Overview

Discover the Classic Coming-of-Age Memoir that Captures the Palestinian Experience for Members of every Generation since the 1948 Nakba ""Unusually honest, beautifully written."" — New York Times Book Review ** With a New Afterword by the Author ** In this new edition of his groundbreaking memoir, Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist Raja Shehadeh offers a moving description of the daily lives of those who have been determined to remain on Palestinian land under Israeli occupation and refusing to relent in the face of efforts to drive them out by making their lives unbearable. Growing up ""in the shadow of home"" in the rural hills of the West Bank, he was introduced early to political conflict. He witnessed the numerous arrests of his father, Aziz Shehadeh, who, in 1967, was the first Palestinian to advocate a peaceful, 2-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He predicted that if peace were not acheived, what remained of the Palestinian homeland would be taken away, bit by bit, through Israeli settlement. Ostracized by his fellow Arabs and disillusioned by the failure of either side to recognize his prophetic vision, Aziz retreated from politics. He was murdered in 1985. Strangers in the House is also the family drama of a difficult relationship between an idealistic son and his politically active father complicated by the arbitrary humiliation of the ""occupier's law."" A new Afterword provides an update on the investigation into his father's murder, a history that reflects continued official Israeli efforts to dehumanize Palestinians and to extinguish, once and for all, the possibility of a 2-state solution.

Full Product Details

9781586424206

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Reviews

""An invaluable resource -- a moving and heartfelt document that captures the rage and despair of lives stunted by occupation."" -- Washington Post ""Unusually honest, beautifully written... The power of Raja Shehadeh's memoir derives from his willingness, rare among Palestinian writers, to probe the emotional and political limits of his own society... Few Palestinians have opened their minds and hearts with such frankness."" -- New York Times Book Review  ""Shehadeh's views... strongly shaped by his work in human-rights law, are reinforced here by reflections on his own life. This book is distinctive and truly impressive."" -- The Economist ""[A] stunning autobiography... Strangers In the House [is] a profoundly moving testimony to modern Palestinian life, a more powerful explanation of the Middle Eastern crisis than dozens of lectures and pages of newspaper articles.... It is a book without conventional heroes, a brave and honest testimony to what has failed in the Middle East and what must come to pass if peace will ever be a possibility. More than a single man’s life, it succeeds in untangling the reality behind Palestinian headlines, chronicling how the last 52 years have impacted not just reactionaries and demonstrators, but ordinary human beings."" -- The Daily Star (Beirut) ""In this fascinating memoir, leading Palestinian lawyer Shehadeh offers a chilling and moving view of life inside the Occupied Territories.... Anyone seeking a nuanced view of Palestinian experience should read this brave and lyrical book."" -- Publishers Weekly ""This book brings an eloquent, understated voice to an often contentious chorus and should help in opening dialogue between Christians, Jews, and Muslims about the future of our holy lands."" -- Booklist ""A memoir both political and personal, offering a human and humane perspective."" -- KIRKUS REVIEWS  "" A remarkable human document that explains better than a hundred political treatises why there is still no peace in the Middle East."" -- Amos Elon 

Author Information

Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian lawyer and writer who lives in Ramallah. He is a founder of the pioneering, nonpartisan human rights organization Al-Haq, an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists, and the author of several books about international law, human rights, and the Middle East.

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