When the Bulbul Stopped Singing: Life in Palestine During an Israeli Siege

by Raja Shehadeh

Book Overview

The Israeli army invaded Ramallah in March 2002. A tank stood at the end of Raja Shehadeh's road; Israeli soldiers patrolled from the rooftops. Four soldiers took over his brother's apartment and then used him as a human shield as they went through the building, while his wife tried to keep her composure for the sake of their frightened children, ages four and six. This book is an account of what it is like to be under siege: the terror, the frustrations,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586422502
• ISBN13: 9781586422509
• Release Date: March 2020
• Publisher: Steerforth Press / Truth to Power
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.4" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Very Powerful Account of Palestinian Ordinary Citizens

This book should be read by all of the Western world to gain a perspective on the ordinary citizen living in the Occupied territory of Palestine. So often, I don't think we actually realize what "Occupation" means and how much power remains in Israel's hands even when there is not an actual occupation of a specific city. The author helped me understand the Oslo Accord and how it failed to bring justice to the region. This account ( using a diary format) really brings home what curfew means to daily life and the fear which comes when soldiers invade without regard to human feelings. Although written in 2003, I'm sure this holds true in 2006, and certainly makes me more attentive to news coming out of their continued struggle.

Outstanding and very powerful book

This book left me horrified at what is going on in the Middle East. It is even worse than I thought - and I thought I knew a lot about the situation already. Raja's day to day account, written in the form of a diary, gives a first hand account of what it is like to live under Occupation. This is hell on earth; and we in America are financing it all, with our 3 billion dollars a year that we send to Israel in military aid. The greatest threat to World Peace lies here, and we are paying for it.

life goes on

This book is about the siege of Ramallah and Shehadeh tells a heartbreaking story, with plenty of villians to go around. I expected that. To my surprise, what makes the book worth reading are the heroes. Not the Isreali soldiers. Not the PLO. Not Islamic Jihad or Hamas. The heroes of this book are the everyday people who actually try to live a normal life in the West Bank.