Iyad Barghouthi: Yearning for Home

In his new collection of stories, Palestinian writer Iyad Barghouthi explores the idea of home and heritage, particularly for those Palestinians who survived the Nakba and remained on their land after 1948.

Acre – “Palestinian by identity – Israeli by citizenship…I personally grew tired of this issue.” With these words, Iyad Barghouthi (b. 1980) presents his new collection Qisas Bayna al-Buyout (Stories Between Homes).

The book’s introduction is a letter that Barghouthi wrote to the editor of Right of Return, a Palestinian monthly magazine, in response to a request to write an article in the “Palestinian by identity – Israeli by citizenship” issue.

Barghouthi chose the letter as an introduction to his collection in order to put the texts in context for readers living outside Palestinian land occupied in 1948.

His writing style is characterized by simplicity, with Barghouthi’s characters often speaking in a Palestinian dialect that may change depending on the place from which the character hails.

In addition, he speaks using poetic language and metaphors, such as his saying “as if the wind is still playing off key.”

Stories Between Homes is made up of 13 separate stories using real and imaginary characters. In these pieces, Palestine is transformed from an inherited narrative and legend to a world of characters and heroes accompanied by the smallest details, a far cry from slogans and chants.

In Wajba Masiriyya (Fateful Meal), the narrator takes the reader to Acre and the story of Samar and her lover Khalil. Locals of the city suffer from unemployment and drug addiction in addition to the occupation and plans to Judaize the area.

Samar’s father does not approve of their relationship because Khalil’s father, Saber, is a drug addict. In this story Barghouthi is dissecting the nature of society’s rejection of a drug addict – who is a victim as well – by showing how it affects the fate of the addict’s family members.

The question of seeking “home” is present in all of Barghouthi’s stories. In al-Shareet al-Bortukali (Orange Strip), the orange color recurs in most of the collection because of its allusion to warmth and yearning for Jaffa.

The story’s heroine asks her beloved: “Where will we live?” The question becomes a main theme for the stories as well as the settings. These places include areas that the writer is familiar with such as in his hometown Nasira, Jaffa, where he studies, Haifa, where he worked, and Acre, where he lives with his wife today. This square of cities provides a backdrop for the collection, while not interfering with the flow if the narrative itself.

In his stories, Barghouthi addresses the connection between Palestinians who remained on their land following the Nakba and the Arab world, particularly their Arab heritage, after 60 years of occupation.

In Sammaa (Earpiece), an old married couple talks about weird voices that the man is hearing due to his malfunctioning earpiece. His wife asks him: “What do you hear?” He answers: “Old Arabic songs…Abdel Halim Hafez and Farid Atrash.”

In another story, the narrator addresses the desire of every Palestinian of 1948 to visit Lebanon, a country located only a few kilometers away that they cannot enter because they carry an Israeli passport. Thus it remains “a dream visit.”

At the end of Waheed fi Laylat Harb Momilla (Lonely on a Boring War Night), the main character plays famous tunes on his guitar, with “lights of a fuel treatment plants, port forklifts, a bay leading to Acre, and a mountain that hides Lebanon behind it” in the background. What is described is the same view that can be seen from most Palestinian homes in Haifa.

The obsession with finding a home is overwhelming in Qisas Bayna al-Boyout. It appears that Barghouti, however, has found his home, as he dedicates this work “to Mona, my home and wife.”

In the same way, Orange Strip’s leading character tells his beloved: “You are my home.” Barghouti wants us to know that between these homes is life, not only narrations.

This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.