Opinion Editorials, April 2010

"My Father was a Freedom Fighter"

Ramzy Baroud's New Book Released in the U.S.

Al-Jazeerah, ccun.org, April 5, 2010

 
LONDON / NEW YORK –

My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story, the latest book by Palestinian-American author Ramzy Baroud, was released in the United States, on Tuesday, March 30, 2010, the author and the publisher of the book announced today.
 
Released in January 2010 in the U.K. and in many countries around the world, the book has already garnered the praise of many authors and intellectuals.  It was described by Aljazeera as “a book that finally placed Gaza back into the heart of the Palestinian struggle.”
 
“I wanted to write a people’s history of Gaza,” said Baroud. “Elitist versions of history are very selective, and barely tell part of the story.  I was born and raised in Gaza.  My family paid, and still pays, a heavy price for the Palestinian tragedy since 1948.  I just wanted to tell our story, the story of our people.”
 
Lauded by reviewers, critics, activists, and readers alike, Ramzy Baroud’s book My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story has made a major contribution to the edifice of texts and competing narratives about the Arab-Israeli conflict, telling the tumultuous history and the valiant struggle of Gaza and Gazans, with warmth, intimacy, humour, insight, and much poignancy.
 
“An instant classic, one of the very best books to have examined the Palestinian tragedy. … The interpenetration of inner and outer worlds is accomplished to an extent that is rare in fiction, let alone in non-fiction.” -- Robin Yassin-Kassab, The Electronic Intifada.
 
“More than any I have read [the book] tells me why anyone of conscience must stand in solidarity with the continuing struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination and a just peace.” -- Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus at Princeton University, and UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestinian Territories.
 
"This book is not a political manifesto.  Beautifully written, it is a narrative echoing the voices of the ordinary people of Gaza; people who long for the security that comes with a patch of land and being able to plant a tree on that land knowing, in the fullness of time, that they will be able to sit in its shade. Just for that, it should ring true for all who read it." -- Nicola Jones, The Witness newspaper (South Africa)
 
"An extraordinary book ... a living chronicle of an unfinished Palestinian journey from 1948 to the 2009/10 Israeli war on Gaza; of the trials and tribulations on the way; of the privation and humiliations under occupation; the struggle for Palestinian liberation; of families split across the Middle East and beyond; and the hopes of the entire Palestinian population now totalling ten million." -- Deepak Tripathi, author, commentator, and former BBC correspondent.
 
“My Father was a Freedom Fighter may be one of the saddest books ever written. …  It is more than a book, it is actually a masterpiece. … In between sobbing and laughter we come to intimately grasp the depth of the Palestinian misery.  My Father Was A Freedom Fighter is a Weiningerian poetic artistic exercise.  Baroud takes us into his own world.  Through the poesis, the tears, the pain and the joy, we understand the world we live in, how merciless it is; yet, Baroud reminds us all along that we are also free to resist, and to hope for a change.” -- Gilad Atzmon, London-based Israeli author, commentator, and jazz musician.
 
“Both of my parents died under extremely tragic circumstances, and my family was scattered around the world,” said Baroud. “The plight of my family is the plight of my people, but also the secret of their resilience, resistance, and steadfastness.”  Baroud contends that “most of what we think we know about Gaza, whether or not we are sympathetic to the struggle of the Palestinians there, hardly begins to reveal any of Gaza’s realities, which can only be understood through a historical account of Gaza, as seen from the viewpoint of the ordinary people living there.”
 
The author, who hopes that his latest book is just the start of a more comprehensive and unique take on Palestinian history, has recently returned from a successful book tour in South Africa in February 2010, and will soon be heading to the United Kingdom for a series of talks about the book, between April 15-25, 2010.
 
My Father was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story is now available in the U.S., the U.K., and around the world.  For more information about the book, kindly contact the publisher and the distributor (see below), or visit Ramzy Baroud’s personal website: www.ramzybaroud.net
 
My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story
London: Pluto Press, 2010
(Distributed in the U.S. by Palgrave Macmillan)
Paperback: 210 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0745328814
ISBN-13: 978-0745328812
 
List Price:
 
(Paperback – available at Amazon) $12.24
(Hardcover – available at Amazon) $80.00
 
How to order:
 
To order My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story from Pluto Press, please visit: www.plutobooks.com, or click here:  http://www.plutobooks.com/display.asp?K=9780745328812&
 
To order the book via Palgrave Macmillan, please visit:
http://us.macmillan.com/MYFATHERWASAFREEDOMFIGHTER
 
The book can also be ordered from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/My-Father-Was-Freedom-Fighter/dp/0745328814/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260802483&sr=8-1
 
Or from Amazon in the U.K.:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0745328814/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=17JABJDTTNCEHGKNS3G1&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467198433&pf_rd_i=468294
 
Want to review the book?
 
For review enquires in the U.S., please contact Lauren Dwyer at:  [email protected].
 
For review enquiries in the U.K. and rest of world, please contact Jon Wheatley at:  [email protected].
 
Watch Aljazeera and other videos about the book:
 
To watch a promotional video about the film at YouTube, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K2VpARDkzw
 
To view the film in Arabic, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0NSpmrMZ4w
 
To view Aljazeera’s subtitled review of Baroud’s book, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYm4QYu3Mx4
 
For more information, and to read reviews of the book, please visit:
 
www.ramzybaroud.net or e-mail:  [email protected]