jiujensu's reviews
439 reviews

Interesting piece of history. Much is said of Palestinian resistance groups (none of it good or objective). Primarily it is believed in the US that Palestinian self-defense is terrorism (compared to Israel's violence as necessary sanctioned self-defense... against the population it occupies). So I wanted to see for myself on this one - this is the popular secular group (of groups) Israel was hoping to derail by funding Hamas.

It's innocuous. These are words. A manifesto. Very of its time. A plan for freedom. That's it. I wouldn't call it essential for learning about what some call "the conflict," but if you're curious, go on read and it.

It's written in typical manifesto style - overly optimistic, very detailed, self-aware. Lots of talk of using scientific analysis. It lists goals, enemies, the role of bourgeoisie and proletariat during and after revolution, need for education of the masses, democracy. It even had a section at the end about criticism and self-criticism that I think all individuals and activists alike could benefit from. Who doesn't need to remember that the only way to improve is to constantly analyze results and goals and change if needed without defensiveness. Sadly, the PFLP probably fell prey to some of the very pitfalls of group dynamics it rightly warns against.

I think old as it is this is still an interesting look at different attitudes of Palestinians under occupation, a reminder that they are not a monolith. The book switches point of view a few times so that we explore the inner life of a newly committed freedom fighter, a man who has a change of heart in prison, and a guy who has his peaceful disposition challenged by both family and Israel. All the while, you'll be educated (if you are new to the subject) on various common aspects of the everyday violence of Israeli ccupation - and the extraordinary.

What's the final message? Idk. Things just sort of happen. No. There's more! Whether you adopt a peaceful disposition or a violent revolutionary one, the occupation comes for you. To demolish, destroy, imprison, kill.

This is the author's third book. Her first, the only copy, was confiscated by Israel. Written in 1976, it was an uncommon view of life under occupation, fictionalized or otherwise at the time. I think it's still relevant. You can compare/contrast then to now - in some ways, the occpuation's grown more harsh, entrenched, and violent and some ways it's the same.

As the recently assassinated (by Israel) poet Rafaat Alareer wrote, let it be a tale.

If you're someone who values human life and has read volumes of human stories of the holocaust to bear witness, please extend your humanity to another and read this book about a genocide we can still stop.

I will add to this, but the final editor's note in 2015 mentions the oil and gas reserve found off Gaza's coast as being reason to fear further US supported Israeli aggression. And look what happened in 2018, 2021 and 2023. The US and Israel won't stop. We have to stop it. Everyone who has read Anne Frank or any other war diary and thought never again- we have that responsibility to other humans.

It's Rashid Khalidi, what can I say? This an excellent, detailed, but not too long historical account of what people call "the conflict." That conflict is many things, but now it's occupation, apartheid, and even genocide. 

It's very useful to ask yourself the question of how we got here. If you're in the US, you will have only heard a tiny sliver of the facts. Ask those questions. Be skeptical. Be introspective and a critical thinker about what you may have heard newscasters and presidents say about terrorists, no partner for peace, cycles of violence, etc. This book will help you. 

A great historical fiction about home and loss, family and life. It starts with a wedding so i was a little worried we wouldn't make it out of patriarchal themes, but Alyan delivered! We primarily follow one character as a daughter to great great grandmother, the branches of her family throughout the Palestinian diaspora to Nablus, Paris, Beruit, Boston, Amman.The characters are so vivid it's hard to believe we covered so much ground.

You may have heard something about war or something they call "the Palestinian Israeli conflict" or "Israel Hamas war" or the "Palestine question," but this book will bring color to those vague terms and life to people only mentioned as one of 9,400 dead or "collateral damage." Though only fiction, I think the stories that inspired this work will bring understanding of issues minimized or hidden by the headlines.

An unexpected, sad, generational story of resilience. Not that i didn't know women or Palestinians were resilient, but it begins in a certain patriarchal way but spreads out hopefully as we get to know our characters.

And i love an author's essay at the end talking about their life, what inspired them, what is autobiographical about their fiction, which this one has.

I highly recommend anything by Mumia Abu Jamal. I remember listening to his broadcsts from prison through Democracy Now probably fairly close to my own political awakening. I've been fascinated by the Black Panthers ever since. I love their leftism, sense of everyone on earth's common humanity, dedication to political education as much as taking care of basic needs like children's breakfast. It also covers the split, which has been at times confusing for me to sort out. 

He calls it a failure in its aims, but also recognizes finally its legendary status - and says something like it could rise again.

As he says:
"The Black Panther Party may indeed be history, but the forces that gave rise to it are not. They wait for the proper season to rise again."

This is the second book by this author I've read, still not Life Ceremony, the one that was recommended! There is a lot to love, but it's also off beat -- at times, way, way off beat.

I like the detached way some of her characters look at the world and what's expected of us. Like a Nathan Pyle alien cartoon. Some of the more familiar things are how people expect you to get married and have kids, get a job, but the right kind of job, and society throwing out those who don't follow the rules. I don't know to what degree this is a device for examining societal norms or is showing an ND point of view. Maybe it doesn't matter. It's all an examination of the eternal question, "what's normal anyway?"

The character seems puzzled by the weight we assign to things like how she should care about her sisters baby more than some other random baby. I feel like you could launch into some thoughts on how we build family or community. Or you could zoom out and think why we should prefer one nation over another, for example how USians prefer their war criminal country over Russia or something, even feel morally superior, even though it's unwarranted. 

Sometimes she goes way off the rails into maybe the psychopathic realm. It's not exactly just sterile logic alone in thinking the way to end an argument is beating someone over the head with a shovel. But nothing nearly as bad as her book Earthlings, which thinking back, i may have rated too low. I think it makes me uncomfortable in a good way. 

If I took more philosophy in school perhaps I could make some argument about what point was being made (examining taboos, solving the problem only considering yourself vs others wellbeing - or something similar to the Omelas problem), but I think there's a lot of  fun in this store seeming human and teaching Keiko the ropes and value in thinking about those things we as a society automatically praise or assume is normal ("productive member of society") vs what we reject.