and speak up in solidarity with one another.