Today we talk with Palestinian story-teller Mona Hajjar Halaby. Though she currently lives in Berkeley, California, she writes of her ties to Palestine through the memories of her mother, and her frequent trips to Palestine over many years. Her recently published book: In My Mother's Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home.
From the description at shoppalestine.org:
âRefugees are like seeds that scatter in the wind, and land in different soils that become their reluctant homesâ my mother once told me. As a small child, I looked up at my mother and clutched her hand. The puffiness of her palm reminded me of a loaf of warm pita bread, and when she laced her fingers into mine like a pretzel, I felt safe. I would have walked with her to the ends of the earth.
When Mona moved from California to Ramallah to teach conflict resolution in a school for a year, she kept a journal. Within its pages, she wrote her impressions of her homeland, a place she had only experienced through her motherâs memories.
As she settled into her teaching role, getting to know her students and the challenges they faced living in a militarized, occupied town, Mona also embarked on a personal pilgrimage to find her motherâs home in Jerusalem.
Mona had dreamed of being guided by her mother down the old souqs, and the leafy streets of her neighborhood, listening to the muezzinâs call for prayer and the medley of church bells. But after fifty-nine years of exile, it was Monaâs mother who held her daughterâs hand as they visited Jerusalem together, walking the narrow cobblestone alleys of the Old City. Their roles were reversed. Mona had become her Mamaâs legs and her memory â and the one to tell her story going forward.
In My Motherâs Footsteps is a moving and heart-rending journey of a daughter discovering her roots and recovering her motherâs beloved past. Itâs also an intimate and tender account of daily life for Palestinians as never seen before.
This Week In Palestine (a weekly part of Truth and Justice Radio) is an award-winning three-quarter-hour segment of news from Palestine and discussion of issues relevant to the Palestinians' struggle for freedom from Israel's brutal military occupation and colonization of their homeland. It speaks from the point of view of Palestinians and those who care about them. It's a regular part of Truth and Justice Radio, aired Sundays 6-10am ET on WZBC 90.3FM, Newton, MA, streaming live and archived for two weeks at wzbc.org; TJR's website, truthandjusticeradio.org, has a link to This Week In Palestine archives back thru 1-6-2008; editions are also accessible by navigating through our playlists. (At this important time, TJR airs occasional Palestine coverage IN ADDITION to that provided by This Week In Palestine.) We hope you'll write to us at tjradio@fastmail.com if you rebroadcast our work, or have questions or comments.
This Week in Palestine 10-24-2021
In My Mother's Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home
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