Mourid Barghouti's I Saw Ramallah - Essay Example

The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions: what key personal and public events shaped Barghouti's account To what extent in Barghouti's personal life affect his memory of public events Can historians use memoirs like Barghouti's 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