My Brother, My Land: A Story from Palestine

by Sami Hermez, Sireen Sawalha (Primary Contributor)

A riveting and unapologetic account of Palestinian resistance, the story of one family's care for their land, and a reflection on love and heartache while living under military occupation.

In 1967, Sireen Sawalha's mother, with her young children, walked back to Palestine against the traffic of exile. My Brother, My Land is the story of Sireen's family in the decades that followed and their lives in the Palestinian village of Kufr Ra'i. From Sireen's early life growing up in the shadow of the '67 War and her family's work as farmers caring for their land, to the involvement of her brother Iyad in armed resistance in the First and Second Intifada, Sami Hermez, with Sireen Sawalha, crafts a rich story of intertwining voices, mixing genres of oral history, memoir, and creative nonfiction.

Through the lives of the Sawalha family, and the story of Iyad's involvement with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hermez confronts listeners with the politics and complexities of armed resistance and the ethical tensions and contradictions that arise, as well as with the dispossession and suffocation of people living under occupation and their ordinary lives in such times. Whether this story leaves listeners discomforted, angry, or empowered, they will certainly emerge with a deeper understanding of the Palestinian predicament.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, History, Middle East, Politics, Audiobook

328 pages, Hardcover

Published February 20, 2024

Reviews

[بثينة العيسى · Rating 5 out of 5]

المراجعة على انستغرام

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQogMn...

[Ibrahim · Rating 5 out of 5]

قضيت أيامًا أقرأ قصة عائلة صوالحة وأدركت كم هو مهم أن نفهم الزاوية الإنسانية للأفراد الذين وُلدوا في فلسطين وما تعرضوا له قسرًا وظلمًا.

‏قصة مؤثرة عن الأرض والهوية والصمود تحت الاحتلال حيث العائلة والوطن لا ينفصلان… حكاية عن أرض لا تُباع وهوية لا تُمحى وصمود يتوارثه الأبناء… رحلة بين الذاكرة والوطن حيث البقاء مقاومة بحد ذاته… قصة فلسطينية تُلخّص معنى العودة والانتماء رغم كل المسافات.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My mornings in Kufr Ra’i often left me oscillating between serenity and unease. When a rooster cackles, a nearby dog barks, and the birds chirp through a pleasant summer breeze, one can momentarily lose sight of who is in control of this land. The hills in the distance hum secrets of the morning dew and carry stories of farmers on their way to work. All around, the landscape masks the politics in its midst, and for a moment, one could be excused for forgetting that the horizon is a prison wall and that the land is being settled by strangers. Nature gives people moments like this, perhaps in its attempts to make the rest of the day tolerable.” (38)

This book is breathtaking. As someone who grew up in the US, I was embarrassingly unaware of Israel’s existence as something deeply criminal. Since the genocide against Palestine captured the world’s attention in October, I’ve been dedicated to digging through what the US wants me to think, to find out what I truly feel. My Brother, My Land is raw, moving, disturbing, and beautiful.

The book uncovers both the foundation of political tension, and the nuances that developed because of the occupation. The flow of combined narratives to tell this family’s story completely captured my mind and soul, and I will forever hold their grief in my heart. Needless to say, this book is more than worthy of your time, and I think you’ll get more from it as opposed to something with a traditional textbook, solely fact-based format. We need to feel our emotions on this.

Just one of many things I learned from this story, from the footnotes actually: FREE PALESTINE is the English translation of the original Arabic slogan more literally meaning PALESTINE IS FREE. The writer decided to use the latter phrase throughout the book to emphasize the defiant spirit of Palestinian resistance. So, let me end this by saying, PALESTINE IS FREE.

[Christian Concepcion · Rating 4 out of 5]

History may be told through textbooks, but this book had me realize that it is meant to be experienced and absorbed through family memories and tales. This co-authored familial biography transported me through the eyes of children, parents, martyrs, and more. A journey forcing you to re-evaluate the idea of right and wrong, “second guessing”, and revolutionary ideals. But most importantly, it provides you an intimate invitation to a home. FREE PALESTINE

[I · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t read this but I will get to it. However, here’s a 5 star review to spite Andy down here somewhere (and any zio at this point)

[Hani Al-Kharaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

حكاية واحد من أبطال المقاومة الفلسطينية، إياد صوالحه، عضو تنظيم الجهاد الإسلامي والمسؤول عن شعبة العمليات في جنين والعقل المدبر لبعض العمليات الاستشهادية التي نفذتها المقاومة الفلسطينية إبان الانتفاضة الثانية في مطلع الألفية.

الحكاية كتبها د. سامي هرمز وطعّمها بشهادة شقيقة إياد، سيرين صوالحه، والتي عُرضت في الكتاب باللهجة الفلسطينية في مزيج أخاذ من اللغة الأكاديمية التوثيقية على لسان الدكتور سامي هرمز والتفاصيل الحياتية البسيطة على لسان سيرين صوالحه، لخصت من خلاله تاريخ القضية الفلسطينية ومعاناة شعبها من الاحتلال والتهجير والغربة القسرية.

التفاصيل الصغيرة التي تناولها الكتاب حول نشأة إياد صوالحه واختياره الانضمام للمقاومة ملهم، لأنه ينزل بشخصية المقاوم/المناضل الى المستوى البشري ليعرض تقلباته وأحزانه وأفراحه وزلاته وبطولاته، خوفه وإقدامه، يأسه وبأسه. في نظري أن هذا مهم جداً للخروج من النظرة الأسطورية لشخصية المقاوم لأنها تثبت أن كل فرد هو مشروع مقاوم وأن الصمود والنضال ليس حكرا على أفراد توفرت فيهم خصال فوق بشرية. المقاوم إنسان مثلي ومثلك يشعر بما أشعر وتشعر به وينتابه ما ينتابني وإياك من خوف وقلق وحزن ويأس، ولكنه يتعاظم على تلك المشاعر لأنه شديد التركيز على هدفه.

من ناحية أخرى، من عاش تفاصيل الانتفاضة الثانية يتذكر الصمود البطولي الذي أظهره الفلسطينيون في وجه آلة الاحتلال والتنكيل الذي تعرضوا له. سبقت تلك المرحلة حالة من الركود بعد وأد الانتفاضة الأولى بما يسمى بعملية السلام، وتلتها فترة ركود لم تدم طويلاً إلى أن برزت المقاومة في غزة. التفكّر في هذا الصعود والهبوط مهم لتذكيرنا بأن الواقع المحبط الذي نعيشه اليوم بعد عامين من الإبادة لن يدوم، وسينهض جيل آخر ليواصل المقاومة ضد المحتل وقد يكون أشد بأساً وأكثر نجاعةً ممن سبقه.

الترجمة ممتازة

[Andy Wiesendanger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not finish. I don't mind a memoir, which is what I thought this was. But to be so blatantly anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian, I just couldn't continue. I know the situation sucks and many have a good reason to be pissed. But "settler colonialism", "empire", "ethnic cleansing", "strangers and occupiers"... this is to much. All all those loaded buzz words were just w/in first 12 pages.

Hermez and Sireen consider themselves Palestinians, and the Israelis strangers, which shows, I assume, a lack of understanding. The word "Palestine" came from [b]actual[/b] settler colonialists, the Romans. In an attempt to piss off Jews. And now we have an ethnicity, Palestinians, who hate settler colonialists. Well, being a grad of Princeton, and seeing how our universities have, uh, educated their students so well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But I'll have to look elsewhere for a balanced (or even accurate) view of the world.

[نورا العتيبي · Rating 5 out of 5]

كل حكايه عن فلسطين هي آسره بالضروره
تحكي سيرين صوالحة سيرة عائلتها العائلة الفلسطينيه بكل جوانبها
العائله التي تواجه الاحتلال بكل ما يحمله من فقد وتشريد وانقسام.
.
الرواية شهادة على أن البقاء في فلسطين رغم الألم فعل مقاومة لا يقل عن القتال

[لميس محمد · Rating 5 out of 5]

لو قيل لي رشّحي سيرة ذاتية فلسطينية واحدة
بالتأكيد سأُرشّح (أخي وأرضي)

لماذا أخي وأرضي تحديدًا؟
هذهِ السيرة جمعت في طيّاتها بين الشخصيّ و العام
بين الحياة اليومية العادية أو التي يجب أن تكون عادية وبين الحياة تحت ظلّ الإحتلال الصهيوني
تفاصيل الحياة اليومية البسيطة و العلاقات بين الأفراد
وبين المقاومة
و الدفاع عن الأرض و حماية الوطن السليب.
كُل ذلك بأسلوب جميل سلس ،صادق و شفّاف يجعل القارئ يشعر و كأنه فرد من أفراد هذهِ العائلة
وعلى الرغم أن النص كُتب بقلمين مختلفين
إلاّ أنّ النص جاء منسجمًا جدًا على الرغم من إختلاف الصوت و الراوي
بالتناوب.

في الجزء الأول من الكتاب تقريبًا أول ٢٠٠ صفحة
نعيش مع عائلة صوالحة بين المنزل و الأرض
بحيث جميع الأحداث عن حياتهم اليومية و الطقوس و العادات المتوارثة في بيئتهم
من موسم الزيتون وقطف الزعتر و الكثير من التفاصيل الجميلة التي زادت من جمال النصّ.
و الجزء الثاني من الكتاب إلى نهايته يتم التركيز على إياد شقيق الكاتبة الذي يدور الكتاب تقريبًا حوله
و مقاومته للإحتلال و استشهاده أخيرًا على يدهم عام ٢٠٠٢
أخي و أرضي حكاية العائلة و الأرض و الوطن و الأمل بغدٍ أجمل بتحرير وطن مسلوب وألم وحزن لا ينتهي
على جميع الشهداء الذين قدمّوا أنفسهم في سبيل الوطن.

الرحمة لإياد صوالحة ولجميع شهداء فلسطين.
كتاب يستحق القراءة بلا شكّ.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot. My heart aches. Reading this sparked a lot of much needed conversations in my family.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting (and very sad) review of one family's life in Palestine.

[nada ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautifully written and does such an incredible job of showing how the historical events in Palestine played out on the ground and in an individual families life. Unfortunately, the story of this family is far from unusual, and many families suffer the same trials and hardships of life under military occupation and all the resistance that forms as a result.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My mornings in Kufr Ra’i often left me oscillating between serenity and unease. When a rooster cackles, a nearby dog barks, and the birds chirp through a pleasant summer breeze, one can momentarily lose sight of who is in control of this land. The hills in the distance hum secrets of the morning dew and carry stories of farmers on their way to work. All around, the landscape masks the politics in the midst, and for a moment, one could be excused for forgetting that the horizon is a prison wall and that the land is being settled by strangers. Nature gives people moments like this, perhaps in its attempts to make the rest of the day tolerable.”

[loyboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful, complicated, honest.

[Lieke Van Eekelen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant storytelling. Sireen’s personal anecdotes blend perfectly with Sami’s writing and definitely enrich the storytelling.

What stood out for me - which I will remember this book by - is how the Western gaze turns resistance into terrorism, and that this books shows another narrative on it: a narrative that is much needed. ‘Western philosophical claims about the freedom of man simply meant the freedom of Western man. Not his freedom, not that of Palestinians, not that of the whole of humanity.’

It is a book that gives voice to those that are tarred with the same brush. For me, this book challenges stereotypes and creates a more nuanced understanding of humanity and struggles over freedom. It is about resilience and resistance, family and friends, love and loss.

[Lena Mackley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took me two months to finish, but it was worth it. It was hard reading through the lives of the Sawalha family through their brother's resistance fighting against an illegal occupying force. I learned that no matter what Palestinians do, we are doomed to suffer just for living. Resistance through peace or violence gets us dead either way. Free Palestine!

[Mariana Horton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel troubled as I finish this book. The story is powerful and moving, but I struggle with the fact that the author states he has a commitment to freedom, justice, and inequality while living in Qatar and never denouncing the treatment of women and their suffering.

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping and heart wrenching tale. Free Palestine! 🇵🇸

[rad librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to put down. The blending of narration and storytelling was brilliant. This book is eye-opening, thought-provoking, and emotional. I encourage any and everyone to read Sireen's story 🇵🇸

[Mario Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sireen Sawalha shares the intimate story of her family in Palestine. In a decades-spanning story, I learned of the Sawalha family amidst the occupation of Palestine. Surveillance and violence were often the norm for Palestinians. I was transfixed by the story and felt the emotional impacts throughout. Although quite difficult at many times, it is a book that should be read.

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book in so many ways - from the way it's narrated, beautifully weaving Sireen's story and Sami's context to its politics. Sireen's story is the very definition of sumud, steadfastness and ins deeply inspiring and moving as a result. The story is also quite harrowing to endure, albeit vicariously, what they all must go through as a result of settler colonialism in Palestine.

I love that Sireen's brother, who much of the story revolves around, is not an easy hero to read about for most people in the West. And yet there Iyad is in all his glory as a dedicated resistance fighter. I love how the book makes you feel like you are re-living the second intifada as you follow Iyad's journey and Sireen's attempt to retrace his steps. I love the way Iyad's experience in prison is depicted and how resonant it is with the ongoing captivity of Palestinians in Israeli jails. Indeed, I love how Sami and Sireen's choice of language - using words like captivity - to accurate depict what it is for Palestinians who are kidnapped from their homes and loved ones and tortured in Israeli jails. I love how whenever Sami narrates the story of going to parts of 1948 Palestine - whether to follow Iyad as he goes from Israeli prison to Israeli prison or to follow the different resistance fighters as they pull off their operations - we get a history of that land: what it's origianl name is, what happened to the Palestinians who were forced off that land. It's a beautiful model for storytelling.

Sami and Sireen's use of language and their contextualizing of the land - including the insistence of Arabic place names written in the Arabic script - brings all of historic Palestine to life in profound ways.

Reading this book now - in 2025 - in the midst of massive campaigns to kidnap and imprison hundreds of Palestinians across the West Bank, especially in towns like Jenin and Turlkarem where so many of the people whose stories you will find in these pages, makes the book all the more timely, powerful, and resonant.

[Robert L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book touched a personal, cultural nerve. As an American researcher who worked on joint projects with Israeli scientists, I treasure my trips to that historical country and the friends I made even though all of these contacts have since lapsed. One evening on a visit to Israel many years ago I was invited to the home of an Israeli scientist for a wonderful meal. During that experience the host pointed out the lights we could see through his dining room window were from Jerusalem. It was not until recently that I realized I was probably in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. I have read extensively for over 50 years about the country, its people, and it's conflicts. My contacts with Palestinians have been limited. I desire to learn more about their culture, experiences, and perspective.

"My Brother, My Land" provides some of that perspective through the life of one woman from her birth in 1966 through 2022, partly in her own words but mostly through her interviews with the author and the background material he provides. Her "Brother" joins the Resistance to Israeli occupation. Her "Land" is the Occupied West Bank, a part of Palestine. One interesting aspect of this book is that there is little information available on the internet about it. There is not even a Wikipedia entry about either the book or the author. It is almost like the ideas expressed here are being suppressed.

The book offers a glimpse into Palestinian family of eight girls and five boys. We learn of the intergenerational struggle between the main character and her mother over attempts to break away from religious and cultural traditions. The mother tracks her daughter’s compliance through spies as far away as New York! The two parents try to steer their sons to education with hopes of keeping them safe but with a secret admiration for their son’s activity in the Resistance. We witness the destruction of the family’s home as punishment for the son’s activities and view the inside of an Israeli prison. We see how mutual hatred builds between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian resisters without hopes of reconciliation. I think back to this past Christmas season when we sang about the little town of Bethlehem. This town is now in the middle of a war zone where its Palestinian residents are policed by Israelis. My hopes and fears extend beyond this little town to the entire region. I pray for peace in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Damascus, Re’im, and Gaza.

[Mona]

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

What an incredibly moving portryal of the Sawalha family and, in particular, a resistance fighter. As a non-Palestinian, I've never heard of Iyad Sawalha but to see how Allah has brought forth his story 22 years after his killing so a random Sri Lankan can send a dua his way is a testimony of Allah's mercy. I think Sireen truly did a great service to her brother by bringing his story to light.

I don't have much to say beyond how beautiful this book is, and how the writing style and the parallel narrations (one of Sami Hermez and the other of Iyad's sister, Sireen) perfectly contributed to it. Having never had the chance to sit down and talk with a Palestinian, I wish this book had more stories to tell of the Sawalha family. I don't mind if there was a sequel to this book! Although I know this book was nearly 20 years in the making.

I'm also glad this book named other resistance fighters; they all deserve to be known. Mu'tasem, Hamza; I wish I knew more about them.

However, my greatest qualm with this book is the two sentences reserved in this book for the murderous Hezbollah. For the authors to label them as a resistance movement without any disclaimer or footnote or ANYthing is wrong. While my knowledge of the timeline isn't great, I suppose one can empathise with/find no fault in anbody sympathising with this group in the 80s or 90s but to mention them post 2010s without an alarm bell? No excuse. Their involvement in Syria is deplorable and the group should not be included in the same breath as Palestinian resistance.

Lastly, obviously this isn't an Islamic piece of work, so note there are some religious inaccuracies here and there.

[Nitya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A memoir of growing up in Palestine, this book was written before the current genocide in Gaza and was published in February 2024. The author grew up in Palestine and experienced firsthand what it means to live under Israeli occupation. There are numerous glimpses into the hardships of daily living for Palestinians in the occupied West bank, who have lost their land, their freedom and their right to self-determination. The author's brother becomes a member of the resistance, is caught and eventually serves years in prison. After he is released he becomes a skilled bomb maker and is involved in a few suicide missions which makes him a much wanted target for the occupation forces.
This book taught me a lot by showing firsthand the injustices Palestinians have suffered for decades.Reading this one could see how one would join an armed resistance, even if it meant prison, or death. It is a tragic tale, made even more so by the horrors happening in Gaza for the last 11 months.

[A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written and illuminating about the traditional Palestinian life and the evolution of the country over time from the perspective of a normal family. Very mixed feelings about the brother who is the main character, but that is also the point of the book. These issues are complex. Would have loved to learn more about Um Yousef or hear from her perspective - formidable and strong woman who was the pillar for their life but you don't hear from her directly as much. Also interested in what the other siblings thought and felt about all of this. Sireen was obviously very close to her brother and sees the best, as well as being abroad which tends to skew towards nostalgia and less nuance, so that clouds the narration. What about the siblings that still lived in the house or the brothers that left to escape the same tensions and realities in the country? 5 stars because it is a story worth telling, was well written and researched, and was moving

[John Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows one Palestinian family living in a small village in the northern West Bank from 1966, when Sireen Sawalha, the third daughter in the family was born until about 2002, when her younger brother, Iyad, is killed as a Palestinian martyr. The story brings out about 20 years of interviews between Sireen and the author. Most of the book is written in the author's voice, but Sireen shares her story at key times. Sireen moves to the US and struggles with the increasing political involvement and imprisonment of her younger brother. We feel all the pain of this family of 13 children. It is a story told very well, with a clear family tree and good maps of the West Bank adding to the text. It really helps one get a sense of this long conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians through the eyes of this one family.

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good read. Very sad, Hermez puts the reader inside the experience of dispossession and impotence in losing one's land or access to it. A necessary contribution to making the Palestinian experience real to people who are not living it or who have been raised on the Israeli-U.S. POV.

Very good notes (which I mostly read in one go as a final chapter), an index would have been nice. The reconstructed scenes (conversations between two or more people with no witnesses/informants) are a question in my mind. Hermez narrates those scenes as if they actually happened the way he reports them. I get doing that for the sake of narrative flow, just not sure about that as a reporting decision.

[emerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

very touching and captivating account. however the constantly changing perspectives from sireen, the omniscient narrator, and the author definitely took me out of the story at times especially when it seemed like the narrator was embellishing details of conversations/ events to make the story more engaging. i appreciated having detailed background into the history etc but at times it felt a little odd to have overly detailed things ie descriptions of clothings conversations thoughts when there’s no possible way it could’ve been known. but overall i learned a lot and i was really drawn into it

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read to learn about the Palestinian experience and the heartache and terror they have to experience every single day. After reading this book, even more the
camp of there needs to be a two state solution.No one deserves to live like this so much killing and heartbreak. Prayers that the reasonable people on both sides can figure something out this is just one of the countless similar stories out there I am sure.

[Sewan Gurung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sireen tells us the story of her family in Palestine ranging from the 60s to the present time. It puts us readers in their shoes. The daily brutality that people there face and the resistance they put up to save what little they have against forces they are inferior to.
However, like the Jasmine tree in their front gate, they persist through demolition, raids, and humiliation. Things may change, people may come and go but the memories as much as they try to eradicate find a way to remain FREE.