More About the Author
I was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon ten years after the creation of the state of Israel. Moved to the United States in late 1977, and has been active in various local and national political organizations. Cofounder of the Middle East Cultural and Information Center in San Diego and served as the Secretary General of the US chapter of a national Palestinian student union. I have a BS degree in Civil Engineering and MBA in Global Management. I am a California registered professional engineer and work on water infrastructure management.
I lived through the tumultuous period when the PLO took over the refugee camps in 1969 and during the most intense part of the Lebanese Civil war. I ran away from home to join the PLO when I was only 11 years old; I survived many Israeli raids on the camp and cheated death in one air raid in 1972; survived serious head injuries in Jerusalem in 1996 and worked with the UN in Gaza for part of 1997.
1. About the Book
A great deal has been written over the years on the Palestine-Israel conflict, and the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. However, few works on the subject really present the personal aspect: What is it like to be a refugee? What propels a decent human being to take up arms, to become a freedom fighter or a "terrorist?"
This book tells of the author's journey from childhood in the Nahr El Bared Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, becoming a member of the PLO, through to eventual emigration, a new life as an engineer in the United States, and a 'return' trip to historic Palestine.
Running parallel to the personal narrative, the book also documents the story of Nahr El Bared itself: the story of a refugee camp that grew from an initial clump of muddy UN tents to become a vibrant trading centre in north Lebanon, before its eventual destruction at the hands of the Lebanese army as they battled with militants from the Fatah Al Islam group in the summer of 2007.
Throughout it all, the spirit of the remarkable people of the camp shines through, and the book provides a moving testament to how refugees in Lebanon have managed to persist in their struggle for their "right to return", as well as survive socially, economically and politically despite more than sixty years of dispossession, war and repression.
The book illustrates how refugees are able to remain uniquely Palestinians, and to survive socially, economically, and politically during the hypothetically "temporary" resident status in Lebanon. The refugees have indefatigably remained part of a nation, without the state. Israeli writer Danny Rubinstein said it best when describing the Palestinians in his book:
Every people in the world lives in a place. For Palestinians, the place lives in them.
The book story will move you emotionally and challenge you intellectually. It is heartrending, yet joyful. You are invited to a journey into the daily life of a refugee to discover hope and the "place" that lives inside every Palestinian.
2. THE MAIN THEMES AND OBJECTIVES
The story is a collection of events and people that have formed parts of the author's life experience either by chance, choice or circumstance. The book focuses on the inimitable personal experiences of refugees. The refugees' continued dilemma has shaped the trying Middle East peace process, hindering thus far a final agreement between the Palestinians and Israel.
The personal storyline relates how refugees in Lebanon survived following the 1948 catastrophe or "Al Nakba", despite many years of political repression. Their revolt twenty years later signalled the start of a tumultuous period in Lebanon and lead to the rise of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the new undisputed universal authority for the Palestinian people.
Palestinian camps in Lebanon were uniquely positioned to carry the beacon for the "right of return" even after more than sixty years in Diaspora. The book explains how refugees are able to sustain themselves and how they endure the theoretically "temporary" resident status in Lebanon.
2. OVERALL BOOK STRUCTURE
The book starts with a brief historical background leading into the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem. The short background prepares the reader to navigate gently into the volatile daily life, building the camp, economy, political consciousness, the PLO emergence, and finally the camp's destruction.
The personal narrative takes the reader through the experience of growing up in the camp: How children were able to deal with their daily tribulations, yet were able to end up growing like normal dynamic human beings: it recounts how as a grown up teenager the author experienced love and cheated death in Israeli raids.
The structure then leads to the ultimate experience of many young Palestinian refugees who seek life outside the camp in order to support those who remain behind. It details the author's experience of visiting his long lost homeland and meeting for the first time relatives who remained in their homes after the creation of the state of Israel. The book concludes with the story of the destruction of Nahr El Bared camp at the hand of the Lebanese army in the summer of 2007.
3. WHY IT IS NEEDED
A myriad of books has been written to make fervent, and at times, one-sided polemics on the Palestine and Israel conflict. Nonetheless, little of the literature addresses the refugees' collective life experiences in the camps.
The book addresses the following questions:
* How were the camps created in Lebanon? How they were managed? How were refugees able to survive economically?
* In the larger Middle East context, why have Palestinian refugees refused to settle in the new host countries even after over sixty years since the creation of the State of Israel?
* Why is resolving the refugee issue vital to a lasting peace in the Middle East?
Answering the above questions will further the reader's awareness of the human aspect to the historical argument in the current public debate.
This book takes the reader on a journey into life in Nahr El Bared, where they will learn more about the refugees and their lost memories in a place they call home.
3. WHAT MAKES THE BOOK SPECIAL
The book goes beyond the internecine arguments and seeks to focus on the inimitable personal experiences of the lives of refugees. It explains how the refugees' problem has influenced the difficult political process blocking thus far an agreement between the Palestinians and Israel.
The book's subject is a unique reference for those seeking to understand how refugee camps in Lebanon are able to survive despite the economic, social and political hurdles imposed by the Government.
The author's handling of personal subject matter deftly intertwines political and emotional perspectives. As a result, it is an affecting read for those looking for the true story behind the Middle East peace process, widely perceived as "irrational and convoluted".
Kanj intends to answer the reader's curiosity about the Palestine refugee dynamics in the overall political setting, conflict and resolution. The refugee factor is becoming now even more pertinent as the refugee issue was a major cause not only for the failure of Camp David during the final months of the Clinton administration, but also for the continued impasse in the various peace initiatives and the ongoing negotiations between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian authority.
Unlike other books which discuss the Palestinian conflict, this book attempts to engage the readers on an emotional level in order for them to fathom the vehement radical stance taken today by some against Israel, and the Western military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
