Reading for Palestine presented by the Alliance's Arabic-language network 2/2

A SKY-COLORED MASK, BASEM KHANDAKJI
Reading by Roula Suleiman (Al Adab Publishing House, Lebanon)

This novel is the first part of “A Quartet of Mirrors” by Palestinian prisoner and novelist Bassem Khanakdj. Its theme is to correct the Western and Israeli narrative of events in Palestine. The protagonist is Nour, an archaeology researcher living in a camp in Ramallah. He wears a mask of the occupier that he got by chance and assumes the identity of an Israeli named ‘Or’, and joins an archaeological excavation mission in a settlement, revealing to him the buried Palestine with all its history.

THE SAD BUTTERFLY SEASON, OUSSAMA HABASHI
Reading by Oussama Abashi (Sefsafa Culture and Publishing, Egypt)

The novel The Sad Butterfly Season is a narrative work that seeks to restore the spirit of resistance against the occupation not through violence but through the dream of freedom, and through the life of the protagonist, who dreams in his occupied country of being a flower bearer, the work narrates the tragedy of a family displaced by the occupation, and the author does not mention the name of the occupied country, which can be a specific real place or a symbol of every country under occupation, and the author approaches his work in the style of magical realism, mixing historical facts with the dreams of his heroes.

RETURNING TO HAIFA, GHASSAN KANAFANI
Reading by Manar Mohamad Ali (Cultural Diversity Print, Syria)

Returning to Haifa is a novella by Palestinian author and journalist Ghassan Kanafani depicting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land during and after the 1948 Battle of Haifa. The novella is a reflection of Kanafani's personal experience but also illustrates the Palestinian experience more broadly. Scholars note that Kanafani successfully weds literary technique and political practice, as his fictional characters reflect the Palestinian condition.

Not to be missed:
-Reading for Palestine presented by the Alliance's Arabic-language network 1/2
-Carte blanche to Publishers for Palestine