04/01/2019
Bashir, a member of the Palestinian Diplomatic Delegation to the United States, recounts his childhood as a Palestinian living in Gaza. The author grew up on a farm near an Israeli military base and, during the second Intifada, Israeli soldiers occupied the family home when Bashir's father, Khalid, refused to leave. The family were treated like prisoners, endured humiliations at the hands of the soldiers, and watched as much of their property was destroyed. Despite the circumstances, Khalid treated the soldiers with respect and continued to advocate for peace, which a young Bashir did not understand. At 15, Bashir was shot in the back by an Israeli soldier and recovered at an Israeli hospital. His experience led him to understand his father's viewpoint, pursue schooling in the United States, and pushed him to advocate for Israeli and Palestinian coexistence. Bashir's childhood in Gaza and his life under occupation meld in this retelling, and his charming earnestness shines through. VERDICT This moving tribute to Bashir's remarkable father is also a compelling argument for peace. Recommended for readers interested in the conflict in the Middle East. [See Prepub Alert, 11/5/18.]—Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
06/10/2019
Bashir’s candid and deeply felt coming-of-age story unfolds largely during the Second Intifada. Starting when Bashir was 11, Israeli soldiers occupied his family’s farm on the Gaza Strip. He led a fairly average adolescent life—playing video games and watching soccer—while witnessing abuse, such as when soldiers would force his father, a respected school headmaster who advocated for peace with Israel, to submit at gunpoint to a daily strip search. Bashir’s father remained a pacifist, even after 15-year-old Bashir was shot by an Israeli soldier from a watchtower outside his house just minutes past curfew. He was left paralyzed from the waist down for a year, and despite his anger, he recognized the complexities of his country: “It was a Jewish soldier who had shot me, but the nurses were also Jewish.” Three years later, attending college in Boston, Bashir advocated for Israeli-Palestinian peace and later became a member of the Palestinian Diplomatic Delegation to the U.S. Throughout, his father’s words resonated: “Violence only leads to more violence.” Even in the face of great adversity, Bashir prevails as an optimistic champion of peace, as he eloquently and subtly writes, “all I had to offer this world were my little words about the need for peace.” This moving meditation of a young man’s struggle to find peace amid turmoil will resonate with readers concerned with Israeli-Palestinian relations. (May)
An urgent, impassioned call for peace between Palestine and Israel. . . . Eloquent and affecting memoir… An inspiration to peace activists in all theaters of war and struggle and a book that deserves a wide audience.” — Kirkus Reviews
“At one of the darkest times in the elusive effort to end the conflict in the Middle East. . . [comes a] remarkable new memoir. . . . full of youthful exuberance, unlikely adventures, and raw discovery. . . .Captivating.” — Robin Wright, The New Yorker
“A work of profound spiritual beauty, one of the great memoirs to emerge from this terrible conflict. . . . The Words of My Father offers all of us hope that this seemingly intractable conflict can find a solution that is just to both sides.” — Yossi Klein Halevi, author of the New York Times bestseller Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
“To experience love and humanity on many levels, read this story. Beautifully told by a young man whose voice deserves to be heard — even if the world is not yet ready to listen.” — Diana Darke, author of My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Crisis
“In a year that has seen a relentless focus on life and death in the Gaza Strip, Yousef Bashir’s memoir is a moving reminder of the normality of Palestinian aspirations in what has been an abnormal situation for far too long. This book is a remarkable testimony to overcoming hatred and fear.” — Ian Black, author of Enemies and Neighbours: Arabs and Jews in Palestine and Israel, 1917-2017
“The Words of my Father is a book about loss—the loss of land and dignity for Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, the increasing loss of humanity among many of the occupiers, and the loss of the author’s beloved father who spent most of his life preaching peace, but tragically died in the midst of increasing polarization between Palestinians and Israelis. By making us feel the plight of the Palestinians from the inside, this poignant and beautifully written book should inspire us all to raise our voices for change.” — Robert Greene, New York Times bestselling author of The Laws of Human Nature
“Bashir’s childhood in Gaza and his life under occupation meld in this retelling, and his charming earnestness shines through. This moving tribute to Bashir’s remarkable father is also a compelling argument for peace.” — Library Journal
In a year that has seen a relentless focus on life and death in the Gaza Strip, Yousef Bashir’s memoir is a moving reminder of the normality of Palestinian aspirations in what has been an abnormal situation for far too long. This book is a remarkable testimony to overcoming hatred and fear.
A work of profound spiritual beauty, one of the great memoirs to emerge from this terrible conflict.... The Words of My Father offers all of us hope that this seemingly intractable conflict can find a solution that is just to both sides.
To experience love and humanity on many levels, read this story. Beautifully told by a young man whose voice deserves to be heard — even if the world is not yet ready to listen.
The Words of my Father is a book about loss—the loss of land and dignity for Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories, the increasing loss of humanity among many of the occupiers, and the loss of the author’s beloved father who spent most of his life preaching peace, but tragically died in the midst of increasing polarization between Palestinians and Israelis. By making us feel the plight of the Palestinians from the inside, this poignant and beautifully written book should inspire us all to raise our voices for change.
At one of the darkest times in the elusive effort to end the conflict in the Middle East…. [comes a] remarkable new memoir.... full of youthful exuberance, unlikely adventures, and raw discovery … captivating.
