Palestine — Hubert Haddad

Somewhere in the West Bank, an Israeli patrol is assaulted by a Palestinian commando. One Israeli soldier is killed and another is kidnapped. Wounded, in a state of shock, the hostage loses hold of reality and forgets everything, even his own name. Eventually he is rescued, taken in by two Palestinian women and his wounds heal. He becomes Nessim, brother of Falastìn, an anorexic Law student; and son of Asmahane, the blind widow of an official who was shot dead in an ambush. Nessim passes through the looking glass, suffering the daily anguish of the inhabitants of the colonized West Bank. In this poignant novel, Hubert Haddad makes Falastìn a modern Antigone: proud, untamed and the victim of man's cruelty. Reflecting the beauty of the setting in his style, he models a modern tragedy in all its horror and absurdity.