We Could Have Been Friends, My Father And I: A Palestinian Memoir
A subtle psychological portrait of the author's relationship with his father during the twentieth-century battle for Palestinian human rights
Aziz Shehadeh was many things: lawyer, activist, and political detainee, he was also the father of bestselling author and activist Raja. In this new and searingly personal memoir, Raja Shehadeh unpicks the snags and complexities of their relationship.
A vocal and fearless opponent, Aziz resists under the British mandatory period, then under Jordan, and, finally, under Israel. As a young man, Raja fails to recognise his father's courage and, in turn, his father does not appreciate Raja's own efforts in campaigning for Palestinian human rights. When Aziz is murdered in 1985, it changes Raja irrevocably.
This is not only the story of the battle against the various oppressors of the Palestinians, but a moving portrait of a particular father and son relationship.
Praise for the author:
'Palestine's greatest prose writer ― Observer
Going Home cements the author's reputation as the best-known Palestinian writing in English ― Guardian
Luminously clear-sighted ... By turns lyrical, witty and shrewd, Shehadeh is an excellent walking companion ― Prospect
Shehadeh is a great inquiring spirit with a tone that is vivid, ironic, melancholy and wise ― Colm Tóibín
Raja Shehadeh is a buoy in a sea of bleakness ― Rachel Kushner
