I Saw Ramallah - Case Study Example

Mourid Barghoutis I Saw Ramallah Table of contents Introduction. 2. Barghoutis memoirs: and epoch. 3. Is it real to resolve the conflict? 4. Conclusion. 1. Memoir of any writer reflects the most significant events of his life as well as his thoughts and expressions about facts and people. In his book I Saw Ramallah Mourid Barghouti reflected significant facts and thoughts of one of the most tragic and difficult periods of his life – the period of his exile which starts in 1967 from his leave from Ramallah where he spent his childhood. The book unfolds all the tragic essence of Palestinian-Israeli conflict and its outcome for Barghouti and his family – the story of exile, versatile life experience and aspiration to return to homeland. Mourid Barghoutis I Saw Ramallah comprises a deep historical context which is clearly seen through personal experience: the conflict had largely influenced the author’s life, and Barghouti’s style of writing gives a clear notion of it. The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions: what key personal and public events shaped Barghoutis account? To what extent in Barghoutis personal life affect his memory of public events? Can historians use memoirs like Barghoutis to understand the past? In addition to that, my personal opinion about possible chances of resolving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians will be reflected. 2. The book begins from the scene when Barghouti returns to his homeland crossing the Jordan River bridge and reminding his first crossing it thirty years ago when he had to leave for Amman: “Here I am crossing the Jordan River… I walk westward in a normal manner – or rather, a manner that appears normal. Behind me the world, ahead of me my world (Barghouti, p.1)”. Such historical event as Israel victory in Six-Day War influenced the author’s life very much: he had to leave his native country and go abroad. He lived in exile for thirty years, so his book I Saw Ramallah is very self-reflective and shows Barghouti’s pain and despair from his inability to return to Ramallah again. By 1967 he had graduated the Cairo University – it shaped his account as a famous poet and writer. In addition to that, he married Radwa Ashour and got back to Cairo again to teach English to law students. His return to Cairo played a significant role in Barghouti’s life – he began working at the Palestine Radio Station as an anchor man and political commentator. But Sadat’s presidency influenced his career: the station had been closed, and Barghouti worked at the radio station in Beirut during the civil war – this war became another event which affected the life of the author. Then, the political situation changed, and after Sadat’s visit to Israel Barghouti was departed from Cairo, as well as other Palestinians. So, foreign policy events influenced personal and professional life of Mourid Barghouti, and such troubles, misfortunes and disadvantages are clearly reflected in his book I Saw Ramallah. Barghouti’s personal and professional life affected his memory of public events. He was not fond of politics, but political events of that time influenced and affected him, and this affection is reflected in his book. He perceived the world political events through wide scale of his own experience. Israeli-Palestinian conflict deprived him of his native country; political regime of Egyptian president Sadat affected his professional activity. He had lost himself – after he left Palestine in 1967 he had no place to feel comfortable, he felt as an exile. Barghouti was arrested in 1977 in Egypt, and he was deported to Hungary where he lived for 17 years separated from his family: his wife and son who was five months old when Barghouti was deported. These and other difficult circumstances of his personal life affected his memory of public events – he described these events from the point of view of his personal experience, that’s why the world events seem to be so naturalistic and full of sadness and sincerity: “Israel allows in hundreds of elderly people and forbids hundreds of thousands of young people to return. And the world finds a name for us. They called us naziheen, the displaced ones (Barghouti, p.3)”. It is interesting to understand whether historians and those people who are fond of history can use memoirs like Barghoutis to understand the past. Our world is rather contrasted, and there are many different points of view on different events. The main purpose of a historian is to understand sequence and essence of events, their influence on political, social and cultural life, as well as usual life of people who live in time and epoch determined. Memoirs like Barghoutis reflect different events took place in the world through personal experience of an author. Memoirs as historical source have their positive and negative sides. Positive sides: memoirs describe real events from author’s point of view, so readers can understand the position of an author and experience different events with the author, readers can follow author’s thoughts and ideas – it helps to understand his way of thinking; memoirs tend to reflect small facts of time described – it helps to perceive taste and sense of epoch and to get a clear notion of usual life of people, their desires and thoughts. There are also negative sides of memoirs as historical source: all memoirs are subjective, first of all they reflect author’s point of view and his own position on historical events took place in his time, so historians and those who are interested in history should analyze memoirs from historical point of view and pay appropriate attention to author’s personality and his attitude to different events. Mourid Barghoutis memoirs I Saw Ramallah can be used by historians, but they also should pay appropriate attention to other sources – it would help to make a complete picture of time and epoch. 3. The nature and flow of Israeli-Palestinian conflict doesn’t allow predicting events and outcome of this war for certain, but a reader of Mourid Barghoutis memoirs I Saw Ramallah can make some conclusions about the possible chances of resolving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. According to the book, a lot of different people are involved in the conflict, and their destinies are affected and changed by the war. Barghouti’s book gives a clear notion that the conflict is deeply reflected in souls of people involved in it. The war has separated people in two contradictory sides, and it will be very difficult for politicians to resolve the situation. Exile and parting become usual in such situation, and the conflict influences people very much. But in addition to that Barghouti describes Palestinians in humanistic way, he presents them sincerely and with humor. So, reading Mourid Barghoutis memoirs I Saw Ramallah I became more optimistic about the chances of resolving the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The book, the style of narration and reflection, description of Palestinian people and details impress readers positively, and hope for peace is visible and appreciable. 5. Mourid Barghoutis I Saw Ramallah is a very interesting and informative book. The book induces to think of our life, our attitude to many thinks. The author unfolds such important themes as war, peace, life and exile. As was shown above, Israeli-Palestinian conflict affected Barghoutis life, and he skilfully described it in his memoirs. The conflict will be not easy to resolve: there are too many contradictions between both sides. Israeli-Palestinian war is one of the most complicated problems in the world today, but such books as Barghoutis I Saw Ramallah give us hope that global cooperation and cultural understanding of nations can result in political, cultural and religious tolerance, peace and prosperity in Israel and Palestine, as well as in many other regions of the world. Sources Barghouti, Mourid. I Saw Ramallah. New York: First Anchor Books Edition, May 2003. Read More