Suad Amiry > Quotes

“Nothing makes sense, why should I?”
― Suad Amiry, Nothing to Lose But Your Life: An 18-Hour Journey With Murad

“The Palestinians try hard to forget when they should remember.
The Israelis try hard to remember when they should forget.
The Palestinians refuse to be victims.
The Israelis make sure that they remain the only victims.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“Fucker, I though to myself. So irritated by a stare!
I wonder what your reaction would have been if you had lived under occupation for as many years as I had, or if your shopping rights, like all of your other rights, were violated day and night, or if the olive trees in your grandfather's orchards had been uprooted, or if your village had been bulldozed, or if your house had been demolished, or if your sister could not reach her school, or if your brother had been given three life sentences, or if your mother had given birth at a checkpoint, or if you had stood in a line for days in the hot August summers waiting for your work permit, or if you could not reach your beloved ones in Arab East Jerusalem....
A stare, and you lose your mind!”
― Suad Amiry, Sharon and My Mother-in-Law: Ramallah Diaries

“A thousand times a coward and not once a dead man”
― Suad Amiry, Nothing to Lose But Your Life: An 18-Hour Journey With Murad

“When it comes to Jews, you have a two-thousand-year memory, but when it comes to us Palestinians, you have a sixty-year amnesia.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“Only then did I realise that for me, and many others, Israel was virtual. For Murad, Israel was 'home.' Israel was a reality; a harsh reality.”
― Suad Amiry, Nothing to Lose But Your Life: An 18-Hour Journey With Murad

“What amazes me most is that we, as a people, have shared our collective story of being thrown out of our homeland, Palestine, with each other and with many others- actually we have bored the world with this collective story- but somehow the individual Palestinian shies away, or perhaps is too afraid, to share the very personal story of being thrown out of her or his home, living room, or bedroom. These personal stories are seldom told, not even to our own children, perhaps not even to ourselves. I guess the wound remains open.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“It is because you were not allowed to be a normal city with normal people, so much so that you become an abnormal place with abnormal people- Arabs and Jews alike.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“There is no other place on this earth where I feel such a strong sense of being a stranger than in my historic homeland.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“The same fleet of British ships called “Liberty” that had until recently brought Jewish immigrants to Palestine was now carrying Palestinians away from their homeland. A new nation was being born as an ancient one was being annihilated.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers: A Novel

“A witness to what? To your crimes. To your cruelty. We've all become witnesses to the biggest robbery in the history of mankind. You steal our land, our cities, our oranges, our orchids, our homes, our shops, our garages, our fishing boats, our cars and buses, our livestock, our furniture, our books, our lives, and our souls. You steal a whole country - a fully furnished country. And then have the chutzpah to accuse me of stealing my own suit.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers

“Why steal our books when most of them are in Arabic? And why steal Arabic books when you detest everything Arab?”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers: A Novel

“Palestine is a country without a people; the Jews are a people without a country.” This was a lie that had been shrewdly branded, marketed, and bought by the “free world.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers: A Novel

“Needless to say, in a country where nothing makes sense only crazy acts do.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“Spending so much time stuffing everything that lent itself to filling in any way or form, I am not surprised that the Jerusalemites never had time to raise their heads or look out of their windows to see what their neighbours were up to.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“Anew nation was born while an old one was eradicated.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers: A Novel

“Non di un amante, di un aeroporto! Appena prima di entrare in un coma perpetuo, Sharon ha emesso un faraman in base al quale a nessun palestinese proveniente dalla Cisgiordania e dalla Striscia di Gaza è consentito servirsi di questo aeroporto. Da allora, praticamente l’intero mondo si è dimenticato di Sharon. Soltanto noi, e naturalmente la sua famiglia, preghiamo che prima o poi si risvegli dal suo profondo stato di incoscienza per annullare questa e varie altre ordinanze insensate. Questo aeroporto distava solo mezz’ora dalla mia casa di Ramallah, mentre per raggiungere quello di Amman, di cui adesso siamo costretti a servirci, ci vogliono uno o due giorni.”
― Suad Amiry, Murad Murad

“Their absence seemed to have more presence than their presence.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers: A Novel

“I warn you, daughter, one never feels at home away from home. In your home, you die once and for all. In the diaspora, you die every single day out of humiliation.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers

“Mortar shells whizzed through Martyrs’ Square, adding a few more martyrs to a long list.

Mortar shells landed on hospitals, where the sick got sicker and pregnant women gave birth to premature babies.

Mortar shells fell on holy places, where people prayed this would not be their last day.

A barrage of mortar shells fell on schools, on marketplaces, on shops and shoppers, and on banks.

Panic, horror, and hysteria took hold of the city.

Those who were inside buildings rushed out, and those in the streets frantically hurried into buildings.

The injured and the dead were left lying in the streets.

Run for your life or join the dead.

Everyone was searching for a way out: by car, by bus, on a truck, on a cart, on a bike.

Looting was pervasive.

Robberies were many.

There was no water, no electricity, and no fuel.

No ovens to bake a loaf of bread, or shops to buy food from—or, for that matter, banks from which to withdraw money.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers

“While the newly born nation cheered and danced in the streets of the White City, Tel Aviv, the heart of an old nation bled as its eyes brimmed with tears. They feared the worse was still to come.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers

“I come to listen to your pain and to hear the stories and memories of a few obsessed citizens. Jerusalem, I come to you in disguise: in over-colourful, immodest clothes and vulgar make-up... The only way I could come to you was in disguise, as a whore.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“Harami u kazzab, a thief and a liar.” This seemed to be the one phrase that the Jewish commander had memorized by heart because he kept repeating it.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers

“I tell you, Huda, with the with the service-free arnona they impose on us and the many fines and penalties we East Jerusalem Arabs pay them, we've become the casino where they always win... or even better, the cash cow that they continue to milk.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“And from the air, the British forces dropped leaflets giving us a day to evacuate our houses. Before we knew it, all hell had broken loose. Like ants, thousands and thousands of British soldiers filled the streets and the narrow alleys of the old city where we lived. And in no time, they sealed off the whole area and started blowing the houses up - one after another. Like cards, they fell. The British soldiers started from the East and kept dynamiting until they reached the sea. Gone were the beautiful houses. Gone was the mosque. Gone were the holy shines. The schools. And gone were the alleys, the shops, the people… We called it a massacre while the British claimed it was a face-lift.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers

“I am also irritated by his use of the expression 'some people'. If the Israelis have been so indifferent, or even happy, as to throw 850,000 Palestinians from their homes, the least they can do is show some respect or a bit of sensitivity by knowing names of the families in whose houses they are living.”
― Suad Amiry, Golda Slept Here

“The three Salameh girls had learned at an early age that it is human kindness, rather than religion or nationality, that conquers the human heart.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers

“Chissà se al mondo esiste qualcun altro, oltre a noi palestinesi, che sente la mancanza di un aeroporto.”
― Suad Amiry, Murad Murad

“I warn you, daughter, one never feels at home away from home.” Farida paused and then added, “In your home, you die once and for all; fi il ghurbeh, in the diaspora, you die every single day out of humiliation.”
― Suad Amiry, Mother of Strangers: A Novel