The Story of One Palestinian Family Under Occupation | Sami Hermez & Sireen Sawalha
Sami Hermez and Sireen Sawalha, the author and the subject of "My Brother, My Land: A Story from Palestine" join us on Ehkili to discuss the real story behind the book and what went into writing it – a process that took 20 years. The book – which mixes oral history, memoir and creative non-fiction – comes to life as we hear from Sireen about her family members and their stories depicted in the book. Sami tells us about the experience of honoring Sireen's real-life stories and words on paper and avoiding biases. Together they recount the challenges they've faced and delve into the key characters in the book.
Sami Hermez is an anthropologist who teaches at Northwestern University in Qatar. He is the author of "War Is Coming: Between Past and Future Violence in Lebanon" published in 2017. His work in and out of the classroom reflects a strong commitment to freedom, justice, and equality, as his own family's history of migration spans the Levant, with roots in Al-Qosh, Aleppo, Beirut, and Jerusalem.
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Sireen Sawalha is a high-school teacher of Global Studies and United States History. She has previously worked as a delegate advisor to the Jordan Mission to the UN.
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"My Brother, My Land" is a "riveting and unapologetic account of Palestinian resistance, the story of one family's care for their land, and a reflection on love and heartache while living under military occupation." It follows Sireen Sawalha's family over the decades following 1967. Through their lives, Hermes confronts readers with the complexities of life under occupation.
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Ehkili
This podcast series calls on anyone who is interested in literature from the Arab world to spend time reading along with the entire afikra community and discover some of the best books and writers that came out of the region.
