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Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation
For more than six decades, Israel and Palestine have been the center of one of the world's most widely reported yet least understood human rights crises. In Palestine Speaks men and women from the West Bank and Gaza describe in their own words how their lives have been shaped by the conflict. This includes eyewitness accounts of the most recent attacks on Gaza in 2014.
The collection includes Ebtihaj, whose son, born during the first intifada, was killed by Israeli soldiers during a night raid almost twenty years later. Nader, a professional marathon runner from the Gaza Strip who is determined to pursue his dream of competing in international races despite countless challenges, including severe travel restrictions and a lack of resources to help him train.
The collection includes Ebtihaj, whose son, born during the first intifada, was killed by Israeli soldiers during a night raid almost twenty years later. Nader, a professional marathon runner from the Gaza Strip who is determined to pursue his dream of competing in international races despite countless challenges, including severe travel restrictions and a lack of resources to help him train.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 11, 2014
72 people are currently reading
2012 people want to read
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June 2, 2024“One day, changes will happen - history proves this. One day, sooner or later, the Palestinians will have their rights.
When the world looks at Palestine I do not think they see the full situation. If people want to see the reality of the situation, they will see. If they want to hear the reality, they will hear. But if they don’t want to know the reality of the situation, they won’t, even if it’s right there in front of them.”
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a Palestinian living under an apartheid settler colonial regime, you should read this book.
Each and every testimony documented in this book was so powerful… yet incredibly heartbreaking. Despite the tragedy that everyone is subjugated to under the Israeli occupation, I couldn’t help but see an underlying thread of courage and resilience in each and every voice.
But in saying that, I didn’t care for the two Israeli settler perspectives that was included (one was a loud and proud Zionist, and the other was a pro-Palestinian activist... who seemed more like he had some sort of a victim mentality lmfao). In the preface, the authors do discuss why they chose to include their voices, but it made ZERO sense to do so. This book is called Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation! Hello? Neither of them are Palestinian, nor are they living under the occupation. It was completely unnecessary and just downright disrespectful. And boy, did the Zionist perspective make my blood boil!
Other than those two perspectives, I appreciated the great selection of diverse Palestinian testimonies. Ebtihaj Be’erat’s account about her son, Abdal Aziz, will probably stay with me forever. No mother should ever have to lose their child like that.
Please continue to amplify Palestinian voices. Use your platforms. Contact your reps. Sign petitions. Attend protests and rallies. BDS. 🤍🖤💚❤️🍉
And if you are able to donate, please check out Operation Olive Branch!
Note: No rating, because I don’t rate people’s life experiences.
November 23, 2023
enhancing palestinian voices is so important these days more than ever. keep talking about palestine. keep calling for the end of the apartheid regime holding palestinians prisoners in their own lands. end the occupation. free palestine 🇵🇸
January 18, 2024
Enhancing palestinian voices is extremely important these days more than ever It has been 75 years & 97 days !
These are personal stories from Palestinians all over the country. They represent a wide variety of backgrounds: Muslim, Christian and Jew, fisherman and farmer, physicist and physician, middle-class and destitute.Each more saddening and heartbreaking than the previous one, especially when you sit to think this is their life! most of which is what these people experience every single day, how unfairly difficult life is for Palestinians living in the West Bank and especially Gaza. The crimes against the Palestinians told so directly here are enraging. Israel is truly an Apartheid state.
The love Palestinians have for their country is plainly obvious from their narratives,their resilience and hope is one of a kind ! Their courage and determination is admirable in the face of the horrendous treatment they endure at the hands of the oppressor. Nothing justifies the unregulated overuse of administrative detention that allows the Israeli Zionist government to keep people imprisoned and subject to extreme interrogation for months and months with no filing of charges, nothing justifies destroying their property and illegally occupying the Palestinian peoples homes, nothing justifies stopping paramedics from treating the injured at gunpoint amongst other atrocities.
In the back of the book, you can also find appendices for more information on the timeline and a glossary to help understand what is talked about in the interviews.
Free Palestine.
Ceasefire now.
These are personal stories from Palestinians all over the country. They represent a wide variety of backgrounds: Muslim, Christian and Jew, fisherman and farmer, physicist and physician, middle-class and destitute.Each more saddening and heartbreaking than the previous one, especially when you sit to think this is their life! most of which is what these people experience every single day, how unfairly difficult life is for Palestinians living in the West Bank and especially Gaza. The crimes against the Palestinians told so directly here are enraging. Israel is truly an Apartheid state.
The love Palestinians have for their country is plainly obvious from their narratives,their resilience and hope is one of a kind ! Their courage and determination is admirable in the face of the horrendous treatment they endure at the hands of the oppressor. Nothing justifies the unregulated overuse of administrative detention that allows the Israeli Zionist government to keep people imprisoned and subject to extreme interrogation for months and months with no filing of charges, nothing justifies destroying their property and illegally occupying the Palestinian peoples homes, nothing justifies stopping paramedics from treating the injured at gunpoint amongst other atrocities.
In the back of the book, you can also find appendices for more information on the timeline and a glossary to help understand what is talked about in the interviews.
Free Palestine.
Ceasefire now.
September 3, 2019
I am partial to oral history, so I appreciated these 16 personal narratives by Palestinians, the result of interviews conducted between 2011-2014. They represent a wide variety of backgrounds: Muslim, Christian and Jew, fisherman and farmer, physicist and physician, middle-class and destitute.
January 28, 2024
This was a very difficult book to assign a star rating to. It's a collection of stories from various people living in Gaza and the West Bank, all but two of whom are Palestinian.
The bulk of this book was excellent. Personal narratives from Palestinians are so vital, and I hugely admire the strength and honesty of the Palestinian folk featured in the book - these stories are difficult to read, so I know they must be incredibly difficult to tell.
That being said, I find the decision to include the narrative of a Zionist settler - someone who is of a position of authority in one of the illegal settlements in the West Bank - extremely questionable. I understand the desire to fully represent the demographic make-up of Palestine, which does include Israelis, but the narrative was genuinely disturbing, with the settler repeatedly making reference to Islamophobic and anti-Arab tropes in his narrative. It was uncomfortable to read, especially in the context of this being marketed as a book of Palestinian narratives. It seems to be verging on 'both sides'-ing, the way Palestinian narratives are placed alongside the narrative of one of their oppressors.
I'm not Palestinian, though, so I definitely don't feel comfortable discrediting this book - as I said, the vast majority of it is enlightening and very important. I'd definitely be interested to hear Palestinian opinions of the editors' choice to include a settler in this collection, though.
The bulk of this book was excellent. Personal narratives from Palestinians are so vital, and I hugely admire the strength and honesty of the Palestinian folk featured in the book - these stories are difficult to read, so I know they must be incredibly difficult to tell.
That being said, I find the decision to include the narrative of a Zionist settler - someone who is of a position of authority in one of the illegal settlements in the West Bank - extremely questionable. I understand the desire to fully represent the demographic make-up of Palestine, which does include Israelis, but the narrative was genuinely disturbing, with the settler repeatedly making reference to Islamophobic and anti-Arab tropes in his narrative. It was uncomfortable to read, especially in the context of this being marketed as a book of Palestinian narratives. It seems to be verging on 'both sides'-ing, the way Palestinian narratives are placed alongside the narrative of one of their oppressors.
I'm not Palestinian, though, so I definitely don't feel comfortable discrediting this book - as I said, the vast majority of it is enlightening and very important. I'd definitely be interested to hear Palestinian opinions of the editors' choice to include a settler in this collection, though.
November 15, 2017
"After I finished my trip to Gaza, I had to go back through screening at Erez. This time, at the start of the checkpoint, I saw the two signs--one for "Israelis and Foreigners," and the other just said, "Others." You know, it's like they want us to feel that we belong to nothing. They could write "Palestinians," they could write "Arabs," but "Others"?
--Ibtisam Ilzghayyer, Director of Ghirass Cultural Center in Bethlehem, West Bank
--Ibtisam Ilzghayyer, Director of Ghirass Cultural Center in Bethlehem, West Bank
September 4, 2025
voor vorig jaar wist ik nauwelijks iets over palestina; als kind werd me geleerd dat gaza een gevaarlijke plek was maar veel verder dan dat ging het niet - de reden is me nooit echt verteld
dit was een hele interessante bundel van verhalen en testemonies van palestijnen tussen ongeveer 1980 en 2014 en hoe zij het leven onder de israëlische occupatie ervaren en het heeft me heel veel geleerd over palestina pre-2023
ik vond de stijl niet heel fijn om te lezen (misschien omdat de interviews niet helemaal lekker vertaald zijn? niet zeker - maar alle stemmen leken op elkaar en dat vond ik irritant) maar het is wel heel waardevol om een beter beeld van de geschiedenis te krijgen!
dit was een hele interessante bundel van verhalen en testemonies van palestijnen tussen ongeveer 1980 en 2014 en hoe zij het leven onder de israëlische occupatie ervaren en het heeft me heel veel geleerd over palestina pre-2023
ik vond de stijl niet heel fijn om te lezen (misschien omdat de interviews niet helemaal lekker vertaald zijn? niet zeker - maar alle stemmen leken op elkaar en dat vond ik irritant) maar het is wel heel waardevol om een beter beeld van de geschiedenis te krijgen!
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June 19, 2021sometimes we talk in borders, in conflicts and irreconcilable differences but nothing eats harder than the human stories, of suffering and of hope, boundless helpless hope.
February 16, 2024
❌️ CEASEFIRE NOW ❌️
It's nothing short of surreal to be reading books about an ongoing genocide of +70 years that is currently more deadly than ever... and it continues to go largely unpunished; rather, continues to be financially backed by governments around the world. The act of reading about Palestine feels almost silly - why not just turn on the news?
But the battle !srael is waging is also cultural: that's how propaganda takes root. And a lot of us are digging it out; by reading and listening, we're taking up arms against beliefs that would have us justifying the massacre of an entire country.
This is a collection of sixteen stories compiled by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke between 2011-2014 in Gaza and the West Bank. The stories offer a glimpse at the lives of people from diverse backgrounds: laborers, professionals, homemakers, activists, lawyers, among others.
All of them share the same fears and anxieties of life under occupation and constant threat, but also the same sense of pride and resistance, of community, of love for their land. In their stories, the violence is made flesh in the most basic, daily experiences a person can have. This is a good reminder that, yes, governments set the structures that make settler colonialism possible, but civilians are not innocent insofar as they uphold those structures for personal gain - and that’s also true for people in the West. This is a highly recommended read for me.
*Note: Two of the interviewees are Israeli, a decision that is explained by the editors in the intro. Personally, I was okay with this, as I didn't feel like it shifted the focus from Palestinian voices. One of them is an anti-occupation activist who shares the perspective of being raised in Israeli society and why things are as they are, something I thought was valuable. The other is a proud settler, but even then, reading that story among all the others only uplifted the truth of the Palestinian experience, imo.
⚠️ In solidarity with Palestine, versobooks is currently offering this and other books for free at their website.
It's nothing short of surreal to be reading books about an ongoing genocide of +70 years that is currently more deadly than ever... and it continues to go largely unpunished; rather, continues to be financially backed by governments around the world. The act of reading about Palestine feels almost silly - why not just turn on the news?
But the battle !srael is waging is also cultural: that's how propaganda takes root. And a lot of us are digging it out; by reading and listening, we're taking up arms against beliefs that would have us justifying the massacre of an entire country.
This is a collection of sixteen stories compiled by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke between 2011-2014 in Gaza and the West Bank. The stories offer a glimpse at the lives of people from diverse backgrounds: laborers, professionals, homemakers, activists, lawyers, among others.
All of them share the same fears and anxieties of life under occupation and constant threat, but also the same sense of pride and resistance, of community, of love for their land. In their stories, the violence is made flesh in the most basic, daily experiences a person can have. This is a good reminder that, yes, governments set the structures that make settler colonialism possible, but civilians are not innocent insofar as they uphold those structures for personal gain - and that’s also true for people in the West. This is a highly recommended read for me.
*Note: Two of the interviewees are Israeli, a decision that is explained by the editors in the intro. Personally, I was okay with this, as I didn't feel like it shifted the focus from Palestinian voices. One of them is an anti-occupation activist who shares the perspective of being raised in Israeli society and why things are as they are, something I thought was valuable. The other is a proud settler, but even then, reading that story among all the others only uplifted the truth of the Palestinian experience, imo.
⚠️ In solidarity with Palestine, versobooks is currently offering this and other books for free at their website.
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December 1, 2023Read in part of #ReadPalestine (Nov 29-Dec 5) and Publishers for Palestine which allowed FREE ebook access to Palestinian voices
https://publishersforpalestine.org/
To recount your struggles and horrors is such an incredibly brave and courageous act, and not to their benefit but for their survival and the hope for freedom .. my heart goes out to all under oppression and I hope and pray for a #FreePalestine
In light of the western “journalistic” practices in this 2023, the integrity, empathy and fight for the truth for Palestinians is also respectable, and the range and variety of interviewees was admirable, even the inclusion of some israeli settlers
“THE SIGN SAID ‘OTHERS’”
“WE ARE LIKE PRISONERS HERE”
“OUR WINDOWS WERE ALWAYS OPEN, SO WE GOT USED TO THE SMELL OF TEARGAS”
“THIS IS THE LIFE FOR THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE”
“MY CHILDREN ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN MY LIFE”
“EVERY SINGLE DAY I EXPECT TO BE KILLED”
“MY WIFE WANTS TO LEAVE FOR GOOD”
“EVERYWHERE I LOOKED I SAW SMOKE”
“SOMETIMES PEOPLE JUST DISAPPEAR”
“GOING INTO THE UNKNOWN”
The discrimination, the intimidation, the abuse, the cruelty of israel on Palestinians, all for power, for land, knows no bounds .. seeing the devastation in the news is harrowing, insulting to humanity to have let any governing body commit genocide and ethnic cleaning with absolute impunity can make a saint lose all hope .. but I find reading these first hand accounts, humanizing these lives, reading their love for their life and land .. it would shame them to give up ..
These are people with hopes, aspirations, experiences to be had, life to live and they simply aren’t allowed, israel and their policies, their military, their control at every single level for every single resource, for every single action restricts a whole people from their basics rights and it just isn’t fair
So please keep sharing, keep educating, and keep the pressure on western governments to save what’s left of the humanity of the complicit
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Free.
https://publishersforpalestine.org/
To recount your struggles and horrors is such an incredibly brave and courageous act, and not to their benefit but for their survival and the hope for freedom .. my heart goes out to all under oppression and I hope and pray for a #FreePalestine
In light of the western “journalistic” practices in this 2023, the integrity, empathy and fight for the truth for Palestinians is also respectable, and the range and variety of interviewees was admirable, even the inclusion of some israeli settlers
“THE SIGN SAID ‘OTHERS’”
“WE ARE LIKE PRISONERS HERE”
“OUR WINDOWS WERE ALWAYS OPEN, SO WE GOT USED TO THE SMELL OF TEARGAS”
“THIS IS THE LIFE FOR THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE”
“MY CHILDREN ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN MY LIFE”
“EVERY SINGLE DAY I EXPECT TO BE KILLED”
“MY WIFE WANTS TO LEAVE FOR GOOD”
“EVERYWHERE I LOOKED I SAW SMOKE”
“SOMETIMES PEOPLE JUST DISAPPEAR”
“GOING INTO THE UNKNOWN”
The discrimination, the intimidation, the abuse, the cruelty of israel on Palestinians, all for power, for land, knows no bounds .. seeing the devastation in the news is harrowing, insulting to humanity to have let any governing body commit genocide and ethnic cleaning with absolute impunity can make a saint lose all hope .. but I find reading these first hand accounts, humanizing these lives, reading their love for their life and land .. it would shame them to give up ..
These are people with hopes, aspirations, experiences to be had, life to live and they simply aren’t allowed, israel and their policies, their military, their control at every single level for every single resource, for every single action restricts a whole people from their basics rights and it just isn’t fair
So please keep sharing, keep educating, and keep the pressure on western governments to save what’s left of the humanity of the complicit
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Free.
August 2, 2024
never read a book like this before. the authors sought out people of palestine ready to share their daily and personal experiences living under israel's cruelty. such direct stories, without all the statistics and timelines, take away the fog from mass reports. you get to see the brutality up close. this is easily one of my favorite books i read about the subject.
my one gripe was the inclusion of a shameless zionist's voice. the authors explained their reasoning for it's inclusion, and i understand it, but it did not make it any less stomach churning to read the words of a pathetic racist justifying the torture and occupation. if you read this book, you could easily skip the chapter of "Amiad Cohen" without missing out on everything else great in this book. zionist being blood thirsty; fork found in kitchen. you've seen it, you get it.
my one gripe was the inclusion of a shameless zionist's voice. the authors explained their reasoning for it's inclusion, and i understand it, but it did not make it any less stomach churning to read the words of a pathetic racist justifying the torture and occupation. if you read this book, you could easily skip the chapter of "Amiad Cohen" without missing out on everything else great in this book. zionist being blood thirsty; fork found in kitchen. you've seen it, you get it.
February 21, 2015
Even though we all have grown up with the endless row of flair-ups in this conflict ridden part of the world, it still takes your breath away to read of the extreme injustices the Palestinians have to go through every day. And all carried out by a people who have moved to this land seeking peace and security. I don't think it could have gone more wrong, and the West, Britain and US especially, holds large parts of the blame, both historically and presently.
How can there ever be a resolution when the extremes on either side gets to set the agenda?
How can there ever be a resolution when the extremes on either side gets to set the agenda?
September 9, 2020
Very powerful narratives that do a great job of humanising the struggle of the Palestinian people and realities of living under occupation. However, I personally do not think there should have been any Israelis in the book.
October 21, 2023
The type of daily oppression that Palestinians are subject to is not easily conveyed through statistics or in history books. This is where oral history, especially so well curated, width incredible breadth and depth, really shines.
December 20, 2024
Denna (o Drömfakulteten) är den bästa bok jag läst 2024
Jag finner inga ord för eländet som palestinier får uppleva.
Det var så givande, lärorikt, o viktigt, att läsa om gemene palestiniers liv. Har lärt mig så mycket om allt ifrån Palestinas historia, check-points, settlers, Israels tvivlande domstol o om palestinsk kultur.
Så bra att läsa om man vill bli insatt!!!!!!
Jag finner inga ord för eländet som palestinier får uppleva.
Det var så givande, lärorikt, o viktigt, att läsa om gemene palestiniers liv. Har lärt mig så mycket om allt ifrån Palestinas historia, check-points, settlers, Israels tvivlande domstol o om palestinsk kultur.
Så bra att läsa om man vill bli insatt!!!!!!
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November 13, 2023feels wrong to rate this but hugely important read.
November 18, 2023
It is perhaps impossible to overstate the importance of personal stories. Every individual contains multitudes. Multitudes of what? It depends. History books and books about the sociopolitical situation of a given topic have power but in the absence of personal emotional connection it is difficult to really feel the full weight. History books deal in numbers, and even as we see the death toll go up in the genocide in Gaza it is hard to conceptualize that every one of those people has a story as deep and complex and as human as yours and mine. So far, over 5,000 children have died in the Israeli genocide of Palestine currently happening in the Gaza Strip as I write this. And even they had stories as rich, as beautiful, as simple, and most importantly as human as all of our stories. The vastness contained in a person can not be overstated or comprehended even by the person themselves. No matter what age, every person contains complexity beyond comprehension. This book is a great reminder that everyone has a story. Reading this book you will laugh, widen your eyes, and mostly cry. It feels cliche to say that if you only read one book this year make it this one, but I really do mean it.
April 11, 2024
When the world looks at Palestine I do not think they see the full situation. If people want to see the reality of the situation, they will see. If they want to hear...they will hear. But if they don't know the reality of the situation, they won't, even if it's right in front of them. p40
Ibtisan Ilzghayyer
When what we are confronted with confounds logic and pisses on our cherished values, the tendency is to deny the atrocity as unbelievable. McSweeney's remarkable Voice of Witness series ² "uses oral history to illuminate contemporary human rights crises...around the world".
No interviewer intrudes to mar the flow of narrative which results in a direct experience of each witness expressing their own truth. These vivid testimonies set me firmly in place. Even when some of the opinions expressed were hard to take, I found the honesty endearing. Speaking of her son, a grieving mother exclaims
He would say that if a patrol came into the village and he didn't throw a stone, it would hurt his conscience. He wanted to express what he felt about the occupation, that this is our country, not theirs. p131
It's going to be the same thing until we break the cycle. p75
This volume, edited by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke, was published in 2014. The people we meet in these pages represent a spectrum of circumstances. Most of them reveal an extraordinary resilience almost hidden in their normal lives. Many of them endured long periods of 'administrative detention ' and some of them have never been outside of Gaza.
In the light of recent and ongoing events, a follow up is due. What has happened to these people and places we hung out?
The hardest part of any conflict is when you feel trapped between two powers, waiting to be the victim. p55
Ibtisan Ilzghayyer
When what we are confronted with confounds logic and pisses on our cherished values, the tendency is to deny the atrocity as unbelievable. McSweeney's remarkable Voice of Witness series ² "uses oral history to illuminate contemporary human rights crises...around the world".
No interviewer intrudes to mar the flow of narrative which results in a direct experience of each witness expressing their own truth. These vivid testimonies set me firmly in place. Even when some of the opinions expressed were hard to take, I found the honesty endearing. Speaking of her son, a grieving mother exclaims
He would say that if a patrol came into the village and he didn't throw a stone, it would hurt his conscience. He wanted to express what he felt about the occupation, that this is our country, not theirs. p131
It's going to be the same thing until we break the cycle. p75
This volume, edited by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke, was published in 2014. The people we meet in these pages represent a spectrum of circumstances. Most of them reveal an extraordinary resilience almost hidden in their normal lives. Many of them endured long periods of 'administrative detention ' and some of them have never been outside of Gaza.
In the light of recent and ongoing events, a follow up is due. What has happened to these people and places we hung out?
The hardest part of any conflict is when you feel trapped between two powers, waiting to be the victim. p55
January 30, 2024
I actually didn't want to rate this book initially because I thought "why would I rate a book about the collective grief of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation?"... but then I saw some of the reviews that were rated low on purpose to derail the stories of Palestinians... so here we are: 5 stars.
I cannot recommend this book enough to those who haven't read it yet. It's a collection of stories about the lived experiences of Palestinians both from Gaza and the West Bank (with the exception of 2 stories from the viewpoint of Israelis) and it gives an idea of how life is like under Israeli occupation. This book only records these stories until July/August 2014 and... well we know what's happening now in 2024. It's been more than 100+ days of genocide in Gaza. While reading this book I kept thinking about the people featured in here and kept wondering how they were... if some of these people even survived the events happening in Gaza now.
Reading this book, I realised that things have always been the same for Palestinians... except now that it's worse than ever before. I urge everyone reading this review to read this book. Keep the Palestinians in your heart and in your prayers... and especially front and center in your activism.
Ceasefire now!
I cannot recommend this book enough to those who haven't read it yet. It's a collection of stories about the lived experiences of Palestinians both from Gaza and the West Bank (with the exception of 2 stories from the viewpoint of Israelis) and it gives an idea of how life is like under Israeli occupation. This book only records these stories until July/August 2014 and... well we know what's happening now in 2024. It's been more than 100+ days of genocide in Gaza. While reading this book I kept thinking about the people featured in here and kept wondering how they were... if some of these people even survived the events happening in Gaza now.
Reading this book, I realised that things have always been the same for Palestinians... except now that it's worse than ever before. I urge everyone reading this review to read this book. Keep the Palestinians in your heart and in your prayers... and especially front and center in your activism.
Ceasefire now!
September 20, 2025
This book is incredible but very sad at the same time. These individuals are so brave and may their voices be heard all over the world.
This was published in 2014, we are in 2025 now and things have not changed, it’s gotten so much worse. Seeing the way Palestinians have to live their life in fear from the minute they are born is sickening. No person should have to live their entire lives in fear. this book and every individuals perspective was eye-opening, it is a book everyone needs to read right now. This information is just as relevant today as it was back then.
It was beautiful to see how every individuals perspective never failed to mention family and how important it is for Palestinians. These beautiful people are filled with so much love and warmth for each other, it was beautiful to learn more about their culture and how precious it is.
I wanted to rate this 5 stars but the only reason I didn’t cause I think there was no need to include 2 Israeli perspectives, I had no sympathy for any of them.(sorry not sorry)
Overall an amazing book, this is still happening, this is still real life for Palestinians, this book is real life, real stories and nothing has changed. I truly hope and pray for every individual in this book is safe and with their families, and I hope and pray for the day where Palestine is free.
FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸
This was published in 2014, we are in 2025 now and things have not changed, it’s gotten so much worse. Seeing the way Palestinians have to live their life in fear from the minute they are born is sickening. No person should have to live their entire lives in fear. this book and every individuals perspective was eye-opening, it is a book everyone needs to read right now. This information is just as relevant today as it was back then.
It was beautiful to see how every individuals perspective never failed to mention family and how important it is for Palestinians. These beautiful people are filled with so much love and warmth for each other, it was beautiful to learn more about their culture and how precious it is.
I wanted to rate this 5 stars but the only reason I didn’t cause I think there was no need to include 2 Israeli perspectives, I had no sympathy for any of them.(sorry not sorry)
Overall an amazing book, this is still happening, this is still real life for Palestinians, this book is real life, real stories and nothing has changed. I truly hope and pray for every individual in this book is safe and with their families, and I hope and pray for the day where Palestine is free.
FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸
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November 6, 2023Read November 2023
A glimpse into Palestinian life & culture.
The interviews included in this book were conducted between 2011 - 2014 with the final rounds completed just weeks before the July 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza. Interviewees with a variety of backgrounds talk about their life in Palestine. What it’s like around 2011/2014, but also how it was growing up and even some family history.
In the back of the book, you can also find appendices for more information on the timeline and a glossary to help understand what is talked about in the interviews.
With only sixteen interviews (from almost 10 years ago at this point), it’s in no way a complete representation for all of Palestine but, considering how often Palestinians are dehumanized by politicians and mainstream media, it’s still an important read.
A glimpse into Palestinian life & culture.
The interviews included in this book were conducted between 2011 - 2014 with the final rounds completed just weeks before the July 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza. Interviewees with a variety of backgrounds talk about their life in Palestine. What it’s like around 2011/2014, but also how it was growing up and even some family history.
In the back of the book, you can also find appendices for more information on the timeline and a glossary to help understand what is talked about in the interviews.
With only sixteen interviews (from almost 10 years ago at this point), it’s in no way a complete representation for all of Palestine but, considering how often Palestinians are dehumanized by politicians and mainstream media, it’s still an important read.
January 16, 2025
This is really informative without being academic or overwhelming. It's largely personal narratives of daily life in Palestine from the perspectives of Palestinians, though there are two Israeli contributors as well. There are footnotes to help with any terms or historical events or cultural references that might be less familiar to people from different backgrounds. The contributors come from a variety of professional fields and demographics, but there are similar threads in most of their stories. It's heartbreaking and also so inspiring to read about the love these people have for their country. So many of them have had the opportunity to get out and have chosen to stay or return, which is amazing, particularly after you read about the brutality so many of them have been exposed to and have endured.
There are several typos, which are unfortunate but not earth-shattering. I think this is a really good, accessible read to get a better idea of the tensions in Palestine and its history with Israel, particularly if you are just starting to learn about the topic.
There are several typos, which are unfortunate but not earth-shattering. I think this is a really good, accessible read to get a better idea of the tensions in Palestine and its history with Israel, particularly if you are just starting to learn about the topic.
May 5, 2025
fun fact, I had been thinking about buying this book for months, and one day I just wanted to stare at it some more, noticed that the last copy on the shelf was a big damaged, I went to a worker and asked if they happened to have more stock, they told me to follow them all the way to the till where they rang it with a discounted price
I didn't not say I wanted to buy it but being the doormat that I am I just silently paid for it and shed a tear (twas 26e with the discount!!!!!!!)
anyway, kind of glad because otherwise I probably would not have read it (I have a hard time reading non fiction on my reader) and this was amazing so, yeah
I didn't not say I wanted to buy it but being the doormat that I am I just silently paid for it and shed a tear (twas 26e with the discount!!!!!!!)
anyway, kind of glad because otherwise I probably would not have read it (I have a hard time reading non fiction on my reader) and this was amazing so, yeah
Read
February 8, 2025Fick låna av Harriet under Asien. Det är ju lite läskigt att glänta på dörren till ens kunskapslucka ang historia & konflikter i Mellanöstern och hur allt hänger ihop. Boken var i alla fall väldigt lättillgänglig och personlig utan att bli för förenklande tycker jag, vilket ju är en konst!!
December 12, 2023
Really good for oral history about Palestine and easy way to learn key events of history.
Unsettling to think how much has escalated in 10 years.
Unsettling to think how much has escalated in 10 years.
Read
January 7, 2024I’m not going to give this a rating because essentially interview transcripts. Powerful and important every day stories out of Palestine. Definitely necessary reading.
January 15, 2024
Incredibly powerful, gut-wrenching yet beautiful stories of life under occupation in Palestine. Each individual story helps to build the readers understanding of the level of hardship and suffering inflicted upon innocent people, and how normalised that is. The history of the Palestine-Israeli conflict, the Nakba & timelines of Intifada's and political milestones are all inclusive and very informative from a historical standpoint. The resilience of the storytellers is unbelievable- the torture, imprisonment & violence in many forms endured by so many, children included, is something this book provokes us to reflect on and question. A great entry point for readers with little knowledge of Palestine or life under occupation. Incredibly well-written & the stories suck you in. Read it !!!!
Read
April 17, 2024forgot to mark this book as read because i was jumping around reading different stories in it
this book taught me a lot about what life is like in palestine
also loved the format of it which is basically just a collection of different people telling their own stories/experiences
this book taught me a lot about what life is like in palestine
also loved the format of it which is basically just a collection of different people telling their own stories/experiences
January 6, 2024
---Well-written oral history accounts of struggles and injustices can influence the reader’s moral and political thinking. The experiences and lived reality of minority groups and historically persecuted peoples can make the free-thinking and empathetic reader sit up and consider the importance of universal human rights and racial equality. In this context, the military occupation model is a humiliating human encounter for the occupied. It is no better for the occupier because it creates an open-air prison-like territory that locks the occupier into obsessing over security and control. In the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank (and East Jerusalem), it includes checkpoints, home searches, demolition of homes and farms, travel restrictions, detentions and the state repression of speech.
---The Palestinian voices of pain and hope are at the heart of Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation, edited by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke (2015). Their book is important because it brings to non-Palestinian audiences a feel and understanding of what life is like for Palestinians from all backgrounds under Israeli military control. Palestine Speaks is a good starting point to begin learning about the Israel-Palestine conflict and Palestinian culture because it discusses the outcome of nearly 75 years of occupation. It highlights how enforced restrictions and second-class status impact individuals.
---In the Introduction, Malek and Hoke explain their rationale: “Our aim from the start was to try and better understand the ways that life continues in the West Bank and Gaza despite a military occupation spanning generations” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 11). They explain, “All of the narrators in this book felt it was deeply important to tell their stories” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 14); “With this book our hope is that the narratives within provide readers with a more nuanced and humanised understanding of life on the ground in Palestine, as well as inspiration to take a more active interest in peace—and the role of foreign influence—in the region” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 17).
---Despite the traumatic news stories from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, surprisingly, locals have hope for the future, as “there is also a tremendous amount of light in the lives of the people living there. We hope that this book serves to reflect some of that light back out into the world and offers our readers a new understanding of life under occupation” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 17).
---Malek moved to Bethlehem in 2009 to work for a non-profit tour group, and this was when she met the Palestinian people and Israeli settlers. She had previously co-authored a human rights story with Hoke, and they realised that her new job provided many thought-provoking first-person observations (from Muslim and Christian Palestinians and Jews). The compiling and writing of the narratives took place between 2009 and 2014 (before the 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza).
---The book contains sixteen chapters, the stories of sixteen narrators from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They reveal diversity. There is the Zionist settler Amiad Cohen (aged 32, executive of the Eli settlement), who extinguished a fire in an olive grove, and Laith Al-Hlou (aged 32), a West Bank Palestinian farmer and day labourer struggling to provide for this family. Another is Ebtihaj Be’erat (aged 52), a homemaker, a West Bank Palestinian whose son was shot dead by Israeli soldiers—also Ahmed Al-Qaraeen (aged 43), a shopkeeper from East Jerusalem—he survived being shot by a settler. Below are two chapters highlighting the difficult lives of the book’s narrators.
---Chapter One is about Ibtisam Ilzghayyer (aged 54), a cultural centre director in Bethlehem, West Bank. The centre opened in late 1993. At the time, the Israeli authorities proscribed the instruction of Palestinian culture. Ibtisam says that despite wanting to “educate children about Palestinian culture, Palestinian music, Palestinian poetry…it was forbidden…If the Israelis caught us with a book from certain Palestinian writers, we might end up in jail. We couldn’t have Palestinian flags, political symbols, anything considered propaganda for a Palestinian state” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 25). She explains the psychology of the occupation and how children sense anxiety in their parents (their protectors). At checkpoints, Ibtisam has suffered harassment and humiliation. In 2011, Ibtisam was invited to Gaza and spoke about the hours-long queuing ordeal at the hands of male and female Israeli soldiers and police. On returning, at the Erez checkpoint, she reports, “I saw the two signs—one for ‘Israelis and Foreigners,’ and the other just said, ‘Others.’ You know, it’s like they want us to feel that we belong to nothing. They could write ‘Palestinians,’ they could write ‘Arabs,’ but ‘Others’?” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 33). Ibtisam concludes in both negative and positive ways: “The world will not support Israel forever, with all their behaviour towards Palestinians. One day, changes will happen–history proves this. One day, sooner or later, the Palestinians will have their rights. When the world looks at Palestine I do not think they see the full situation. If people want to see the reality of the situation, they will see…” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, pp. 36-37).
---Chapter Two is about Abeer Ayyoub (aged 26), who was born and works in Gaza City. She is a journalist, Muslim, feminist—and Meta Instagram user. Malek and Hoke write that she is “a young working woman in Gaza… [and] As part of Gaza’s small middle class, Abeer has better access than other Gazans to resources that are hard to come by in the midst of the blockade that Israel has implemented since 2007” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 40). Abeer explains the close family relations of Palestinians; she lived on a street that housed her extended family, and as children, the boys and girls played football together on the same street. Politics and war marked her education: “I was studying for the exams in 2005, and that was a big year in Gaza as well. It was the year Israeli soldiers left Gaza” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 43). During her study years, she writes about being kept awake at night when Israel periodically bombed Gaza (circa 2008); because of this, on one occasion, Abeer and her extended family of thirty remained “shut in at home” for twenty-two days; “being together made us all feel a little safer. There was no electricity at all during that time, It was very cold…” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 45). It was a time of black markets, battery-powered radios, the noise of overhead drones and F-16s, and bombed-out college campuses. Interestingly, Abeer visited Jerusalem for the first time in 2012. Abeer is professional; she declares, “I write everything. But it’s not my fault if the Hamas government commits five human rights violations in a row and I write about the five violations” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 54).
---Chapter Sixteen is about the 5,000-metre runner, Nader Al-Masri, his flights from Cairo, Egypt, to compete at 40 international races, his difficulties in training effectively in Gaza, and is restricted, like most Palestinians, from travelling around Palestine. Nader declares: “I’ve never been to Bethlehem or Jerusalem” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 292).
---Palestine Speaks clarifies that the narrators seek a peaceful future for their families and friends.
They provide hope for a new democratic society of equal citizens for Arabs and Jews. The book benefits students, academics, and the public—especially Westerners confused by the Israel–Palestine conflict.
---The Palestinian voices of pain and hope are at the heart of Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation, edited by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke (2015). Their book is important because it brings to non-Palestinian audiences a feel and understanding of what life is like for Palestinians from all backgrounds under Israeli military control. Palestine Speaks is a good starting point to begin learning about the Israel-Palestine conflict and Palestinian culture because it discusses the outcome of nearly 75 years of occupation. It highlights how enforced restrictions and second-class status impact individuals.
---In the Introduction, Malek and Hoke explain their rationale: “Our aim from the start was to try and better understand the ways that life continues in the West Bank and Gaza despite a military occupation spanning generations” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 11). They explain, “All of the narrators in this book felt it was deeply important to tell their stories” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 14); “With this book our hope is that the narratives within provide readers with a more nuanced and humanised understanding of life on the ground in Palestine, as well as inspiration to take a more active interest in peace—and the role of foreign influence—in the region” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 17).
---Despite the traumatic news stories from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, surprisingly, locals have hope for the future, as “there is also a tremendous amount of light in the lives of the people living there. We hope that this book serves to reflect some of that light back out into the world and offers our readers a new understanding of life under occupation” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 17).
---Malek moved to Bethlehem in 2009 to work for a non-profit tour group, and this was when she met the Palestinian people and Israeli settlers. She had previously co-authored a human rights story with Hoke, and they realised that her new job provided many thought-provoking first-person observations (from Muslim and Christian Palestinians and Jews). The compiling and writing of the narratives took place between 2009 and 2014 (before the 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza).
---The book contains sixteen chapters, the stories of sixteen narrators from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They reveal diversity. There is the Zionist settler Amiad Cohen (aged 32, executive of the Eli settlement), who extinguished a fire in an olive grove, and Laith Al-Hlou (aged 32), a West Bank Palestinian farmer and day labourer struggling to provide for this family. Another is Ebtihaj Be’erat (aged 52), a homemaker, a West Bank Palestinian whose son was shot dead by Israeli soldiers—also Ahmed Al-Qaraeen (aged 43), a shopkeeper from East Jerusalem—he survived being shot by a settler. Below are two chapters highlighting the difficult lives of the book’s narrators.
---Chapter One is about Ibtisam Ilzghayyer (aged 54), a cultural centre director in Bethlehem, West Bank. The centre opened in late 1993. At the time, the Israeli authorities proscribed the instruction of Palestinian culture. Ibtisam says that despite wanting to “educate children about Palestinian culture, Palestinian music, Palestinian poetry…it was forbidden…If the Israelis caught us with a book from certain Palestinian writers, we might end up in jail. We couldn’t have Palestinian flags, political symbols, anything considered propaganda for a Palestinian state” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 25). She explains the psychology of the occupation and how children sense anxiety in their parents (their protectors). At checkpoints, Ibtisam has suffered harassment and humiliation. In 2011, Ibtisam was invited to Gaza and spoke about the hours-long queuing ordeal at the hands of male and female Israeli soldiers and police. On returning, at the Erez checkpoint, she reports, “I saw the two signs—one for ‘Israelis and Foreigners,’ and the other just said, ‘Others.’ You know, it’s like they want us to feel that we belong to nothing. They could write ‘Palestinians,’ they could write ‘Arabs,’ but ‘Others’?” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 33). Ibtisam concludes in both negative and positive ways: “The world will not support Israel forever, with all their behaviour towards Palestinians. One day, changes will happen–history proves this. One day, sooner or later, the Palestinians will have their rights. When the world looks at Palestine I do not think they see the full situation. If people want to see the reality of the situation, they will see…” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, pp. 36-37).
---Chapter Two is about Abeer Ayyoub (aged 26), who was born and works in Gaza City. She is a journalist, Muslim, feminist—and Meta Instagram user. Malek and Hoke write that she is “a young working woman in Gaza… [and] As part of Gaza’s small middle class, Abeer has better access than other Gazans to resources that are hard to come by in the midst of the blockade that Israel has implemented since 2007” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 40). Abeer explains the close family relations of Palestinians; she lived on a street that housed her extended family, and as children, the boys and girls played football together on the same street. Politics and war marked her education: “I was studying for the exams in 2005, and that was a big year in Gaza as well. It was the year Israeli soldiers left Gaza” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 43). During her study years, she writes about being kept awake at night when Israel periodically bombed Gaza (circa 2008); because of this, on one occasion, Abeer and her extended family of thirty remained “shut in at home” for twenty-two days; “being together made us all feel a little safer. There was no electricity at all during that time, It was very cold…” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 45). It was a time of black markets, battery-powered radios, the noise of overhead drones and F-16s, and bombed-out college campuses. Interestingly, Abeer visited Jerusalem for the first time in 2012. Abeer is professional; she declares, “I write everything. But it’s not my fault if the Hamas government commits five human rights violations in a row and I write about the five violations” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 54).
---Chapter Sixteen is about the 5,000-metre runner, Nader Al-Masri, his flights from Cairo, Egypt, to compete at 40 international races, his difficulties in training effectively in Gaza, and is restricted, like most Palestinians, from travelling around Palestine. Nader declares: “I’ve never been to Bethlehem or Jerusalem” (Malek & Hoke, 2015, p. 292).
---Palestine Speaks clarifies that the narrators seek a peaceful future for their families and friends.
They provide hope for a new democratic society of equal citizens for Arabs and Jews. The book benefits students, academics, and the public—especially Westerners confused by the Israel–Palestine conflict.
December 25, 2025
George Saunders put it as simply as anyone possibly could when he called this required reading for anyone with an interest in the Middle East. there is no attempt from start to finish to present a balanced perspective to this humanitarian crisis; and honestly, i think it is one of the best decisions the editors of this book could have made – especially, in the name of its contributors.
after all, when it comes to the truth of Palestine, there will be no one on Earth who will ever be able to tell it better than the Palestinian people.
after all, when it comes to the truth of Palestine, there will be no one on Earth who will ever be able to tell it better than the Palestinian people.
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