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reinasultan's review
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
5.0
This book is so important to read right now IMO. A principled look at the history of resistance against Israel, this time from a Lebanese communist woman during the civil war and the liberation struggle against the occupier. Made me cry.
greeniezona's review
5.0
This book has been sitting unread on my shelves since my Bookslut days, and I am grateful that the April in Arabia and the Read the World 21 challenges prompted me to finally read it, because WOW. The memoir of a Lebanese woman who at 21 attempted to assassinate a general in the South Lebanese Army, which controlled the South as a proxy for Israel. Béchara was immediately captured and spent ten years imprisoned and tortured in a notorious camp called Khiam.
First of all, out of all the prison novels and memoirs in the world, when is the last time you read one by a woman? That alone makes this book remarkable. Second, while I have read the occasional novel set in Beirut, they usually only depicted a certain place in time. Béchara starts out with an idyllic representation of her childhood in Lebanon, before the Civil War, then takes us through the attacks, the infighting, the invasions, and many of the different factions involved in each. Granted, much of these recollections are through the eyes of the child she was at the time, but it is still a clearer and more thorough timeline than I knew previously. Third, Béchara is insistent here that she was a free agent. She takes us through how the experiences of her life "radicalized" her and how she made the decision that she wanted to do something big. Something important. And then sought out the people and contacts who could help her make that happen.
It is the second half of the book that deals with her decade in camp. (Béchara insistently, repeatedly objects to the representation of Khiam as a prison. As she rightly points out, prison is where you are sentenced after a trial, something none of her fellow detainees were ever given.) Her fierce determination to not let the camp break her, to find ways to use her time are astonishing. As are the descriptions of the grossly inhumane ways they were treated. Not just the outright torture — but the conditions they were kept in. This is definitely a book that will make you feel some rage.
But also, eventually, triumph. Unbeknownst to her, there were people working on her behalf for years. Eventually the Red Cross pressured Khiam into improving conditions in the camp, and releasing many of the prisoners. And finally, ten years later, Béchara herself.
A remarkable book.
First of all, out of all the prison novels and memoirs in the world, when is the last time you read one by a woman? That alone makes this book remarkable. Second, while I have read the occasional novel set in Beirut, they usually only depicted a certain place in time. Béchara starts out with an idyllic representation of her childhood in Lebanon, before the Civil War, then takes us through the attacks, the infighting, the invasions, and many of the different factions involved in each. Granted, much of these recollections are through the eyes of the child she was at the time, but it is still a clearer and more thorough timeline than I knew previously. Third, Béchara is insistent here that she was a free agent. She takes us through how the experiences of her life "radicalized" her and how she made the decision that she wanted to do something big. Something important. And then sought out the people and contacts who could help her make that happen.
It is the second half of the book that deals with her decade in camp. (Béchara insistently, repeatedly objects to the representation of Khiam as a prison. As she rightly points out, prison is where you are sentenced after a trial, something none of her fellow detainees were ever given.) Her fierce determination to not let the camp break her, to find ways to use her time are astonishing. As are the descriptions of the grossly inhumane ways they were treated. Not just the outright torture — but the conditions they were kept in. This is definitely a book that will make you feel some rage.
But also, eventually, triumph. Unbeknownst to her, there were people working on her behalf for years. Eventually the Red Cross pressured Khiam into improving conditions in the camp, and releasing many of the prisoners. And finally, ten years later, Béchara herself.
A remarkable book.
number9dream's review against another edition
5.0
Very important book. A must about the History of the Resistance in Lebanon. Looks like people have forgotten what Israel has done to the country, and the price many has paid, now that she was kicked out. It follows the life of Bechara as a kid, growing up in a Christian village in the South of Lebanon before the beginning of the civil war, how Israel occupied the country, and how the Communists and others organized for the Resistance. The planning of her "Zahrat al Janoub" mission, her decade long arrest in Khiam, and the freeing of the South.
Salute to Souha Bechara and to all the Resitants who have fought against Israel.
Salute to Souha Bechara and to all the Resitants who have fought against Israel.
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