News & opinions from a Palestinian-American
living & working in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, Palestine
Following World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Britain came to control Palestine under the terms of the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The newly created League of Nations endorsed in 1923 what amounted to British colonial rule over the area, known as the “British Mandate for Palestine”. The mandate was supposed to be a temporary measure on the road to independence for Palestine. (Source: IMEU)
7 post/s found with this tag.![Non-violently resisting Israeli military occupation, with a scalpel [Book Review]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/non-violently-resisting-israeli-military-occupation-with-a-scalpel-472741138.jpeg)
Through recounting his own spectacular life, Dr. Shawki Harb’s memoir, “A Surgeon Under Israeli Occupation,” depicts Palestinian reality from the British Mandate to today. Born a Christian and breastfed by a Muslim, Dr. Harb embodies the best of both traditions. If you are from my generation or older in Palestine, you know and respect the person even if you have never crossed paths with him.
![Perpetual Turmoil: A man-made holy pandemic that never ends [Book Review]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/BookCover252832529-768545-1.png)
Before Israel prohibited me from having free access to Jerusalem, I would meet up for lunch in East Jerusalem with Avner, a Jewish Israeli friend of mine, at the Ambassador Hotel, owned by a mutual friend of ours. Our political arguments always ended on the same note. I would claim that Israel has, and always had, a master plan and acts with full intention. Avner would counter that claim saying I’m giving the Israeli side too much credit and that much of what we are facing are a hodgepodge of haphazard missteps that have created an unfortunate reality on the ground. Enter Lives in Common: Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Hebron by Menachem Klein, another Jewish Israeli friend of mine. The book unintentionally offers Avner and myself an answer to our ongoing debate. It turns out we are both correct. How so? Read on.
![“The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood” by Rashid Khalidi [Recommended]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Iron-Cage-The-Story-of-the-Palestinian-Struggle-for-Statehood-by-Rashid-Khalidi.jpg)
At a time when a lasting peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis seems virtually unattainable, understanding the roots of their conflict is an essential step in restoring hope to the region. In The Iron Cage, Rashid Khalidi, one of the most respected historians and political observers of the Middle East, homes in on Palestinian politics and history. By drawing on a wealth of experience and scholarship, Khalidi provides a lucid context for the realities on the ground today, a context that has been, until now, notably lacking in our discourse. (Publisher’s description)
For Palestinians, 1948 marks the ‘Nakba’ or the ‘Catastrophe’, when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes. But for Israelis, the same year marks the creation of their own state. This series attempts to present an understanding of the events of the past that are still shaping the present.
!["The Question of Palestine" by Edward Said [Recommended]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/9780679739883.jpg)