Return : A Palestinian Memoir

**An extraordinary memoir of exile and the impossibility of finding home, from the author of __In Search of Fatima__**__“The journey filled me with bitterness and grief. I remember looking down on a nighttime Tel Aviv from the windows of a place taking me back to London and thinking hopelessly, ‘flotsam and jetsam, that’s what we’ve become, scattered and divided. There’s no room for us or our memories here. And it won’t be reversed.’”__ Having grown up in Britain following her family’s exile from Palestine, doctor, author and academic Ghada Karmi leaves her adoptive home in a quest to return to her homeland. She starts work with the Palestinian Authority and gets a firsthand understanding of its bizarre bureaucracy under Israel’s occupation. In her quest, she takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the heart of one of the world’s most intractable conflict zones and one of the major issues of our time. Visiting places she has not seen since childhood, her unique insights reveal a militarised and barely recognisable homeland, and her home in Jerusalem, like much of the West Bank, occupied by strangers. Her encounters with politicians, fellow Palestinians, and Israeli soldiers cause her to question what role exiles like her have in the future of their country and whether return is truly possible. An extraordinary memoir of exile and the impossibility of finding home, from the author of In Search of Fatima “The journey filled me with bitterness and grief. I remember looking down on a nighttime Tel Aviv from the windows of a place taking me back to London and thinking hopelessly, ‘flotsam and jetsam, that’s what we’ve become, scattered and divided. There’s no room for us or our memories here. And it won’t be reversed.’” Having grown up in Britain following her family’s exile from Palestine, doctor, author and academic Ghada Karmi leaves her adoptive home in a quest to return to her homeland. She starts work with the Palestinian Authority and gets a firsthand understanding of its bizarre bureaucracy under Israel’s occupation. In her quest, she takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the heart of one of the world’s most intractable conflict zones and one of the major issues of our time. Visiting places she has not seen since childhood, her unique insights reveal a militarised and barely recognisable homeland, and her home in Jerusalem, like much of the West Bank, occupied by strangers. Her encounters with politicians, fellow Palestinians, and Israeli soldiers cause her to question what role exiles like her have in the future of their country and whether return is truly possible. An extraordinary memoir of exile and the impossibility of finding home, from the author of In Search of Fatima The journey filled me with bitterness and grief. I remember looking down on a nighttime Tel Aviv from the windows of a plane taking me back to London and thinking hopelessly, flotsam and jetsam, thats what weve become, scattered and divided. Theres no room for us or our memories here. And it wont be reversed. Having grown up in Britain following her familys exile from Palestine, doctor, author and academic Ghada Karmi leaves her adoptive home in a quest to return to her homeland. She starts work with the Palestinian Authority and gets a firsthand understanding of its bizarre bureaucracy under Israels occupation. In her quest, she takes the reader on a fascinating journey into the heart of one of the worlds most intractable conflict zones and one of the major issues of our time. Visiting places she has not seen since childhood, her unique insights reveal a militarised and barely recognisable homeland, and her home in Jerusalem, like much of the West Bank, occupied by strangers. Her encounters with politicians, fellow Palestinians, and Israeli soldiers cause her to question what role exiles like her have in the future of their country and whether return is truly possible. "After growing up in Britain following exile from Palestine in 1948, Karmi returns to her homeland in the hope of helping with the peace process and the possibility of a Palestinian state. She starts work within the Palestinian Authority ministry. Yet she finds her family home has now been occupied, and much of the West Bank militarized; meanwhile her encounters with fellow Palestinians, politicians, and Israeli solders forces her to question what role the diaspora has in the future of the homeland, and whether return is truly possible. Beautifully written and deeply moving, Return is a passionate meditation on belonging"-- "After growing up in Britain following exile from Palestine in 1948, Karmi returns to her homeland in the hope of helping with the peace process and the possibility of a Palestinian state. She starts work within the Palestinian Authority ministry. Yet she finds her family home has now been occupied, and much of the West Bank militarized; meanwhile her encounters with fellow Palestinians, politicians, and Israeli solders forces her to question what role the diaspora has in the future of the homeland, and whether return is truly possible. Beautifully written and deeply moving, Return is a passionate meditation on belonging"-- "After growing up in Britain following exile from Palestine in 1948, Karmi returns to her homeland in the hope of helping with the peace process and the possibility of a Palestinian state. She starts work within the Palestinian Authority ministry. Yet she finds her family home has now been occupied, and much of the West Bank militarized; meanwhile her encounters with fellow Palestinians, politicians, and Israeli solders forces her to question what role the diaspora has in the future of the homeland, and whether return is truly possible. Beautifully written and deeply moving, Return is a passionate meditation on belonging"-- Provided by publisher