Regarding Muslims in particular, the perception is that those others are more of a potential threat rather than a potential friend. There is a historical sense of disconnection in the West, and especially in America between what the world outside of America is, and what people in America think the world is. This causes much strife and suffering to millions of people. And it does have a perceptual problem, not only of Islam but also of the Arab world, the Palestinians, and the rest of the world that is not Western. Regarding Western perceptions of Islam, the West is now my home too. I feel the entire universe is my big home. Now it is Ramallah, Jerusalem, America, Europe and many other countries.
And the fig fruit in a market in America leads instantly to the fig tree in Beit Iksa in Jerusalem? For me, one never moves out of the place where they were born.
Ibtisam Barakat: How can one say that they moved out of a place that they think about all the time? And write about it. Do you feel it is challenging to deal with Western perceptions of the Muslim world?
In these books, readers can experience the heartbeat of the ancient and multi-layered Palestinian culture, the intense plight and more intense creative resilience.Īkrita Reyar : You moved out of Palestine, and now you live in the United States. I have written two memoirs in English about growing up in Palestine, 'Tasting the Sky, a Palestinian Childhood', and 'Balcony on the Moon, Coming of Age in Palestine'. That helped me to lose the feeling of insignificance that colonialist forces try to instil in the colonized, and I developed a broader perspective. So, it became easy for me to see myself as a historical figure too - my actions, my perspectives, my feelings and creative impulses being a continuation of a great and complex history of both beauty and strife, needing me to rise to the page and do my part of writing history in my own ways. People referred to and invoked the names of those ancient figures as much as they called the names of people they lived with on a daily basis. I could hear it humming old songs and sometimes it smiled at me and at other times it frowned. History was always walking side by side with me wherever I went. I walked on the same alleys that Jesus, Mohammad, and many ancient and “larger-than-life” figures walked on. Ibtisam Barakat: Growing up in Jerusalem was like growing up in two worlds - one invisible - made of history, and one present world. caught up with her to explore her own childhood, enduring influences and the emotions common to all young people across creeds and religions.Īkrita Reyar : How was it like growing up in Jerusalem – the cradle of many civilizations as well as unresolved conflicts?
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