If I had to characterize Raja Shehadeh based only on his book Palestinian Walks, I would say he is a bitter, defeated person. If what he writes about in the book is true, he has good reason to be. Shehadeh writes of six journeys he’s taken through the Palestinian countryside, ostensibly to describe the land and ecology he loves. That’s the impression one would get from reading the blurbs Scribner put on the back cover of the book. Instead, Shehadeh uses his walks as a starting point for expressing suppressed rage at the takeover of the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel settlers, disappointment in the Palestinian Authority for failing to curb Israel’s usurpation, and his own failure to effect meaningful change in anything.
Shehadeh is no militant. Thank god for that. However, reading the book one can understand why the more violent and temperamental of the Palestinians continue to use their methods in futile resistance. There little that I could imagine would justify the indiscriminate suicide bombing or shelling that many have used against Israelis. But reading through this one can’t help understanding the rage they feel under the Israeli boot, and this book doesn’t even touch on the large number of Palestinians killed by Israel.
Restrictions on travel form much of Shehadeh’s narrative. But this isn’t like telling me I can’t go to California from my home in Washington. The area of the occupied territories is smaller than western Washington, and is criss-crossed by roads. Roads Palestinians are forbidden to use, and in many cases to even cross. Hundreds of military checkpoints throughout, where they must wait for hours while men with guns arbitrarily decide whether to let them through. Land expropriated by Israel from Palestinians for the exclusive use of Israeli Jews. Expropriated meaning legally stolen, similar to eminent domain, except with nothing given in return.
All ammunition for the resentment of millions of Palestinians who must feel as if they are in concentration camps. In Shehadeh’s case the resentment expresses itself as fatalistic writing. I couldn’t read this without palpably feeling his despair. The author has no answers beyond wishfully hoping that Israeli settlers pull up stakes and cross back over the Green Line to internationally recognized Israel. Which is something that they obviously aren’t prepared to do, leaving Shehadeh no option except writing his depressing polemic.
Other blogged reviews:
Title: Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape
Author: Raja Shehadeh
Cover creator: John Tordai (cover photographer)
Imprint / publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster
Format: Paperback
Length: 198 p.
Publication date: June 2008
ISBN-10: 1-4165-6966-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-6966-4
Subject: Arab-Israeli conflict
Subject: West Bank — History
Subject: Gaza Strip — History
Subject: West Bank — Description and travel
Subject: Gaza Strip — Description and travel
LC classification: DS119.7 .S4672 2008
