The Woman from Tantoura: A Palestinian Novel

by Radwa Ashour

  “Are you an artist?”

  “I draw. I’m still in the second year of middle school.” He fell silent, then continued, “I also work.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I pick oranges in season, and I pick olives in season. I help builders sometimes, and sometimes I sell cakes on the sidewalk.”

  “You help your parents?”

  “I could help them more. I give them some of what I earn; I need some of the money to buy drawing pads. They’re expensive. I don’t draw with colors, I draw in charcoal and black ink. Charcoal pencils aren’t cheap, and ink is also expensive.

  “Sometimes I give in and buy a piece or two of chocolate, and divide them with my brothers and sisters. I crave it, so I tell myself that it’s not really wrong to do what you want, sometimes. What do you think?”

  I smile, and say, “It’s completely reasonable.”

  He opened the pad. In the drawing there was barbed wire and a crowd of people on both sides. At the front was a woman wearing a long peasant dress lifting her hands high, holding an infant in diapers that she was about to give to a young man on the other side of the wire, who was lifting his hands toward the infant. On the child’s chest was a large, old key, covering a third of her body. The people on both sides of the wire were all tall, lofty lines, each leaning slightly toward the other side, as if they met in a trellis that nearly made an arch.

  He turned the page. “This is another drawing I made of you now, while you were sleeping.”

  A few lines of charcoal summon the likeness. The tattoo under the nose is clear, as if the Gypsy woman had made it a day or two earlier. The hair fastened behind the head had become two plaits, in the picture. Here also, the boy had put me in a long peasant dress. I said, “Why did you draw me twice in a peasant dress, and why do I have two braids?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, that’s how I saw you.”

  “You didn’t tell me your name.”

  “Naji.”

  “Where are you from, Naji?”

  “From Ain al-Helwa.”

  “I know, but where are you from originally?”

  “From Upper Galilee.”

  I heard someone say, “We’ve arrived.” I opened my eyes; the bus was stopping and the passengers had started to get out. I got off and took leave of Karima’s sisters, and of the people I had met on the trip, promising we would get together again soon. I stopped a taxi and it took me home.

  In bed, between sleep and waking, I became confused. I thought, was Naji sitting beside me, or was it a vision in a dream? Would I find him the next morning in Ain al-Helwa? Would we meet and would he allow me to get to know him better, and to watch him day after day, as he grew up? Would Naji meet little Ruqayya, one day, across the wire, or without it?

  I will sleep. The eventful day has exhausted me.

  I will sleep so I can get up early and go to the camp, to look for Naji and make sure that he’s there.

  Notes on the Text

  Tantoura, Qisarya, Saffurya, Ain Ghazal, Balad al-Sheikh, and the other villages and cities mentioned in this novel are real and can be found on any map. They are part of Palestine and its history.

  The massacres depicted in the novel are documented events: the massacres of Tantoura, of Sabra and Shatila, of the shelter in the children’s school in Sidon, of the Jad Building, and others.

  With the exception of some historical figures and some proper names mentioned in the text, all the characters of the novel, with their careers, their relationships and their fates, are fictional.

  Glossary

  Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni: a Palestinian nationalist leader and the founder of an organization that fought during the Arab Revolt, 1936–39, and in the war of 1948.

  Abu, Umm: Father (of), Mother (of), usually followed by the name of a first-born son; the use of this form of a name shows respect as well as some familiarity or affection.

  Abu Ammar: Yassir Arafat (1929–2004), chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

  Amal: A movement representing the Shia in Lebanon, founded in 1974.

  ataba and ooof songs, ahazij, mhaha, mawwal: Various specific forms of popular Palestinian songs.

  al-Azhar Mosque: A mosque in Cairo, with a university as an integral part of the institution since its establishment in the tenth century; the university has long been considered the foremost institution for the study of Islam.

  baccalaureate: The examination administered and degree awarded at the end of secondary study.

  Bashir Gemayel: Leader of the Phalange party and commander of the Lebanese Forces; elected president of Lebanon August 23, 1982 and assassinated September 14 of that year.

  the ‘company’: Name used by Palestinians to refer to Jewish settlements during the Mandate.

  dabka: A traditional line dance popular in the Levant.

  Druze: A religious and ethnic group originating in an outgrowth of Ismaili Shiism in the eleventh century.

  Eid: “Holiday”; often used alone to refer to Eid al-Fitr, or the holiday of the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan.

  Fairuz: An extremely popular Lebanese singer (b. 1935).

  Fatah: An acronym for the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, founded in 1959 by Yasser Arafat and others, and dedicated to the armed struggle for the liberation of Palestine. It joined with the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1969.

  Fatiha: The short opening chapter of the Qur’an, often recited as a brief prayer, particularly to solemnize an agreement such as a promise of marriage or to pray for someone deceased.

  fedayeen: Resistance fighters willing to give their lives, if necessary, to stand up to oppression. The term is particularly associated with Palestinian resistance fighters during the first several decades following the creation of the state of Israel.

  hajj: The pilgrimage to Mecca; one of the five pillars of Islam.

  Hittin: Palestinian site of a famous battle in which Saladin defeated the Crusaders (1187).

  al-Hunayti: A captain in the Arab Legion and commander of the Arab Forces in Haifa.

  iftar: The meal by which the daily fast is broken, after sundown, during the month of Ramadan.

  Intifada: “Uprising”; a name given to two periods of resistance movements of Palestinians in the Israeli occupied West Bank, ca. 1987–93 and ca. 2000–2005.

  jihad: “Effort” for the sake of God, sometimes referring to armed struggle.

  jinn: Creatures mentioned in the Qur’an; they have intelligence, like humans and angels, but are created of fire.

  kubbeh (bi-laban): Popular Levantine dishes centering on a mixture of ground meat, cracked wheat, and minced onion; the variety ‘bi-laban’ has a yogurt sauce.

  kufiyeh: A traditional headcloth worn by men, often with a checkered pattern.

  kunafa: A dessert of cheese pastry soaked in a sweet syrup.

  labneh: A thick spread made from yogurt.

  Laylat al-Qadr: The night before 27 Ramadan when the first revelation of the Qur’an was made to Muhammad. It is believed to be a blessed night when God answers prayers.

  lira: Lebanese currency.

  lukoum: “Turkish Delight”; a gummy sweet made in various flavors and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

  madafa: A meeting room for the men of a village, and a place to receive guests.

  maqlouba: A Levantine dish of meat, rice, and vegetables, packed into a mold and then reversed onto a plate.

  mufti: A scholar of Islam qualified to rule on points of Islamic law.

  mujaddara: A Levantine dish of cooked lentils, rice, and onions.

  mulukhiya: Leaves of the mallow plant (related to okra), used to make a green-colored soup or stew in Egypt and the Levant.

  musakhan: A dish of chicken roasted on flatbread with sumac and saffron.

  Naji al-Ali: Palestinian cartoonist, sharply critical of Israel and

  Arab regimes (1938–1987).

  Phalange: A right-wing, ultranationalist poli
tical and paramilitary organization in Lebanon, drawing most of its supporters from among the country’s Maronite Christians.

  The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP): A secular, leftist revolutionary organization formed in 1967 from three smaller organizations, under the leadership of Dr. George Habbash, and known for airline hijackings and other high-profile acts in support of the Palestinian cause. It has been part of the umbrella organization of the PLO since 1968.

  qumbaz: A man’s long-sleeved garment, open in front and closed with a belt.

  Saad Haddad: Founder and head of the South Lebanon Army, allied with Israel (1936–84).

  Sayyid Hasan (Nasrallah): Secretary General of the Shii organization Hezbollah after 1992, and leader of the Lebanese resistance.

  Second Bureau: Lebanese intelligence service.

  Shahada: Affirmation of the unity of God and prophethood of Muhammad (one of the five pillars of Islam).

  Shatir Hasan: A hero of traditional tales.

  sheikh: Literally “elder”; used for authoritative Islamic religious figures, as well as for headmen of villages and towns.

  sitt: “Lady”; sometimes used as a title. As a noun, it can also designate a grandmother.

  Teta: An affectionate name for a grandmother.

  thawb: “Dress”; often specifically a traditional, floor-length, long-sleeved dress.

  Umm Kulthum: An enormously popular Egyptian singer (ca. 1900–75).

  Yaammaa: An exclamation indicating how much something is, that it is too much.

  yalla: “Let’s go,” or “Get going.”