'My Palestine': Mohammad Tarbush's memoir is a heartbreaking read about the Palestinian plight

The Palestine we know today because of our phones constantly buzzing with breaking news, and the Palestine that existed before the world knew about its war-torn, dystopian state are divergent. Mohammad Tarbush’s widens our perspective as seen by a native who moved across foreign lands with both ease and vigour, but had a Palestinian heart beating within him throughout.

Beit Natiff, a small village in Palestine and young Tarbush’s home, is violently destroyed by Zionist forces, turning Tarbush’s world upside down as his family is forced to flee their hometown. Through his memories, we are taken into an existence which was once studded with family gatherings and olive trees, but was suddenly changed into a forced march from Beit Natiff to Jericho, and then to Bethlehem. The once proud Palestine and its people were reduced to ration lines and overcrowded shelters.

Tarbush’s grandfather, whom he loved deeply, succumbed to the pain that exile brought with it, and reading the story made it feel like a personal loss. Tarbush’s writing here is dramatic, highly illustrative and emotional, turning these into some of the memoir’s most heart-wrenching pages. The reader understands far more than what is said explicitly – such as the cost of forced exile...