Edited and translated by Muhammad Ali Khalidi, OR Books, 2022, paperback, 247 pp. MEB $22.95
Reviewed by A Bustos
With the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO in 1993, the main site of the Palestinian struggle shifted away from refugee camps in the surrounding countries and back to the area of “Historic Palestine,” namely Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. While celebrated as a triumph by its supporters, critics argued that Olso, among other things, abandoned Palestinian refugees who still resided in camps by the hundreds of thousands. Since then, the plight of Palestinian refugees has seemingly remained on the backburner, despite worsening living conditions in the refugee camps caused by the Syrian civil war and Lebanon’s economic collapse.
11 Lives: Stories from Palestinian Exile is therefore a welcome contribution. Edited by Muhammad Ali Khalidi, this work is an anthology by 11 Palestinian refugees of different ages, backgrounds and professions. What links them all is their shared identity as Palestinians forced to build their lives outside of their country. While most of the chapters take place within different locations around Lebanon, the stories also follow the authors’ own journeys to places as far flung as Canada, Türkiye, Syria and Palestine itself.
The relationship that each author has to Palestine—as both a real place and an imagined homeland—runs through all of the book’s chapters. Contributors’ accounts of growing up in refugee camps and being raised on stories about Palestine from their parents and grandparents reveal how oral history keeps their heritage alive, while also reinforcing feelings of despair and displacement. Thus, the reader learns how maintaining a connection to their homeland is both a source of pride and hope but also one of loss, frustration and heartbreak for Palestinian refugees. This is seen most tragically in the passing of elderly relatives who died in exile, never able to return.
The power of 11 Lives comes from the fact that these testimonies are told by the refugees themselves. Many books have appeared over the years about Palestinian refugees, but these have usually been written by non-Palestinian authors, and in the third person. While this approach has produced some valuable work, such efforts have often been limited in their ability to authoritatively and passionately relate the realities of refugee life.
Instead of simply retelling the history of Palestine and the dispossession of its people, each author in this edited volume brings unique insight into their own lives and those of the people around them. While some do ground their experiences within the context of political upheaval, others tell stories of family, childhood, coming of age and loss as they navigate the daily hardships of life.
They also challenge the stereotyped view of refugees as being passive victims, as each author through humor, sadness, anger, joy and frustration demonstrates the resilience and strength of ordinary people in the face of significant obstacles.
Rather than being lifeless statistics in someone else’s retelling of their stories, the authors in 11 Lives, through descriptions of themselves and their communities, bring the people and places around them to life as vibrant centers of Palestinian life. It is a welcome reminder that while they mayve have been marginalized in mainstream discussions, Palestinian refugees have not disappeared and are instead a core part of the global Palestinian population.
Alex Bustos is assistant director at Palestine Deep Di
—————————————————
