We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir Paperback – 3 Aug. 2023

Great book. Sad and disgusting zionist ethnic cleansing. Tragic. 😭😢🇵🇸✊️

There's an urgent need of more Palestinian voices to be heard in times a great darkness coming from that region of the world and with that in mind, I've bought Raja Shehadeh's book " We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I". It's basically an ode to his late father , also a layer Aziz Shehadeh and in it's pages one finds a detailed account of Aziz's actions in favor of a two state solution for the Palestinians and Israelis. One is not surprised that the Israelis would act in bad faith while participating in these efforts in most cases but i personally didn't know that many Jordanian politicians were also not interested in a fair solution.This is an interesting read but in spite of the gorgeous tittle, it's only during the last chapter that Shehadeh really lets his pride for his father burst through the pages and gives this book a more personal, touching tone.

Having been fortunate enough to have attended by zoom some of Raja's talks, I had been looking forward to the release of this book for a couple of years, and it certainly didn't disappoint. He has very clear vision into the problems of the region and is fair in his assessments. Set against his difficult relationship with his father, the book tells the story of the injustices meted out to the Palestinian people, still happening today. Beautifully written, it is an education for all of us, and should make us all face up to our own culpability in the present situation.

People are either going to love this book or they will hate it. Some people will even refuse to read it because they do not want their world-view to be challenged. Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian and both he and his late father, Aziz, have been involved in the struggle for Palestinian rights for decades. Both of them are lawyers, although Raja Shehadeh has developed a career as a writer and it is through his writings that he has developed an international reputation.This book is about the Israeli-Palestinian struggle as seen through the difficult relationship that he had with his father. These difficulties were never resolved because his father was assassinated. Raja Shehadeh believes that this was with the connivance, if not the active participation, of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence police.Raja Shehadeh has written a story that takes us from the end of the Second World War to the present day, and he presents his relationship with his father against the background of Palestinian history. This is why some people will hate the book. They will not want to hear Middle Eastern history presented from that perspective, and that is their problem. There is no possible resolution to this conflict without taking into account the needs of the Palestinian people. Raja Shehadeh makes this quite clear.Raja Shehadeh tells the story of the displacement of the Palestinian people in uncompromising terms. In 1947, the newly-formed United Nations formed a plan for a two-state solution. This was to be put into place by Count Bernadotte, a relative of the Swedish Royal Family, and a team working under him. Count Bernadotte was assassinated by the Stern Gang, an ultra-right-wing Zionist terrorist group. I know that will cause offence, but I cannot think of any other more neutral way of describing them. There was a majority on both sides of the argument that rejected the two-state solution in 1947, and it was doomed to failure. King Abdullah of Transjordan intervened to secure as much of what is now called the West Bank for his newly-founded Kingdom as possible. In the chaos of what Palestinians now call the Naqba, the Shehadeh family fled from Jaffa to Ramallah, and it is after that flight that Raja Shehadeh was born.Barclays Bank and others, on instructions from the Israeli Government, closed all Palestinian bank accounts and refused the right of Palestinians to access their own money. Aziz Shehadeh decided to take Barclays to court, and won the release of these funds on a legal technicality that I do not understand, but was based on the refusal of the newly-renamed Kingdom of Jordan to recognise the State of Israel. This was the case on which the legal reputation on Aziz Shehadeh was based, and it won him the wrath of both Israel and the Jordanian King. King Abdullah was then assassinated and Aziz Shehadeh defended the accused and won that case as well. He was now a marked man.Aziz then made the situation worse. He argued the case for a two-state solution long before the Oslo Accords, which cost an Israeli Prime Minister is life. Neither Israel not the PLO were in favour of such a solution. Raja Shehadeh, a newly qualified lawyer, meanwhile was taking up human rights cases. He and his father had different political views about the best actions to be taken to enhance the Palestinian cause, and this led to their estrangement. Raja now admits that he did not understand what his father was trying to do. They could not discuss issues with each other. It is a failure that now leaves the son a saddened man.This is because his father wa murdered. Raja Shehadeh refers to it as an assassination and gives a clear explanation of his reasoning.This is not an easy book to read, but it is essential for anyone who wishes to support the peace process. It sets out what needs to be done.Raja Shehadeh said at the Edinburg International Book Festival that the first precondition for peace is ending the occupation. I am not sure that is correct. The first precondition is that both sides must want peace, and I see no evidence that is the case. The Israeli Government has to recognise that it can win every war but the last one. It therefore needs peace. The Palestinians have to recognise that Israel is a fact of life, and that to secure peace they have to negotiate with Israel.Unfortunately, I can see no evidence that either side recognises any of this. They will need to be pressured and persuaded to the negotiating table. That is the role of the international community, and it is possible that this book will be an important tool in that process.