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Hope Is a Woman's Name: My Journey as a Bedouin Palestinian Activist in Israel
At birth it was only Amal's father who looked at her and said "I see hope in her face. I want to call her 'Amal'- meaning 'Hope'- in the hope that Allah will give us boys after her."
The fifth daughter in a patriarchal society and an indigenous Bedouin in a Jewish state, Amal Elsana came into this world fighting for her right to exist. Today she is a key shaper of public opinion on Israel's marginalized minorities.
Hope is a Woman's Name tells of Amal's journey navigating interweaving systems of power and oppression - the patriarchal and the nationalist - in her fight for justice and equality. As a shepherd at the age of 5, she led her flock across the green mountains of Laqiya, her village in the Negev in southern Israel, and later ran literacy classes for the women in her tribe in her early teens, the beginning of a lifelong career organizing people to promote policy change for Israel's Bedouin, a minority within the Palestinian minority. She later established economic empowerment programs for marginalized women, helping to found an Arab-Jewish school, and creating organizations to promote shared society. Where others come up against obstacles, Amal builds bridges; not by sacrificing her identity, but by embracing it. Each thread of her identity - Bedouin, Arab, woman, feminist, Palestinian and Israeli - is woven into the tent of her life, a tent where no one is left out in the sun.
The fifth daughter in a patriarchal society and an indigenous Bedouin in a Jewish state, Amal Elsana came into this world fighting for her right to exist. Today she is a key shaper of public opinion on Israel's marginalized minorities.
Hope is a Woman's Name tells of Amal's journey navigating interweaving systems of power and oppression - the patriarchal and the nationalist - in her fight for justice and equality. As a shepherd at the age of 5, she led her flock across the green mountains of Laqiya, her village in the Negev in southern Israel, and later ran literacy classes for the women in her tribe in her early teens, the beginning of a lifelong career organizing people to promote policy change for Israel's Bedouin, a minority within the Palestinian minority. She later established economic empowerment programs for marginalized women, helping to found an Arab-Jewish school, and creating organizations to promote shared society. Where others come up against obstacles, Amal builds bridges; not by sacrificing her identity, but by embracing it. Each thread of her identity - Bedouin, Arab, woman, feminist, Palestinian and Israeli - is woven into the tent of her life, a tent where no one is left out in the sun.
444 pages, Paperback
Published September 10, 2024
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2072 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 1, 2023
what a fascinating and incredible story!!!! i am also so grateful to have had Amal come and speak in my class for one of my university courses, here in Montreal. she is such a bright spirit and voice and her story is one that many people should read.
April 20, 2023
Incredibly powerful book including the most personal information of author’s life. This book inspires to see beyond our limitation!
April 2, 2024
Excellent! So strong,so resilient, she has never let anything stop her!
November 23, 2025
Hope Is a Woman’s Name is one of those rare books that defy categorization because Amal Elsana Alhjooj’s life refuses to fit into a single box. This is not just a memoir; it’s an entire world of struggle, identity, and resistance woven in patterns of beautiful tatreez together through the voice of a Palestinian Bedouin woman who grew up fighting battles on every front.
What makes this book so extraordinary is its multidimensional honesty. Amal shares what it meant to grow up Palestinian inside occupied Palestine (Israel) and being treated as a second-class citizen in her own home and land. At the same time, she navigated the deeply rooted patriarchy of her Bedouin community, where her dreams were an act of rebellion. The tension between these two realities, external occupation and internal tradition, creates a story unlike anything else in contemporary Palestinian literature.
There is truly no book like this. Amal brings together feminism, Bedouin culture, and the lived experience of 1948 Palestinians in a way that feels both intimate and historic. Her voice carries the weight of generations, yet it’s her personal vulnerability that makes every page hit so deeply. She speaks about identity, not as something abstract, but as something she had to fight for, shape, and reclaim against systems designed to shrink her.
What stands out most is how her story expands the narrative of Palestinian resistance. It’s not just political; it’s personal, gendered, emotional. Amal shows us that resistance can be found in the home, in the classroom, in the small choices women make to carve space for themselves in worlds built to confine them. Her life becomes a testament to the kind of courage that isn’t always seen, but is absolutely essential.
This book matters. It widens the conversation about Palestine, feminism, and Bedouin identity in a way that feels long overdue. Amal’s story is powerful not because it is loud, but because it is real, layered, painful, hopeful, and deeply human. Anyone who reads it will walk away changed, with a fuller understanding of the complexity and beauty within the Palestinian struggle.
I have read this book twice now, and I am sure it won't be the last! This writing is art.
What makes this book so extraordinary is its multidimensional honesty. Amal shares what it meant to grow up Palestinian inside occupied Palestine (Israel) and being treated as a second-class citizen in her own home and land. At the same time, she navigated the deeply rooted patriarchy of her Bedouin community, where her dreams were an act of rebellion. The tension between these two realities, external occupation and internal tradition, creates a story unlike anything else in contemporary Palestinian literature.
There is truly no book like this. Amal brings together feminism, Bedouin culture, and the lived experience of 1948 Palestinians in a way that feels both intimate and historic. Her voice carries the weight of generations, yet it’s her personal vulnerability that makes every page hit so deeply. She speaks about identity, not as something abstract, but as something she had to fight for, shape, and reclaim against systems designed to shrink her.
What stands out most is how her story expands the narrative of Palestinian resistance. It’s not just political; it’s personal, gendered, emotional. Amal shows us that resistance can be found in the home, in the classroom, in the small choices women make to carve space for themselves in worlds built to confine them. Her life becomes a testament to the kind of courage that isn’t always seen, but is absolutely essential.
This book matters. It widens the conversation about Palestine, feminism, and Bedouin identity in a way that feels long overdue. Amal’s story is powerful not because it is loud, but because it is real, layered, painful, hopeful, and deeply human. Anyone who reads it will walk away changed, with a fuller understanding of the complexity and beauty within the Palestinian struggle.
I have read this book twice now, and I am sure it won't be the last! This writing is art.
August 3, 2025
I first met Amal in 2010 or 2011, when I was a high school student in an excellence program gradutuation ceromony. She was invited as a guest speaker, and I still remember the electricity in the room when she told us her story, how she became the first Bedouin woman to pursue higher education. Her courage stunned me. As a teenager from a conservative Bedouin family, I couldn’t imagine even attending university. But Amal affirmed my rebelious seed in me that day: seeds of possibility, amal(hope).
I knew my family would never allow me to walk that path. Still, a quiet rebellion began inside me. I was determined to fight for my future, even if I didn’t yet know how.
10 years later, after escaping that society myself and starting a new life in Canada, I saw Amal’s name again, this time on a book cover. Hope Is a Woman’s Name. The title alone gave me chills.
Reading Amal’s story was like finding a buried piece of my own. we had similar thoughts and inner dialogue of feeling like a burden to our tribe and people who loved us. Her writing is raw, luminous, and unflinchingly honest. When her grandmother told her: “A free woman does not fear anyone.”
I didn’t grow up hearing those words. I didn’t have a grandmother, mother, or father who told me I could be free. But access to a school library and I had people like Amal speaking up.. women who dared to question the rules and dared to befirend what we were brainwashed as our "enemies" She made it possible for me to believe I could belong to those women too.
Amal, you don’t know this, but your story saved many of us who were quietly watching. Hope Is a Woman’s Name is not just a memoir. It’s a torch passed down. Thank you for carrying the flame.
I knew my family would never allow me to walk that path. Still, a quiet rebellion began inside me. I was determined to fight for my future, even if I didn’t yet know how.
10 years later, after escaping that society myself and starting a new life in Canada, I saw Amal’s name again, this time on a book cover. Hope Is a Woman’s Name. The title alone gave me chills.
Reading Amal’s story was like finding a buried piece of my own. we had similar thoughts and inner dialogue of feeling like a burden to our tribe and people who loved us. Her writing is raw, luminous, and unflinchingly honest. When her grandmother told her: “A free woman does not fear anyone.”
I didn’t grow up hearing those words. I didn’t have a grandmother, mother, or father who told me I could be free. But access to a school library and I had people like Amal speaking up.. women who dared to question the rules and dared to befirend what we were brainwashed as our "enemies" She made it possible for me to believe I could belong to those women too.
Amal, you don’t know this, but your story saved many of us who were quietly watching. Hope Is a Woman’s Name is not just a memoir. It’s a torch passed down. Thank you for carrying the flame.
November 30, 2025
I read most of this memoir in the summer, and then my reading hiatus hit and I hadn't picked it up since august, despite absolutely loving it. I was very happy to see that I still loved it even after that intermission!
amal is genuinely one of the most amazing women I've ever read about. her life story is incredibly raw, authentic, and honest, and hearing about her life's work is so inspiring. the amount of energy she's invested into a state that clearly hasn't given her the same consideration is one of the most selfless endeavors I've ever read about. the way she also is able to navigate controversial discussions from a humane lens is beautiful as well; she's able to be an activist while also being equitable, which I think is an incredible trait, especially for someone in her position.
I highly recommend this narrative; I'm not sure how accessible it is, since I got it through a goodreads giveaway, but it was one of the most down-to-earth, interesting, and impactful memoirs I've read. besides being extremely relevant to current events, I also think it serves as an amazing example of someone using their life to truly create good.
*disclaimer: this is a review of an ARC received from a goodreads giveaway!*
amal is genuinely one of the most amazing women I've ever read about. her life story is incredibly raw, authentic, and honest, and hearing about her life's work is so inspiring. the amount of energy she's invested into a state that clearly hasn't given her the same consideration is one of the most selfless endeavors I've ever read about. the way she also is able to navigate controversial discussions from a humane lens is beautiful as well; she's able to be an activist while also being equitable, which I think is an incredible trait, especially for someone in her position.
I highly recommend this narrative; I'm not sure how accessible it is, since I got it through a goodreads giveaway, but it was one of the most down-to-earth, interesting, and impactful memoirs I've read. besides being extremely relevant to current events, I also think it serves as an amazing example of someone using their life to truly create good.
*disclaimer: this is a review of an ARC received from a goodreads giveaway!*
March 26, 2025
An incredible journey of Bedouins and their struggle in Israel. Way before the events of October 7th.
Although they are Israeli citizens and are native to the land of Palestine they are still to this day fighting for recognition and land rights.
Following Amals journey through her activism and fight for Bedouin rights, she weaves her story so tenderly its heart wrenching.
She is on the ground empowering women and looking for real life solutions.
She now lives in Montreal and is a professor at McGill where she teaches about the indigenous struggle, activism and advocacy, and through her social work she is still fighting for women's rights, Bedouins and Palestinians rights.
Although they are Israeli citizens and are native to the land of Palestine they are still to this day fighting for recognition and land rights.
Following Amals journey through her activism and fight for Bedouin rights, she weaves her story so tenderly its heart wrenching.
She is on the ground empowering women and looking for real life solutions.
She now lives in Montreal and is a professor at McGill where she teaches about the indigenous struggle, activism and advocacy, and through her social work she is still fighting for women's rights, Bedouins and Palestinians rights.
November 16, 2025
This was a most interesting memoir of a young Bedouin Palestinian feminist peace activist who is indigenous to what is now Israel.
In her own tribal structure, she has to fight so hard for the female voice and rights. As a Bedouin Palestinian, she has to fight for the most basic rights and living standards for her people. She does this all in a way to try to peacefully work together with her Jewish neighbors. Quite a delicate walk trying to respect her traditions while moving forward.
I need to look up what her life has been like since she ended the memoir with her flight to Canada for her PhD.
In her own tribal structure, she has to fight so hard for the female voice and rights. As a Bedouin Palestinian, she has to fight for the most basic rights and living standards for her people. She does this all in a way to try to peacefully work together with her Jewish neighbors. Quite a delicate walk trying to respect her traditions while moving forward.
I need to look up what her life has been like since she ended the memoir with her flight to Canada for her PhD.
November 7, 2025
An evocative book that unabashedly speaks truth to power. Amal writes ever so fiercely highlighting urgent problems affecting the Bedouin community in the Naqab and beyond.
Her writing is simultaneously uplifting and heart-wrenching. Her thinking is comprehensive and forms a whole, in which art, politics, Indigenous knowledge, community organizing, literature, hope, love and social justice are inseparable. A must-read!
Her writing is simultaneously uplifting and heart-wrenching. Her thinking is comprehensive and forms a whole, in which art, politics, Indigenous knowledge, community organizing, literature, hope, love and social justice are inseparable. A must-read!
January 31, 2026
Amal’s story is compelling, starting from her childhood and youth in a Bedouin community in Israel-Palestine. She always knew she was meant to be an activist from the time she was old enough to demand equal portions of food compared with her brothers’. Her journey to better the lives of the women in her village and her continuous battle to get a good education was supported by her father. This memoir is a story of hope and resilience, beautifully told with wisdom and compassion.
September 23, 2024
I really enjoyed this book about a woman in Israel who becomes an Activist. Her story is really inspiring.
October 31, 2024
I had the pleasure of meeting Amal at Montreal Review of Books' Fall Launch 2024. Here's my full review of her memoir: https://mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/h...
February 14, 2025
One of the most important and beautiful books I have ever read, I strongly recommend it.
May 3, 2025
Could not put this book down!
May 13, 2025
I met Amal when she came to speak at my school and bought the book then. It's a very human book about very human experiences. It made me laugh and cry and motivated me to want to help others. It broadened my understanding of Israel and Palestine and gave me insight into a life that's very different from my own. I want everyone to read this book.
June 13, 2023
An amazing memoir by a powerful female community organizer from the Beduin community bringing jobs, schools and other critical programs to Bedouin communities - often the unrecognized villages. Her hard work and her hope and belief that all people in Israel can work together toward a just society brought her much admiration and some condemnation from both the Jewish Israeli and Palestinian communities. She is brilliant, fearless and an incredibly hard worker and honestly shared her extraordinary experience. I am grateful for this glimpse into her world.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews