An elegy to memory: what is memorialised, what is not, and why

Forgotten is a search for hidden or neglected memorials and places in historic Palestine - now Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories - and what they might tell us about the land and the people who live on our small slip of earth between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.From ancient city ruins to the Nabi 'Ukkasha mosque and tomb, acclaimed writers and researchers Raja Shehadeh and Penny Johnson ask: what has been memorialised, and what lies unseen, abandoned or erased - and why? Whether standing on a high cliff overlooking Lebanon or at the lowest land-based elevation on earth at the Dead Sea, they explore lost connections in a fragmented land.In elegiac, elegant prose, Shehadeh and Johnson grapple not only with questions of Israeli resistance to acknowledging the Nakba - the 1948 catastrophe for Palestinians - but also with the complicated history of Palestinian commemoration today.

Details

ISBN13: 9781805222415
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 240
Edition: Main
Publication Date: 23 Apr 2025
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 20(H)x13.6(L)x2.8(W)300
Weight (gm): 300

Author Biography

Raja Shehadeh is Palestine's leading writer. A lawyer and human rights activist, he is the author of the Orwell-Prize winning Palestinian Walks. Penny Johnson is a founding member of the Institute of Women's Studies at Birzeit University, a Contributing Editor of the Jerusalem Quarterly and author of Companions in Conflict.

Reviews

'Praise for We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: 'Absolutely gripping ... masterly' - Rachel Aspden

'Profoundly personal as well as historically significant ... A quiet and deeply felt book' - Hisham Matar

'Praise for Companions in Conflict: 'Insightful, surprising, and moving' - Kamila Shamsie

'A joyful read, and an essential and timely addition to the literature in animal studies' - Bjorn Kristensen, University of Oregon