Trying to oppose the oppressed is not a good idea.

(This is what my first post was on paper)
On page 59 through 61 the incident that Ghada was talking about was brought about by the Irgun organization. They were group of Jewish people who resorted to acts of terror and violence to try to get the Jewish state fully Jewish. Many of their acts were on Arabian people but from 1939 onwards they attacked many British officers and soldiers stationed in the area. They used bombs for many of their attacks, placing them in crowded areas such as movie theaters and marketplaces. When they attacked British military, many of the fights turned to shootouts. The most violent acts that the Irgun gang performed was the bombing of the King David Hotel and the Deir Yassin massacre. The "big brother" of the Irgun was the Haganah, who are more of a politically inclined group. One of the more atrocious acts of the Irgun was the hanging and booby trapping of two British officers. When another officer went to cut them down, a mine underneath them detonated in their faces. The Irgun also had many battles with British soldiers during the time when most Palestinian people were being pushed out of what is now Israel.

The Mosque

           The technical diary part of the book shows Ghada's slow descent into emotional depression. It is a sad part indeed when she is walking around and finding that everything she had grown up with was either gone or ruins. one of the saddest parts is when she see the mosque in the middle of the square(pg-435). When I was reading that part I thought the mosque was Palestine and all the high-rises were Israel. The mosque is empty and forgotten by most of the people who used to go there, and neglected by those who live near there, though the high-rises immediately catch your attention and make you go "wow!" The wall that separates Israel from Palestinian settlements is directly showing that the Israeli's do not even want to look at Palestine. They main part of the third section is about the feelings but it has other elements as well.

THIRD BLOG POST

In the last section of the book you really feel the underlying tone of frustration and hurt. She is now old enough to feel and see this true pain, and it hits her really hard. All hope Ghada has comes to an end; a final catastrophic ending. She could not look upon the world with the same light she had as a child. They had invested everything into The Palestinian way of life. Trying to keep it alive, but it fails. This is what underlies that last third. A feeling of defeat. "I was wrong. The hope I had in 1978 came to nothing, neither for Palestine nor for me" (p 410). The words she uses for the last moments underline the fact of her frustration and hurt. Shortcomings; suffering; lost hope; abandon and stranded. Nothing about her situation could be glorified. It was raw.

In the third section of In Search of Fatima the tone of somberness really stands out. After returning to the Arab world in search of companionship and understanding but not finding much, Ghada describes  her insecurities,"Two years in the Arab world had not helped me find my roots. Rather I began to fear that I had none to find, at least not in the places where I had sought them." (page 420). It is evident that Ghada has really lost her way, she does not know where to call home or what to identify herself as. Ghada is unable to pick up on many Arab social norms because of her vast exposure to the English culture and yet cannot fit in in England because of her loyalty to the Palestinian struggle. The truth is that Ghada doesn't have a home, she doesn't fit. Because of her homelessness Ghada is understandably displaced.


My favorite part of the whole book is the footnote that is on page 292 that describes her run in with Zoe Steiner years after their initial headbutting, "Zoe and I met again by chance in 1983. She was a dentist and I a practicing GP. We fell upon each other and embraced like long lost friends. She invited me to her home (also in Golden Green) where she introduced me to her Orthodox Jewish husband. Over a kosher meal, we reminisced over that incident in our childhood and shook our heads at the passions we had both felt." Despite how much I disliked Zoe Steiner's actions and rooted on Ghada, I recognize the incident as a painful memory for both girls. The fact that they met again and were able to come to terms with each other and the situation is so remarkable because rarely does such an opportunity come up. The anecdote of their future meeting allowed me to understand the initial situation more, because they ended at peace I didn't feel like I had to chose who was right/wrong, but rather I was able to recognize the causes for both of their actions.

The Final third of In Search of Fatima has no single emotional tone. It is a montage of very strong emotions, including defiance, hopelessness, and elation. However, the final third does include something that sets it greatly apart from the rest of the book: while the sections Palestine and England are mostly just the life experiences of Ghada Karmi, and her relationships with various countries and people- the final third is a deep reflection of what it means to be displaced, and representation of one woman’s search for the truth.  In this quote, Ghada speaks fervently to us about the emotional attachment that she forged by being an activist for Palestine, giving her something to fight for: “By the mid-1970s I had latched passionately onto the cause of Palestine as an inspiration, an identity, a reason for living” (399). This second quote takes place when Ghada  goes back to Palestine and tries to find her childhood home, finding instead, a new building on the site where it once stood, causing Ghada to fall into hopelessness: “Whatever is the point of struggling now… no one now remembers what we did or cares. It made no impact on events and things for the Palestinians have only gone downhill since then. Might as well accept we’re finished” (45-46). Upon hearing the call to prayer spreading through the old city, Ghada feels elation; “I closed my eyes in awe and relief. The story had not ended after all.” The final and most important piece of reflection in the entire book occurs in the last paragraph; “The story had not ended, after all. Not for them, at least, the people who still lived there, though they were now herded into reservations a fraction of what had been Palestine. They would remain and multiply and one day return, and maybe overtake. Their exile, undefined by space or time, and from where I was, there would be no return” (451). This final testament embodies the pain and hope of all displaced Palestinians. It would seem that Ghada wrote this book as a way of dealing with her own displacement, a gateway for the rest of the world to understand, and in so doing give Ghada herself legitimacy. Ghada’s last paragraph (the quote on page 451) mirrors my emotions when I am in my house in Jerusalem- every evening, the beautiful, wringing sound of the call to prayer reaches out over the land that has been so disputed for millennia, reminding the world that we are still there.

“The doors are gone, but the Keys remain”

My favorite part of the book is by far the third section. The first two sections are good, but the fact is that they only portray the life of one person, whose  journey, while interesting, is mostly one of a failed attempt at cultural integration, as well as of course some important, factual information about the takeover of Palestine. The last section of the book however paints a very real and touching picture of the plight of someone who has had the horrific epiphany of belonging nowhere.  The overwhelming confusion and emotional chaos brought about by displacement is truly life shattering- but despite that, Ghada Karmi has been able to record these thoughts  (mostly in the last third of the book) for all the world to see, and what’s more- she has not lost her hope, but reclaimed it.  

Blog Post 3

The tone of the last section of In Search of Fatima is resentful. Ghada's life has a series of tragic events that have caused her to lose connection of her culture she grew up in as a child. Upon visiting what is now Israel,  as an adult, she sees the memorial and government buildings made by the State of Israel, "I visited the Israeli parliament, built on the flattened and now unrecognisable land f the Palestine village of Lifta... The Holocaust museum nearby was also built on confiscated Arab Land... Outside, a humble Palestinian gardener in shabby, soiled clothing pulled weeds and dead flowers from the beds, making the place pretty and neat, oblivious of its significance" (440). Ghada has watched this land change from home of her people to be destroyed, and then rebuilt up for the religious group whom she has always resented. It must be painful and angering to have to see this. All of these emotions she has, because of the hardships she endured, cause fiery resentment within her. This quote clearly outlines her resentful tone of thought which carries throughout the last part of her story.

My favorite part of the book is watching Ghada as a young girl interact with Leslie's Jewish Family. She acknowledges that this is the first Jew she ever befriended. It is fascinating to see these girls connected because of similarities, they are both outcasts as result of their religions in school. While their ethnic groups are across the world raging at war they have found friendship in one another. They don't understand the severity of war, and therefore are able to foster a friendship. While they recognized that their cultures are pitted against each other, they still find that they have commonalities, they are young girls growing up among a majority of people who take to a different faith. Reading about Ghada meeting Leslie's family was especially fascinating because of the acceptance they had. It is surprising and  relieving to the reader that this occurred. Clearly, as shown later in the book, not all Arabs nor Jews are able to be understanding, even so this one occurrence puts both cultures in a new light for the reader.

BLOG #3 Tone: Frustration. And My Favorite Part.

          Throughout the book there has been an unmistakable tone of frustration, especially now that Ghada is older and wiser. First, Ghada is frustrated that she has to leave her home. Then she is frustrated that she has to live in England. Then she is frustrated when she is forced to change schools. Now she is older and is starting to resent the unfair treatment given to boys in her culture, “Many a girl might grow up seeing her brothers drinking alcohol, making sexual liaisons and indulging in behavior which would never be allowed her” (299). She also is starting to have an interest in boys and is annoyed that her parents were so hushed about the subject of sex. She believes this made her unexperienced with intimate relationships involving the opposite gender, “I began to look back with resentment on the constrained upbringing and inhibited childhood which thus had disabled me” (305). Near the end of the book when she sees a Holocaust museum built on confiscated Arab land she laments, “There was a brilliant and affecting exhibition of tragic European-Jewish history, skilfully interwoven with the creation of modern Israel; a seemingly logical progression from the gas chambers to Palestine, no omitting pictures of the Mufti of Jerusalem negotiating with the Nazis. It was a deliberate statement about the right of world Jewry in this country” (440). Her transformation from childhood and innocence to adulthood and maturity only brought her more frustration as she gained more knowledge about what really happened to the world she had once known. Her frustrated tone resonated throughout the book, whether she was talking about personal or political issues. She never directly complained, just stated the truth, wording it in a way of subtly expressing frustration about the change and challenge she had to overcome as a Palestinian girl growing up during the creation of Israel.

            My favorite part of the book was when Ghada locked Zoe Steiner in the girls’ bathroom and beat her up. The book had very little action in it, so I always got excited when Ghada told real stories, it made the book come alive. Zoe Steiner totally deserved what she got. She was rude, exclusive and just plain mean. The moment Ghada told us about the book Zoe had written about her I wanted something bad to happen to Zoe. Zoe had no right to write a book making fun of an innocent girl and her culture. Of course, Ghada did take it a little far by saying, “Hitler should have finished the job! He should have killed all of you!” (289). In her defense, however, the horrible effect of Hitler was not yet commonly known among people, especially not known to her. I liked this scene because after being pushed around by her parents, Israelis, teachers, and the British she finally got a sense of justice by standing up for herself. Zoe was obnoxious the moment she met Ghada. After being constantly harassed by Zoe and her little followers Ghada finally got her back by luring her into the bathroom and beating her up (not to badly, though). Sadly, this was one of the few instances where Ghada won her fight for justice.