Notes on the Occupation: Palestinian Lives

A rare, inside look at real life in the west bank, introduced by one of the world's leading Palestinian intellectuals.

Almost forty years after the Israeli military occupation of Palestine, scenes from everyday life in the West Bank remain rare and fragmented in the West. Despite its prominence in world news, surprisingly little is known about daily life in this troubled land. Yet with the publication of former President Jimmy Carter's controversial new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, it has become clear that an unvarnished view of Palestinian life is an essential prerequisite to peace. In Notes on the Occupation, critic and intellectual Eric Hazan provides crucial insight into life in the occupied state.

The result of a month-long visit to the region during the summer of 2006, including visits to Nablus, Qalqilyah, and Hebron, Hazan's eloquent account reveals the complex and devastating impact of the occupation.

With an introduction by celebrated Middle East scholar Rashid Khalidi and an epilogue by activist Michel Warschawski, Notes on the Occupation is a rare portrait of a population living with the reality of war and the dream of peace.

Elizabeth R. Hayford - Library Journal

Hazan, a French editor and publisher, visited three West Bank towns in the summer of 2006 to observe the human cost of the Israeli occupation, which has lasted almost 40 years. He writes simply of the Palestinians he meets-mayors, mothers, militants, farmers, and others-surviving the ongoing economic, social, and political repression and daily humiliations. Hazan presents the human tragedy endured by the Palestinians without an analytic frame and concludes with his amazement that they can remain optimistic about the future. His perspective is important for library collections.

Eric Hazan is an editor, translator, and founder of the publishing house La Fabrique. He lives in Paris, France. Rashid Khalidi is the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies and the director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. Michel Warschawski is the director of the Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem, a well-known peace activist, and author of a book about the Israel-Palestine situation. George Holoch has translated more than twenty books, including works by Bernard-Henri Lévy, Jean Lacouture, and Olivier Roy. He lives in Hinesburg, Vermont.