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The Scar of David

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I keep a journal and record in it much of what I read, because at 66 much of what I read is eminently forgettable, both by virtue of its lack of importance and due to my failing memory. But I will never forget this book.

"The Scar of David" gives a voice to the tragedy of a people whose own story has always been overshadowed by the looming darkness that is the Holocaust. I am unable to read it without a trememdous sadness. Susan Abulhawa's book moved me to tears for many reasons. Since others have summarized the subject matter here, I will not, and say only that it is the story of the conflict in the Middle East and the Palestinian experience within it, from the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 to the present day.

No tragedy has ever been narrated by a voice more genuine and believable. I have read Shakespeare, Steinbeck, Eugene O'Neill and Faulkner, but never have I seen the eternal human tragedy more exquisitely rendered. Abulhawa makes us see that the things that unite us are far more numerous than the things that divide us. We all need and seek love, bear offspring and love them, seek to protect them and share their pain when they hurt. We all feel fear, we all feel grief. Our children all need to play and learn and grow into adults who will be the sum of all their experiences. We all need shelter, food and water, and a sense of continuity, of a shared past and a certain future.

If her prose is occasionally a little more florid than I would like, it is more than made up for with emotional authenticity. Reading this book is a penance and a revelation, and yes, everyone should read this book, but gird your loins before you do.

Ms. Abulhawa has composed a marvelous story that weaves history with fiction, personal experience with imagination into a dynamic novel that offers points of contact for readers of many backgrounds. Her narration thick with motherly affection and human virtue invites the reader to read slowly and truly experience the story she is trying to tell. Ein Hod, outside of current-day Jenin district, is the village of the Abul Heija's, a rural Palestinian family who are forced to flee during the war in 1948. Amal Abul Heijah, the granddaughter of the family, takes center stage as a symbol of hope and the tenacious will of survival, creativity, and love, even if doubt, depression, and poverty cloud her dreams and opportunities. Amal's struggle for self-identification, caused by several layers of displacement from family, land, and home, is constantly accompanied by her detailed memory, which ultimately leads her to her destination. A must read.

This narrative may be fiction, but it tells the common experience of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories and in the diaspora. Abulhawa touches on critical historical events, 1948, 1967, Sabra & Shatila, as well as life under military occupation and the ensuing uprisings. She places these events in the context of human lives and mundane daily events of cooking meals, going to school, making love, and raising children. Her characters have both complexity and humanity, drawing in the reader to care about their circumstance and future. Abulhawa's encapsulates a variety of Palestinian experiences, including growing up in a refugee camp, moving abroad, participation in military actions, and wishing the rest of the world would take notice of the injustice. Abulhawa deftly includes the lives of Israelis, as well, treating them with respect and touching on the experiences of surviving the Holocaust and mandatory military service.

The book reads very quickly; I had to force myself to slow down to savor Abulhawa's prose. Her writing is deeply felt and very tangible. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

I met Susan, the author, quite by chance this weekend at a bookstore where she was signing the book. I bought a signed copy from her, took it home and read almost all of it in one sitting. Susan has done something very difficult and admirable, namely to write a literary narrative of the Palestinian Diaspora through the eyes of a family which experienced it. Like the protagonists, my parents also became refugees after 1948 and this is the first novel about the Palestinian exile which has really grabbed me and made me want to share the book with everyone I know. It is well written and will stand the test of time.

Although one professional reviewer feels that the book is not even-handed in its depiction of the Jewish characters, the plain fact is that, in the story of the Palestinian Diaspora, there were relatively few Israelis whose actions were worthy of praise. One might as well expect a story about the tragic history of American Indians (Native Americans) to sing the praises of the white men at whose hands they suffered so much. Reading this book allows the reader to understand the passion which Arabs and Palestinians have over Palestine, and Jerusalem, and appreciate why there never will be peace until there is a just and honorable settlement for the Palestinians, including some form of compensation for their losses. This is a very topical, timely and effective story.

Everyone should read Susan Abulhawa's The Scar of David. This story of a Palestinian family's journey through four generations of Israeli occupation offers beautiful, balanced, and intensely humanistic insight into the experience of both Palestinians and Israelis. Abulhawa artfully demonstrates how both occupier and occupied fall victim to this conflict, yet she paints a clear picture of the magnitude of its effect on Palestinians - that over and over again Palestinians find themselves at the [...] end of an Israeli or American rifle, in the groping hands of soldiers at checkpoints, and as the targets of missile massacres, always looking over their backs at a homeland razed by bulldozers and overrun by soldiers and settlers. However, what is most impressive is that she attains this degree of complexity around the Palestinian experience without dehumanizing Israelis or minimizing their fears and suffering. Rather, by telling the story as a series of first person narratives punctuated with third person accounts, Abulhawa is able to connect the personal with the political and give readers the sense that we are all ensnared in the same terrible situation, though its impact is certainly felt differently on each side. Anyone who seeks to understand how this conflict affects the real people who live it every day must read this book, as Abulhawa leaves us with the hope of change and a strong sense of the vastness of what it means to live under and within occupation.

But it is not merely the structure and the story of the book that makes it such a good read. Abulhawa's masterful narrative voice, splendid poetic prose, and dialogue that dances alive in a reader's head glued the book to my hands, and I was unable to put it down, often overcome with strong emotional reactions to the characters' experiences. I finished this book in just 24 hours - it is rare to encounter such a compelling read!

I'm the daughter of Palestinian-American immigrants who came here with a hope for the future. They still tried to tell us about what they left behind, and what we're fighting for. I thought I knew pretty well what I was advocating all this time, until I bought a copy of this book. I couldn't put it down, and I've reread it 3 more times since. I truly felt that I knew what it meant to be Palestinian, and felt that I truly could understand my parents and my family for the first time. I've recommended this book to all my friends who are still confused about my mission, my culture, and my pride. Anyone who needs a real point of view of an oppressed people needs to read this book. You won't regret it.

At no time in my life has a book had such a firm grip on my heart and soul. The most intriguing aspect of Susan Abulhawa's writing style is her innate ability to make you feel you are in every scene as a witness, resulting in a vast range of emotions including love, joy, sadness, horror, anger, forgiveness, wonderment, but never indifference. Though fictional, the characters soon become real, as if you've known, spoken, and walked with each of them. Susan Abulhawa has an exceptional talent and has given the world a beautiful gift, The Scar of David.

soul-searing prose penned with startling even-handedness. Ms. Abulhawa is certainly a patriot of the Palestinian perspective, but her ability to rise above the fray and encompass all viewpoints is remarkable. Now a presence in the literary landscape, this is a voice that belongs at the bargaining table.

Both historically and psychologically accurate. A good read and a chance to watch Palestinians go through the experiences of living under military occupation after being driven from their homes in 1948. Ordinary people trying to live their ordinary lives with dignity and hope. I shared their pain and joy, but with the tension of already knowing when hope would be betrayed again. The symbolic role of David works. Beautifully written fiction, but also an opportunity to see the struggle in Israel/Palestine from the point of view of the dispossessed.

Susan Abulhawa provides a gripping narrative spanning three generations of Palestinians and with a very impressive interplay of various characters the author puts a human face on the tragedy that has befallen the Palestinians after 1948.
Though the book: Scar of David- is a novel , one can clearly relate and connect the various events described to the historical facts that have transpired over the past fifty years. I found the character Yousef particularly illuminating. He personifies what can happen after years of humiliation, discrimination, oppression, torture and how when one loses hope they--male or female--can kill others with impunity. This phenomenon was well described in the book: Dying to Kill by Robert Pape and I recall watching a documentary of the female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber who blew up the former prime minister of India Mr Rajiv Gandhi. She had also gone through years of humiliation, abuse, seen her family killed and was a willing recruit for the Tamil Tiger suicide brigade. This book is a must read for those who are serious about addressing the long festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Helping the Israelis and Palestinians end the conflict will go a long away in reducing the current violence we all suffer from.