MOURID BARGHOUTI'S poems have been published in Beirut, Amman, and Cairo since 1972, and his Collected Works were published in Cairo in 1997. He lives in Cairo.
"One of the finest existential accounts of Palestinian displacement that we now have." - Edward Said "The theme is not merely the physical violence of occupation, but rather occupation's ability to rob the Palestinian of his simplest and even banal connections to self and place.... The translation by Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif is more than convincing: it is elegant and, at times astonishing." - Aljadid "The most eloquent statement in English of what it is like to be Palestinian today.... no other book so well explains the background of recent events in Palestine/Israel." - Times Literary Supplement "I Saw Ramallah's importance is that, while many speak about the 'refugee problem,' the refugees themselves remain largely silent and unheard. Barghouti shatters this silence with his forceful, lyrical, evocative narrative." - Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
"One of the finest existential accounts of Palestinian displacement that we now have." - Edward Said "The theme is not merely the physical violence of occupation, but rather occupation's ability to rob the Palestinian of his simplest and even banal connections to self and place.... The translation by Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif is more than convincing: it is elegant and, at times astonishing." - Aljadid "The most eloquent statement in English of what it is like to be Palestinian today.... no other book so well explains the background of recent events in Palestine/Israel." - Times Literary Supplement "I Saw Ramallah's importance is that, while many speak about the 'refugee problem,' the refugees themselves remain largely silent and unheard. Barghouti shatters this silence with his forceful, lyrical, evocative narrative." - Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Of the many books written in the past few decades about the plight of the Palestinians, this one is unique in that the author, a well-known Palestinian poet, brings to life the pain and suffering of exiles in a way that few books in English have been able to do. When the book first appeared in Arabic in 1997, it received universal praise in the Arab world and eventually won the prestigious Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature. As a student at Cairo University, the author found himself barred from returning home after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and the occupation of the West Bank by the Israeli military. When Barghouti (who now lives in Cairo) was finally allowed to return for a brief visit to his homeland in the summer of 1996, he experienced the mix of emotions that define the life of any exile, ranging from joy to sadness to anger. The author's extraordinary ability to express his feelings, and by implication those of other Palestinians, in moving essays is what makes this book such an eloquent account of Palestinian existence today. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries.-Nader Entessar, Spring Hill Coll., Mobile, AL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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