Gaza is being bombed. Rashid - a bright, unemployed twenty-seven-year-old, who has stayed up smoking grass watching it happen - wakes the next day to hear that he's got the escape route he's been waiting for: a scholarship to London. His twin sister, Iman - frustrated by atrocities and inaction around her - has also been up all night in a meeting that offers her nothing but more disappointment. Grabbing recklessly at an opportunity to make a difference, she finds herself being followed by an unknown fighter. Meanwhile Sabri, the oldest brother of this disparate Palestinian family, works on a history of Palestine from his wheelchair as their mother pickles vegetables and feuds with their neighbours. Written with extraordinary humanity and humour, and moving between Gaza, London and the Gulf, Al-Khuruj min hunak is a tale that redefines Palestine and its people. It follows the lives of Rashid and Iman as they try to forge paths for themselves in the midst of occupation, religious fundamentalism and the divisions between Palestinian factions. It tells of family secrets, unlikely love stories and unburied tragedies as it captures the frustrations and energies of the modern Arab World. Paper 3/20/14 “This brave, important new writer draws us right into the beating heart of contemporary Arab life in all its vigour and complexity” – “An original and vivid voice. Full of energy, this is a new and welcome take on the Palestinian story.” – Ahdaf Soueif “Making sense of Palestine and its relentlessly repressed people is never going to be easy, but Dabbagh has crafted a wonderfully perceptive and gripping novel surrounding three siblings and their Palestinian roots” – The Daily Mirror, UK “A very successful debut novel...The writing is both literary and accessible, fast-paced, passionate, exuberant and heart-lurching” – The Guardian, UK
