Before Christmas, I suggested the novel, Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa as our first Book Club read for 2026. It is an historical novel pertaining to the newly formed state of Israel in 1948. I thought I might have already read it but having just finished it, I am not so sure; however, I am sure Mornings in Jenin will remain in my thoughts for a long time. The novel is based on the Israeli-Palestine conflict starting in 1948 and follows a multigenerational Palestinian family over a period of fifty years. As I was reading, I couldn’t help thinking that after what the Jewish population had endured during the Second World War, the Israelis were now committing the same crimes and atrocities on their Palestinian neighbours. An estimated 680,000 Palestinians were slaughtered by Israel in Gaza, the site of the Holocaust of our time and it goes on. In my research I, of course, came across much controversy and negative critiques; however, I have not chosen to convey them. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion.
Susan Abulhawa was born to refugees during the Six-Day War of 1967 and moved to the United States as a teenager. She is the founder of Playgrounds for Palestine, an NGO that builds playgrounds for children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in refugee camps elsewhere. This is her first novel.
In the 2024 Forward to Mornings in Jenin, Susan learned that books mean nothing without readers to consume, interpret, love or hate, review, critique and talk about them. Readers are what ultimately breathes life into stories. “Jenin first changed my life’s path, then readers changed my life.”
In conclusion, I would like to include several quotes from the novel.
The reverse side of love is unbearable loss.
For if life had taught her anything, it was that healing and peace can begin only with acknowledgement of wrongs committed.
We’re all born with the greatest treasures we’ll ever have in life. One of those treasures is your mind, another is your heart.