First published 2025
Raja Shehadeh and Penny Johnson traverse the land between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River, seeking traces of what has been lost or deliberately erased. They visit ancient city ruins and the Nabi 'Ukkasha mosque and tomb, climbing high cliffs that overlook Lebanon and descending to the Dead Sea's lowest elevations. Their journey reveals a landscape where some sites receive commemoration while others remain abandoned or wiped from memory. The authors confront Israel's reluctance to acknowledge the Nakba, the 1948 catastrophe that displaced Palestinians, while also examining the complex ways Palestinians themselves choose to remember and commemorate their history. Through this physical and intellectual exploration of a fragmented territory, Shehadeh and Johnson uncover the competing narratives that shape how different peoples understand the same contested ground.
Genres: history, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: competing-narratives, contested-ground
Setting: Mediterranean Sea, Jordan River, Nabi 'Ukkasha, Dead Sea, Lebanon
Period: 1948
Hardcover