Israel must be so happy that the concept of antisemitism exists so they can sweep anything that condemns the genocidal foundation of their existence under the rug! Shibli’s novel does so much with its structure and style that it feels impossible to speak to, but I will say that she is so interested in the extremes of empathy that she will strip interiority, language, and identity from the oppressed and still seek after them. she is asking the reader to claim their identification with and support for the girl even if she remains an unexpurgated and anonymous footnote in history. beyond what she does with style is the larger question at hand, of why rape is the minor detail in history, society, and colonial machinery, why it is so much harder to pin the rape charge than the murder charge, why it is both a matter of taboo and of general indifference if the taboo should be broached. so much to be said, too, about the horror of Palestinian towns being devoured by the Israeli state in real time. Shibli’s a genius.