The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: a personal perspective from the daughter of a dispossessed Palestinian

My visit to my father’s birthplace, Palestine, in 2000 had a profound impact on me. I suddenly understood the tragedy of my family, specifically my grandmother’s, dispossession. I also saw children and young adults trying to get on with their life despite the occupation – attending weddings, gossiping with friends and neighbours, haggling at the shops, following favourite television sitcoms. With Where the Streets Had A Name, I wanted to explore life under occupation from the perspective of a Palestinian child and write a simple story set in complicated circumstances, looking at the sacrifices best friends make for each other, sibling rivalry, nagging parents, sparring in-laws, ambitious wedding plans, helpless adults, children who dream big and an occupation that impacts on the minutiae of ordinary life.

Topics:

Introduction to my own history and my family’s experience My visit to Palestine in 2000 Where the Streets Had A Name – why I wrote the book, what research I conducted, what the title means. My upcoming visit to Palestine in April 2011 to teach creative writing in Ramallah and by video link to Gaza – why I accepted the invitation to do so and what I hope to achieve