Who are the Palestinians? In this compelling book of interviews, Arthur Neslen reaches beyond journalistic clichés to let a wide variety of Palestinians answer the question for themselves. Beginning in the present with Bisan and Abud, two traumatized children from Jenin’s refugee camp, the book’s narrative arcs backwards through the generations to come full circle with two elderly refugees from villages that the children were named after. Along the way, Neslen recounts a history of land, resistance, exile, and trauma that begins to explain Abud’s wish to become a martyr and Bisan’s dream of a Palestine empty of Jews. Senior Fatah and Hamas figures relate key events of the Palestinian experience—the Second Intifada, Oslo Process, First Intifada, Thawra, 1967 War, the Naqba, and the Great Arab Revolt of 1936—in their own words. The extraordinary voices of women, children, farmers, fighters, drug dealers, policeman, doctors, and others, spanning the political divide from Salafi Jihadists to Israeli soldiers, bring the Palestinian story to life even as their words sow seeds of hope in the scorched Palestinian earth.
In Your Eyes a Sandstorm Ways of Being Palestinian
About the Book
Reviews
“In Your Eyes a Sandstorm will captivate its readers and is sure to shock and surprise even the most knowledgeable and/or radical (at either end of the spectrum) followers of these issues. Anyone willing to accept the layers, intricacies, and vastness of Palestinian identities will appreciate hearing these voices; voices as rooted in the land of Palestine as its ancient olive trees.”—Elissa Mugianis Foreword
“Neslen has forged a collection of voices that forces us to rethink simplistic notions about the nature of Palestinian identity.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The interview format allows Neslen’s subjects to speak for themselves. . . . Neslen’s queries are significant and probing, and the answers he gets are nuanced and, at times, heart-wrenching. The end result is a highly structured series of conversations between Palestinian Arabs and a European-Jewish journalist. . . . Neslen understands that details matter. The more they can be discussed, the more difficult it is to fall back on charged stereotypes that equate, for example, Palestinians with Arabs, or Jews and kafirs, unbelievers.”—Joel Schalit Forward
“A gripping look at a society and people who are misrepresented by the mainstream media and misunderstood by much of the Western world. "The Palestinian question"—never the "Jewish question" anymore—is generally posed in a way that omits Palestinian's own experiences from consideration. Through these carefully-crafted portraits, Neslen gives Palestinians the space to begin to answer it for themselves.”—Mya Guarnieri Huffington Post
“Exploring the full spectrum of the Palestinian experience, he [Neslen] talks to a Ramallah policeman, a tunnel worker in Gaza, an artist, a drug dealer in Jerusalem and a model in Haifa, among many others, producing a narrative that depicts a living and collective identity, one that emerges though multiple voices and contradictions.”—Jesse Rosenfeld The National
“An elegantly written compendium of Palestinian life. . . . No other book is as patient and detailed, and as broad in geographic and historic scope, as this; it is bound to be of permanent value to both scholars and general readers for years to come.”—Bashir Abu-Manneh Race & Class
“In Your Eyes a Sandstorm is a well written and thoughtful perspective that Americans need to see.”—Bob Sanchez Internet Review Of Books
“Neslen accesses some unique voices . . . offers important insight into the multifaceted Palestinian experience.”—Publishers Weekly
“The book is riveting; in engaging with each person the author has drawn out details of how being Palestinian, with its inevitable weight of suffering and resistance, has shaped their lives. It brings home, as Ilan Pappé says, ‘vividly and authentically what it means to be Palestinian today.’”—Miriam Scharf Socialist Review: Monthly Mag Of The Socialist Workers Party"In this impossible task of representation, Arthur Neslen writes a book that is impossible to put down. In Your Eyes a Sandstorm is where Joyce's The Dubliners meets Howard Zinn's A People’s History. Thrilling, compassionate, and unflinching narratives and dialogues converge the critical events of contemporary Palestinian being into the present. Palestinians are field negroes, house negroes, ghettoized schlemiels and pariahs, ethnically cleansed, colonized, occupied, militant, pacifist, doctors, zookeepers, rappers, journalists, teachers, etc. They are also an original people who will continue to write a new story in the book of survival and hope, of overcoming suffering and, hopefully, of going beyond power." —Fady Joudah, author of The Earth in the Attic and translator of Mahmoud Darwish’s If I Were Another
“In this wonderful collection, one can hear the Palestinians speaking for themselves and not through others who may distort or dim their messages. Very few collections have brought home to us so vividly and authentically what it means to be a Palestinian today.” —Ilan Pappe, author of The Rise and Fall of a Palestinian Dynasty
"This highly original work is an important contribution to Palestine literature, especially in the way that personal narrative interacts with and enriches collective-national and public memory." —Nur Masalha, author of Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought
"Neslen powerfully gives voice to Palestinians, humanizes them, and reveals the complexities of Palestinian society." —Sara Roy, author of Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza
“A remarkable achievement at the junction of Middle East politics and anthropology, this collection of interviews with Palestinians from eight successive generations—defined according to historical watersheds—is a necessary complement to treatise-like readings on the Palestinians and the Israel-Palestine conflict. It offers the means for a reasoned empathy with the Palestinian people, and provides a perfect counterpoint to the ‘journey through the Israeli psyche’ which Arthur Neslen took his readers on in his previous book.”
—Gilbert Achcar, author of The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Disengaged Generation
Bisan and Abud Abdul Khadr Fihad
Students, Jenin Camp, West Bank
Sharif al-Basyuni
Unemployed, Beit Hanun, Gaza
Amira al-Hayb
Soldier, Wadi al-Hammam, Israel
Niral Karantaji
Model, Haifa, Israel
Doha Jabr
Dancer, Ramallah, West Bank
Abdul Rahman Katanani
Artist, Shatila Camp, Beirut, Lebanon
“Nabil”
Student, Ramallah, West Bank
The Second Intifada Generation
Firaz Turkmen and Alla Subharin
Islamic Jihad, Jenin, West Bank
Ayman Nahas and Hanna Shamas
Comedians, Haifa, Israel
Asmaa al-Goule
Journalist, Gaza Citys
Neriman al-Jabari
Widow, Jenin Camp, West Bank
Tamer Nafar
Rapper, Lyd, Israel
Abu Abed
Tunnel Engineer, Rafah, Gaza
“Omar”
Drug Dealer, East Jerusalem, West Bank
The Oslo Generation
Diana Buttu
Lawyer, Ramallah, West Bank
Haifa Dwaikat
Student, Nablus, West Bank
Hala Salem
NGO Director, Amman, Jordan
Sayed Kashua
Journalist, Author, Screenwriter, West Jerusalem, Israel
Tawfiq Jabharin
Lawyer, Umm al-Fahem, Israel
Fuad al-Hofesh
Psychologist, Mardah, West Bank
Samer Azmi al-Zugayyar
Policeman, Ramallah, West Bank
The First Intifada Generation
“Abu Ahmed”
Hamas Activist and Teacher, West Bank
Rania Dabak, Naima Abdul Razek, and Shaykha Mahmud
Villagers, al-Aqaba, West Bank
Taghred Joma
NGO Manager, Gaza City
Huda Naim
Hamas MP, al-Bureij Camp, Gaza
Amal Masri
Businesswoman, Ramallah, West Bank
Fawsi Barhoum
Hamas Spokesman, Gaza City
“Haidar”
Taxi Driver, Gaza
The Thawra Generation
Dr. Nafez Rakfat Abu Shabhan
Plastic Surgeon, Gaza City
Fawaz Dawoud
Chief of Police, Nablus, West Bank
Mohammed Dahlan
Fatah Leader, Ramallah, West Bank
Nabila Espanyoli
NGO Director, Nazareth, Israel
Muna Wakid
DFLP Worker, Nahr el-Bared, Lebanon
Nawal, Eshan, and Iman Fareiji
Shatila Camp Residents, Beirut, Lebanon
Marwan Shehadeh
Web Manager, Amman, Jordan
Sami Mahmoud Khader
Zoo Curator, Qalqilya, West Bank
The 1967 (Naksa) Generation
Leila Khaled
PFLP Fighter, Amman, Jordan
Abu Adel
Sulha Committee Judge, East Jerusalem, West Bank
Mustafa al-Kurd
Musician, East Jerusalem, West Bank
Hanan Ashrawi
Civil Society Leader, Ramallah, West Bank
Raleb Majadele
Former Minister of Science and Technology, Jerusalem
Ahmad Yousef
Deputy Foreign Minister, Rafah Camp, Gaza
The Nakba Generation
Gabi Baramki
Former University President, Ramallah, West Bank
Nuri al-Ukbi
Bedouin Activist, al-Araquib, Israel
Jamal Freij
Former Well Maintenance Worker, Kfar Kassem, Israel
Aisha Odeh
Women’s Center Founder, Deir Jarir, West Bank
Eyad al-Sarraj
Psychiatrist, Gaza City
Hassan al-Kashif
Journalist, Gaza City
Rajab al-Hise
Fisherman, Beach Camp, Gaza
The 1936 Generation
Jalil Sharqawi Fawadli
Retired Teacher, Abud, West Bank
Abdullah Rashid
Retired Farmer, al-Hussein Camp, Irbid, Jordan
Postscript: In Your Eyes a Sandstorm
Glossary
Selected Bibliography and Further Reading
Photo Captions