Two Book Reviews: My Father was a Freedom Fighter -- Gaza's Untold Story

The Unquenchable Spirit of Resistance in Gaza

By Tapani Lausti

It is hard to finish reading this book without tears in one's eyes. Mohammed Baroud's life story, as told by his son Ramzy, encapsulates the tragedy of the Palestinians in general and the Gazans in particular. It is a story of the amazing resilience of people whose life and dreams have been shattered for decades, with much of the world watching with indifference or incomprehension.

Mohammed Baroud's home village Beit Daras, in Southern Palestine, was taken over in May 1948 by Israeli forces with extreme violence. Thus began Mohammed's story as a refugee in one of Gaza's many refugee camps. He became a freedom fighter. He was once a fighter in an Egyptian army unit, and later a member of a Palestinian Liberation Army brigade. He was also a husband and father of five sons and one daughter. Sometimes he had to engage in imaginative business transactions to help his family survive. With extremely limited resources he helped his children to get an education. Utter poverty and constant humiliations did not destroy Mohammed's spirit. Like so many Gazans he dreamed of the end of their nightmare. However, they had to endure constant Israeli aggression, Arab governments' indifference and Palestinian leadership's internal feuding.

Before emigrating to the United States in 1994, Ramzy Baroud grew up in the middle of this all. One morning, when he was still a school boy, he woke up with a soldier's boot on his face. He recounts: "Soldiers often stormed into people's homes and broke the arms and legs of men and boys so as to send a stern message to the rest of the neighborhood that they would receive the same fate if they continued with their Intifada." (p. 143)

Tapani Lausti is a Finnish journalist living in Spain. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

Full Article
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16380

*****************************************************

Gaza, Mohammed and My Mother

By Elana Golden

My Father was a Freedom Fighter is a page-turner though I read it in small bites, the way you would eat a rich chocolate cake. It is a great read not only for those interested in the Israel/Palestine conflict but for anyone who loves books about family, courage, hope and resilience.
Elana Golden, screenwriter, director, creative-writing teacher, Palestinian rights activist, Women in Black – Los Angeles. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

Full Article
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16360