Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.07.2010, Page 12

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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2010
Interview | Susan Abulhawa
Humanizing A Shrinking Nation
Writer Susan Abulhawa discusses Palestine and the power of the novel
We interviewed Susab Abulhawa on the morning of the Israeli army's attack
on that Turkish flotilla. She was visibly shaken and upset throughout our talk
-- but then, wouldn't you be?
How do you think fictional works can im-
pact the global discourse on Palestinian-
Israeli relations?
I think that writers, artists, musicians,
poets and filmmakers in any society
of conflict have a unique role to play in
bringing the issues in the headlines to
a human level. That’s the power of art
and literature, in general—to remind us
of our common humanity and that there
are human beings who live the headlines
and experience them in ways that are not
abstract, in ways that a reader would expe-
rience them. You can take an individual
through history through the lives of char-
acters that they can get to know, that they
can love or hate or what have you. Regard-
less, they get to know them and they can
see conflict and the politics or the history
through their eyes. That’s the beauty of a
novel, as opposed to non-fiction or history
textbooks that have more of a sterile, dis-
tant prose.
What is your personal experience in all of
this?
My parents were refugees of the 1967 Six
Day War. Neither of them can really re-
turn to their place of birth nor live in the
homes where they were born, or even visit
their parents’ graves. I lived in Jerusalem
when I was a little girl. Actually there’s
a chapter in the book based on that, it’s
called ‘The Orphanage.’ That’s really
the only part of the book that is autobio-
graphical. The entire historic background
is non-fictional. It was real important to
me that the historic background and the
historic characters, the locations, the sea-
sons, the fruits, etcetera, that all be real.
The characters are fictionalised.
Your work has been quite controversial in
the past. Why do you think that is?
I think anything that humanises Palestin-
ians or criticises what Israel is doing cre-
ates a fury, basically. People try to shut you
up. It’s not just me; it’s anybody, whether
it’s academics, intellectuals, artists, what
have you. That’s kind of a trend. There’s
always a campaign of character assassina-
tion in trying to marginalise people.
Pro-Palestine sentiments are often
deemed as being terrorist-sympathetic or
anti-Semitic. Have you had these accusa-
tions launched at you?
Precisely. I think everybody who express-
es this has. I don’t accept it. I’m neither
a terrorist nor an anti-Semite. There’s
nothing in anything I do or say that would
indicate that. I think readers are smarter
than that. I think they’ll see that when
they read the book.
How has the book been received?
In Norway, and other European countries
it’s gotten really good reviews. In America
it has gotten limited reviews, but what it
has gotten has been very good. Most jour-
nalists and reviewers in the United States
just don’t want to touch it.
It’s not the first time. There was this
wonderful play called My Name Is Rachel,
it was based on the life of Rachel Corrie
[American activist with the International
Solidarity Movement who was crushed to
death by an IDF bulldozer in 2003]. They
managed to shut that down. There’s all
this art by Palestinians, beautiful stuff
that just reflects what’s inside of them,
what they see, what their lives are about. It
gets shut down. There have been several
instances in the United States where that
has happened. It’s because there are very
powerful forces in the United States that
don’t want Palestinians to appear human,
because then it becomes harder to justify
killing them. It becomes hard to justify
raining death on this civilian population
that really has nowhere to go and nowhere
to run.
What is your hope for the region?
To me the solution is, and always has
been, very clear. It’s the simple applica-
tion of international law and the applica-
tion of the universality of human rights.
The declaration that Palestinians are hu-
man beings who are worthy of human
rights. We are the native people of that
land. We’ve been there for centuries, if
not millennia, and everything has been
taken from us. When the international
community has the will to give more than
just words and say that yes, we deserve the
same rights that are accorded to the rest of
humanity. That’s where the solution lies.
The West claims to value certain prin-
ciples of human decency and equality,
that they apply in their own countries yet
support something entirely different in
Israel. For example, nowhere in the West
would any country allow the construc-
tion of neighbourhoods and settlements
where only a certain group of people were
allowed to live. No one would accept a
housing unit for whites-only or having a
road where only whites could travel, and
yet that’s what Israel does. It’s a situation
where human worth is measured on one’s
religion.
Palestine had always been a place
where people of various religions lived. It
had been a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic
place and that’s the ideal, isn’t it? It should
not be a place of exclusivity. It’s important
that my words not be interpreted that Is-
raelis should be kicked out or anything
like that, because I don’t advocate that.
That’s their country now. People were
born there and live there. That’s where
they’re from.
Why do you think the international com-
munity allows these human rights viola-
tions?
You’ll have to ask them. I don’t know.
It’s hypocritical, it’s outrageous, actu-
ally. Luckily, the people of these nations
are not necessarily on board and people
of various countries are taking matters
into their own hands. They are boycot-
ting Israel and Israeli goods, and this
flotilla, the Free Gaza movement, these
boats have been travelling to Gaza from
Cyprus carrying people from all over the
world. These are ordinary citizens who
have made history because they refuse to
be silent in the face of what’s happening
in Gaza.
People are literally and intentionally
being starved to death in Gaza. Food is not
allowed in or out, the economy has com-
pletely collapsed, the education system
has completely collapsed. Eighty percent
of Gazan children suffer from post-trau-
matic stress disorder, a crippling psycho-
logical disease and entire generations are
being lost. The international community
is doing nothing about it. Ordinary citi-
zens are taking matters into their own
hands and delivering boatloads of aid.
Then today we find out that Israel in fact
boarded that flotilla and killed a few peo-
ple. So it remains to be seen whether the
international community will yet again be
silent.
Do you have any hope that they won’t be?
Well, they’re already condemning it, but
they always do. They give lip service to it
and then they do nothing. So I don’t place
any hope or faith in any of these lead-
ers or the so-called official international
community, but I do place a lot of hope
and faith in the international commu-
nity that’s made up of world citizens and
people of conscience to speak up and not
to let this continue. People can’t really say
“I didn’t know”. It’s everywhere. Israel has
been held above the law. They have com-
mitted war crimes for over six decades
and have done so with impunity.
This is where literature comes in, in
my opinion. In the West when you say
‘Palestinian,’ people automatically con-
jure these really negative images and that
is in large part due to this propaganda
campaign over the years to paint Israel
as this poor, vulnerable nation that’s just
trying to defend itself when in fact it is
the aggressor. Israel manages to paint
Palestinians as these crazy, irrational ag-
gressors, and that it’s just defending itself
against this principally unarmed civilian
population. Palestinians have nowhere to
run. It has no navy, no army, no air force.
But when I think of Palestine, I think
of a beautiful people. I think of a long suf-
fering and enduring nation that despite
everything gets up every morning and
goes to those damn checkpoints, tries to
get to work, tries to get to school and go
about their daily lives. I think of a rich cul-
ture and good music and good food and
stupid jokes and proverbs. I think of hu-
man beings, and that’s what I hope this
book shows.
Words
Rebecca Louder
Photography
Julia Staples
On the morning of May 31st, mere
hours after the Israeli flotilla attack,
the Grapevine met with Palestinian-
American writer Susan Abulhawa at
her hotel. Susan was in Reykjavík on
her way back from the Lillehammer
Literature Festival in Norway. She
held a small event at The Culture
House to promote her latest book,
Mornings In Jenin, a newly edited
version of her first publication The
Scar of David. The book follows the
story of several generations of Pales-
tinian characters and their personal
struggles with location, identity,
family and human rights. In Ameri-
ca, her book has caused a controver-
sial response for its pro-Palestinian
stance, but she has continued to be
outspoken on the topic despite the
backlash. The writer seemed dis-
traught as the charged events of the
morning loomed over our interview.