Come My Children

By Hekmat Al-Taweel
Edited by Ghada Ageel & Barbara Bill
Categories: Literature & Language Studies, Auto/biography & Memoir, History, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Law & Legal Studies, Law & Society, Religious Studies, Women’s Studies, Political Science, World Literature
Series: Women’s Voices from Gaza Series
Publisher: University of Alberta Press
Paperback : 9781772126761, 224 pages, June 2023
Ebook (EPUB) : 9781772126921, 176 pages, October 2023
Ebook (PDF) : 9781772126938, 176 pages, August 2023

Excerpt

"This is not only a fine book in the tradition of seminal works such as Khul-Khaal; it is a wonderful work of oral history that offers vital details to counter the Zionist narrative of Palestine." Ilan Pappé, University of Exeter, from the Foreword

Table of contents

 

Preface: Introducing Women’s Voices from Gaza  ix

Foreword, Ilan Pappe  xv

Acknowledgements  xxiii

Introduction  xxv

 

Come My Children

1 / Childhood: Growing Up in Gaza  3

2 / The British Mandate and School Days  21

3 / Marriage and Relations with Palestinian Muslims  39

4 / Business and Life Before and After the 1948 Nakba  51

5 / Palestinian Resistance Against the British Mandate  59

6 / The Egyptian Administration and the Israeli Occupation  71

7 / Yusuf, the United States, and Palestine  85

 

Chronology of Events in Palestine  107

Notes 127

Glossary  145

Bibliography  149

 

Description

Hekmat Al-Taweel (1922–2008) was a native Palestinian Christian from Gaza City whose narrative unearths a version of history long excluded from mainstream discourse and provides an unfamiliar perspective on Muslim–Christian relationships. Her stories about life in Gaza highlight shared history, vibrant culture, and cherished traditions. Al-Taweel continued her education after marriage, sought community volunteer work, worked as a teacher and supervisor, and committed to activism throughout her life, all of which contradicts widespread Western orientalized stereotypes of Arab women. She also shares insights into life in Gaza during the British Mandate period as well as the 1948 Nakba and its aftermath. This is the third book in the Women’s Voices from Gaza Series, which honours women’s unique and underrepresented perspectives on the social, material, and political realities of Palestinian life. Foreword by Ilan Pappe.

Reviews

“The Women's Voices From Gaza series is exceptional, offering insights into modern Gaza’s social history. It will attract a wide readership in Palestine studies and gender studies, as well as individuals interested in the Palestine question.” Rema Hammami, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Birzeit University