Where the Line Is Drawn, Raja Shehadeh
Where the Line Is Drawn, Raja Shehadeh
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Where the Line Is Drawn
A Tale of Crossings, Friendships, and Fifty Years of Occupation in Israel-Palestine

Author: Raja Shehadeh

Narrator: Fajer Al-Kaisi

Unabridged: 6 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/18/2020

Synopsis

A moving account of one man’s border crossings—both literal and figurative—by the award-winning author of Palestinian Walks, published on the fiftieth anniversary of the June 1967 WarIn what has become a classic of Middle Eastern literature, Raja Shehadeh, in Palestinian Walks, wrote of his treks through the hills surrounding Ramallah over a period of three decades under Israel’s military occupation.In Where the Line Is Drawn, Shehadeh explores how occupation has affected him personally, chronicling the various crossings that he undertook into Israel over a period of forty years to visit friends and family, to enjoy the sea, to argue before the Israeli courts, and to negotiate failed peace agreements.Those forty years also saw him develop a close friendship with Henry, a Canadian Jew who immigrated to Israel at around the same time Shehadeh returned to Palestine from studying in London. While offering an unforgettably poignant exploration of Palestinian-Israeli relationships, Where the Line Is Drawn also provides an anatomy of friendship and an exploration of whether, in the bleakest of circumstances, it is possible for bonds to transcend political divisions.

About Raja Shehadeh

Raja Shehadeh is a writer, lawyer, and the founder of the pioneering Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. He is the author of several books, including Strangers in the House; Occupation Diaries; Language of War, Language of Peace; the 2008 Orwell Prize–winning Palestinian Walks; and Where the Line Is Drawn (The New Press). He has written for the New York Times, the New Yorker, Granta, and other publications.

About Fajer Al-Kaisi

Fajer Al-Kaisi is an actor for the stage and screen as well as an accomplished voice-over artist and narrator with over a hundred audiobook credits. Fajer is currently the voice of Shazzan on Jellystone (HBO Max) as well as cohost of the podcast BardQuest Empire. His TV appearances include Law & Order, Future Man, The Code, 30 Rock, Nurse Jackie, The Blacklist, The Onion News Network, Person of Interest, Delocated, Search Party, Madam Secretary, and Deadbeat. His film credits include "Karim" in I'll Come Running, "Ali Soufan" in The Report, and as "the interpreter" in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. His theatrical credits include: Tareq in the Guthrie's production of Nora, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Aeneas in Troilus and Cressida at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Grahm/2 in the world premiere of Informed Consent at Cleveland Playhouse, and Shahid the translator in the NYTW world premiere of Aftermath and the subsequent Arktype World tour. His additional regional credits include: The Humans, Disgraced, and The Invisible Hand. Fajer has been nominated for a Drama Leagues Award (Aftermath, Best Ensemble 2011) as well as a finalist for best male performance at the Audies (Fives and Twenty-Fives, 2015). He has also received several AudioFile Earphones Awards.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel on March 03, 2018

Brilliant account of the friendship between Raja, a Palestinian and Henry an Israeli, set with the background of the changing events in Israel and Palestine and the increasing pressure on the Palestinians as a result of the Israeli Occupation. The ups and downs of this fragile relationship and the f......more

Goodreads review by Paula M. on August 08, 2018

Raja Shehadeh nasceu em 1951, três anos após a fundação do estado de Israel, acontecimento a que os Palestinianos se referem como ' Nakba' / a Catástrofe. Em 1948 a sua família é forçada a abandonar Jaffa indo para Ramallah, na Cisjordania. Raja tornou-se advogado e fundador da Al -Haq , uma organiz......more

Goodreads review by Mike on August 14, 2017

Instructive and informative multi-generational view of the impact of Israel's creation and evolution on a Palestinian man, including on his relationship with a lifetime Jewish friend. Well worth reading for those interested in understanding complexities of the contentious recent (70-year) history of......more

Goodreads review by Chase on April 10, 2018

Eye opener. Will need to do further research. Raja weaves a good argument here. I would like to read Henry’s rebuttal.......more

Goodreads review by Leoniepeonie on November 02, 2022

This is a beautifully written account of life under Israeli occupation. Shehadeh's writing style is just so fluid and the fact that he has kept a journal throughout the fifty years of occupation really shows - the emotions stretching across such a long period still feel so fresh and are very evocati......more

Quotes

“Remarkable and hopeful…A deeply honest and intense memoir.” New York Times Book Review

“No one else writes about Palestinian life under military occupation with such stubborn humanity, melancholy, and fragile grace…One feels the loss in every paragraph Shehadeh writes, but also the inescapable beauty that remains, which both softens and deepens the rage.” The Guardian

“A beautifully impressionistic exploration of shared cultural understanding despite the narrowing of borders.” Kirkus Reviews

“A gentle, hopeful book of what could and should be. His belief in ‘we will’—have a soverign state, lasting peace, and mutual forgiveness—inspires, exemplifies, and leads” Booklist

“Shehadeh describes with courage and grace the internal struggle to remain fair.” New Yorker

“[Shehadeh’s] books are maps, painstakingly pieced together, of regions lost to senseless division, to bad choices, and to lies.” The Nation

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