Jim Brown reviewed I saw Ramallah by Murīd Barghūthī
Palestine is not an abstraction
This book is about a Palestinian coming to terms with what happens when he is able to return to the land he was driven from. We see the distinction between his idea of Palestine and his encounter with the place and his people. Barghouti's life is upended in every way when he is forced into exile at various moments (from Palestine, from Egypt, constantly forced to move and migrate) - this transforms his relationships to people, to place, even to things. The book shows the ripple effects of Zionism, and it is written by a poet, so we are immersed in these problems in an intense way