Nothing to Lose But Your Life: An 18 Hour Journey with Murad
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Review
'Amiry's writing skills show us that she is more than an ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances' The Irish Times
Product Description
A tomboy at heart, driven by adventure and a desire to understand what her less privileged compatriots go through, architect and university professor Suad Amiry disguises herself as a man and crosses the Israeli border illegally to seek work in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva. The 18-hour journey that she braves with Murad and his brother Mohammed starts with a bumpy late night ride in a bus crammed with other illegal workers - all men - whose endless stories are both horrifying and amusing. "Nothing to Lose But Your Life" is a vivid account of a grueling journey but also a lamentation for lost land and for simpler, more peaceful times.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Suad Amiry's style is so intriguing. I like how she humanises the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Her weapon, biting irony and bitter sarcasm, proves how arbitrary, mindless, and heartless the occupation could be.
You ought to read her other book, 'Sharon and and Mother-in-law'
P.s. why has the name of the book changed from 'Murad Murad' to this rather clumsy one?
You ought to read her other book, 'Sharon and and Mother-in-law'
P.s. why has the name of the book changed from 'Murad Murad' to this rather clumsy one?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love this book just as I loved Suad Amiry's first book "Sharon and my Mother-in Law". Once again her mixing of humour, irony and sarcasm with her real life knowledge of life under occupation is so very compelling. Somehow she manages to ridicule so much of what the Israeli state is doing in a way that makes her resistance stronger than more direct action would do.
The book covers a fascinating 18 hour adventure from the West Bank across the "separation barrier" (or the Wall as Berliner's would call it) into pre 1948 Palestine that the world now calls "Israel proper". It's fast moving and easy to read and will tell you more about the feelings and emotions of Palestinians living in the West Bank than academic tomes many times thicker.
Just as her first book solved my Christmas present problem a few years back, this will do so this year.
The book covers a fascinating 18 hour adventure from the West Bank across the "separation barrier" (or the Wall as Berliner's would call it) into pre 1948 Palestine that the world now calls "Israel proper". It's fast moving and easy to read and will tell you more about the feelings and emotions of Palestinians living in the West Bank than academic tomes many times thicker.
Just as her first book solved my Christmas present problem a few years back, this will do so this year.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Suad Amiry is an architect and university professor who lives in Ramallah. The presence of the wall between Israel and the Palestinians has had a significant impact on many Palestinians, and it is this impact which has motivated Ms Amiry to write this book. Many Palestinians lost their jobs as a consequence of the wall, and one of those Palestinians is Murad, a Palestinian labourer aged 21 who had been working in Israel since he was 13 years old.
Ms Amiry decided to accompany Murad on a trip to Israel to search for work after hearing some of his stories about the difficulties involved. This is Ms Amiry's account of the 18 hour period she spent with Murad - from the time she patted her dog on the head and left her home in Ramallah, until she returned. She took a tape recorder with her, but much of the book is based on her recollections of the journey: of confrontation, of checkpoints, of Murad, and of the travel involved.
The journey was not straightforward: the travel involves others, each with his (they are all men, except for Suad Amiry) own experiences of life and the constant search for work. Some stories are horrifying, others are amusing, and each involves memories of a different past. There's a lot of waiting involved: waiting for Israeli soldiers to move on so that the travellers can cross into Israel. Of the 24 workers from the original group Ms Amiry joined, only 4 made it into Israel, the other 20 were arrested. As were many others of the larger group of 500 to 600 people who were attempting to cross at the same location.
Once they reached the other side, they try to blend in, by getting on a bus with the Israelis:
`So much for looking Israeli, I thought to myself. It takes more than a pair of sunglasses to escape one's looks, one's class and one's nationality. But I also thanked God that some 10-15% of Palestinians stayed behind in 1948 so as to give us a cover sixty years later.'
The landscape has changed - many towns have been destroyed and turned into parks by the Israeli authorities. Suad Amiry does not always know exactly where she is:
`I wondered if I was lying in the middle of the Mlabbis graveyard.'
And later reflects:
`Wasn't it amazing that now we needed simple things such as a road sign to assure us that we truly existed in this land?'
It's a disturbing story, but well worth reading for the perspective it offers.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Ms Amiry decided to accompany Murad on a trip to Israel to search for work after hearing some of his stories about the difficulties involved. This is Ms Amiry's account of the 18 hour period she spent with Murad - from the time she patted her dog on the head and left her home in Ramallah, until she returned. She took a tape recorder with her, but much of the book is based on her recollections of the journey: of confrontation, of checkpoints, of Murad, and of the travel involved.
The journey was not straightforward: the travel involves others, each with his (they are all men, except for Suad Amiry) own experiences of life and the constant search for work. Some stories are horrifying, others are amusing, and each involves memories of a different past. There's a lot of waiting involved: waiting for Israeli soldiers to move on so that the travellers can cross into Israel. Of the 24 workers from the original group Ms Amiry joined, only 4 made it into Israel, the other 20 were arrested. As were many others of the larger group of 500 to 600 people who were attempting to cross at the same location.
Once they reached the other side, they try to blend in, by getting on a bus with the Israelis:
`So much for looking Israeli, I thought to myself. It takes more than a pair of sunglasses to escape one's looks, one's class and one's nationality. But I also thanked God that some 10-15% of Palestinians stayed behind in 1948 so as to give us a cover sixty years later.'
The landscape has changed - many towns have been destroyed and turned into parks by the Israeli authorities. Suad Amiry does not always know exactly where she is:
`I wondered if I was lying in the middle of the Mlabbis graveyard.'
And later reflects:
`Wasn't it amazing that now we needed simple things such as a road sign to assure us that we truly existed in this land?'
It's a disturbing story, but well worth reading for the perspective it offers.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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