Mornings in Jenin

264 Pages·2010·0.67 MB·English

by  Susan Abulhawa

Mornings in Jenin: A Novel
Susan Abulhawa
For Natalie,
and for Seif
3
Copyright © 2010 by Susan Abulhawa
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in
any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, NY 10010.
Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Abulhawa, Susan.
[Scar of David]
Mornings in Jenin : a novel / Susan Abulhawa.–1st U.S. ed. p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-60819-046-1 (paperback)
1. Palestinian Arabs–Fiction. 2. Arab-Israeli conflict–Fiction. 3.
Jenin–Fiction. 4. Refugees, Palestinian Arab–Fiction. 5.
Palestine–History–Partition, 1947–Fiction. 6. Palestine–History–20th
century–Fiction. 7. Middle East–Politics and government–1945–Fiction.
I. Title.
PS33601.B86S33 2010
813’.6–dc22
2009024957
This novel was published in a different form, by Journey Publications
in 2006, under the title of The Scar of David. The test of Mornings in
Jenin has been fully revised and edited.
First published by Bloomsbury USA in 2010
This e-book edition published in 2010
E-book ISBN: 978-1-60819-148-2
www.bloomsburyusa.com
CONTENTS
Prelude............................................................................................................ 9
I. El Nakba (the catastrophe)....................................................................... 10
1 The Harvest.....................................................................................................11
2 Ari Perlstein....................................................................................................15
3 The No-Good Bedouin Girl ........................................................................... 18
4 As They Left................................................................................................... 25
5 “Ibni! Ibni!”.................................................................................................... 35
6 Yehya’s Return...............................................................................................38
7 Amal Is Born..................................................................................................46
II. El Naksa (the disaster) ............................................................................48
8 As Big as the Ocean andAll Its Fishes...........................................................49
9 June in the Kitchen Hole............................................................................... 54
10 Forty Days Later .......................................................................................... 65
III. The Scar of David.................................................................................... 75
11 A Secret, Like a Butterfly.............................................................................. 76
12 Yousef, the Son............................................................................................. 78
13 Moshe’s Beautiful Demon............................................................................80
14 Yousef, the Man ...........................................................................................83
15 Yousef, the Prisoner.....................................................................................84
16 The Brothers Meet Again.............................................................................87
17 Yousef, the Fighter.......................................................................................89
18 Beyond the First Row of Trees ....................................................................90
19 Yousef Leaves............................................................................................... 97
20 Heroes.........................................................................................................101
21 Tapered Endings........................................................................................ 104
22 Leaving Jenin .............................................................................................113
23 The Orphanage.......................................................................................... 120
IV. El Ghurba (state of being a stranger).................................................. 134
24 America.......................................................................................................135
25 The Telephone Call from Yousef............................................................... 142
V. Albi fi Beirut (my heart in Beirut)..........................................................145
26 Majid.......................................................................................................... 146
27 The Letter....................................................................................................156
28 “Yes”........................................................................................................... 160
29 Love.............................................................................................................161
30 A Story of Forever...................................................................................... 163
31 Philadelphia, Again.................................................................................... 168
32 A Story of Forever, Forever Untold............................................................173
33 Pity the Nation............................................................................................176
34 Helpless ......................................................................................................181
35 The Month of Flowers ............................................................................... 184
36 Yousef, the Avenger................................................................................... 190
VI. Elly Bayna (what there is between us)..................................................191
37 A Woman of Walls..................................................................................... 192
38 Here, There, and Yon ................................................................................ 196
39 The Telephone Call from David ................................................................202
40 David and Me ............................................................................................205
41 David’s Gift................................................................................................. 212
42 My Brother, David......................................................................................217
VII. Baladi (my country)............................................................................ 219
43 Dr. Ari Perlstein.........................................................................................220
44 Hold Me, Jenin..........................................................................................228
VIII. Nihaya o Bidaya (an end and a beginning) ......................................240
45 For the Love of Daughters......................................................................... 241
46 Pieces of God .............................................................................................246
47 Yousef, the Cost of Palestine .....................................................................249
Author’s Note...............................................................................................251
Glossary....................................................................................................... 253
References...................................................................................................259
8
PRELUDE
Jenin
2002
AMAL WANTED A CLOSER look into the soldier’s eyes, but the muzzle of his
automatic rifle, pressed against her forehead, would not allow it. Still, she was
close enough to see that he wore contacts. She imagined the soldier leaning
into a mirror to insert the lenses in his eyes before getting dressed to kill.
Strange, she thought, the things you think about in the district between life
and death.
She wondered if officials might express regret for the “accidental” killing of
her, an American citizen. Or if her life would merely culminate in the dander
of “collateral damage.”
A lone bead of sweat traveled from the soldier’s brow down the side of his
face. He blinked hard. Her stare made him uneasy. He had killed before, but
never while looking his victim in the eyes. Amal saw that, and she felt his
troubled soul amid the carnage around them.
Strange, again, I am unafraid of death. Perhaps because she knew, from the
soldier’s blink, that she would live.
She closed her eyes, reborn, the cold steel still pushing against her forehead.
The petitions of memory pulled her back, and still back, to a home she had
never known.
9
I.
EL NAKBA
(the catastrophe)
10