Putting a Face on the Palestinian Tragedy, August 19, 2007

Susan Abulhawa provides a gripping narrative spanning three generations of Palestinians and with a very impressive interplay of various characters the author puts a human face on the tragedy that has befallen the Palestinians after 1948.

Though the book: Scar of David- is a novel , one can clearly relate and connect the various events described to the historical facts that have transpired over the past fifty years. I found the character Yousef particularly illuminating. He personifies what can happen after years of humiliation, discrimination, oppression, torture and how when one loses hope they–male or female–can kill others with impunity.

This phenomenon was well described in the book: Dying to Kill by Robert Pape and I recall watching a documentary of the female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber who blew up the former prime minister of India Mr Rajiv Gandhi. She had also gone through years of humiliation, abuse, seen her family killed and was a willing recruit for the Tamil Tiger suicide brigade. This book is a must read for those who are serious about addressing the long festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Helping the Israelis and Palestinians end the conflict will go a long away in reducing the current violence we all suffer from.