Come My Children
Women’s Voices from Gaza Series
By Hekmat Al-Taweel
Edited by Ghada Ageel and Barbara Bill
Hekmat Al-Taweel (1922–2008) was a native Palestinian Christian from Gaza City whose narrative unearths a version of history long excluded from mainstream discourse and provides an unfamiliar perspective on Muslim–Christian relationships. Her stories about life in Gaza highlight shared history, vibrant culture, and cherished traditions. Al-Taweel continued her education after marriage, sought community volunteer work, worked as a teacher and supervisor, and committed to activism throughout her life, all of which contradicts widespread Western orientalized stereotypes of Arab women. She also shares insights into life in Gaza during the British Mandate period as well as the 1948 Nakba and its aftermath. This is the third book in the Women’s Voices from Gaza Series, which honours women’s unique and underrepresented perspectives on the social, material, and political realities of Palestinian life.
Book details
Publication date: June 2023Features: 3 maps, 15 B&W photographs, foreword, introduction, chronology, notes, glossary, bibliography
Series: Women’s Voices from Gaza Series
Keywords: historiography; oral history; history from below; gender; generational experience; human rights; Palestine; Israel; catastrophe of dispossession; Nakba; women; women’s studies; Christianity; Islam; non-fiction; collective memories; culture; exile
Subject(s): BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women, Social Sciences, Social Sciences / Activism & Social Movements, History, History / Oral History, Gender & Sexuality, Gender & Sexuality / Women’s Studies, Area Studies, Area Studies / Palestinian Studies, Area Studies, Area Studies / Middle Eastern Studies, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Middle Eastern, Middle Eastern history, Gender studies: women and girls, Women's History, Oral History / Palestine / Women’s Studies, historiography; oral history; history from below; gender; generational experience; human rights; Palestine; Israel; catastrophe of dispossession; Nakba; women; women’s studies; Christianity; Islam; non-fiction; collective memories; culture; exile
Publisher(s): The University of Alberta Press
Book details
Publication date: June 2023Features: 3 maps, 15 B&W photographs, foreword, introduction, chronology, notes, glossary, bibliography
Series: Women’s Voices from Gaza Series
Keywords: historiography; oral history; history from below; gender; generational experience; human rights; Palestine; Israel; catastrophe of dispossession; Nakba; women; women’s studies; Christianity; Islam; non-fiction; collective memories; culture; exile
Subject(s): BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women, Social Sciences, Social Sciences / Activism & Social Movements, History, History / Oral History, Gender & Sexuality, Gender & Sexuality / Women’s Studies, Area Studies, Area Studies / Palestinian Studies, Area Studies, Area Studies / Middle Eastern Studies, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Middle Eastern, Middle Eastern history, Gender studies: women and girls, Women's History, Oral History / Palestine / Women’s Studies, historiography; oral history; history from below; gender; generational experience; human rights; Palestine; Israel; catastrophe of dispossession; Nakba; women; women’s studies; Christianity; Islam; non-fiction; collective memories; culture; exile
Publisher(s): The University of Alberta Press
Hekmat Al-Taweel. Hekmat Al-Taweel was a native Palestinian Christian from Gaza City.
Ghada Ageel. Ghada Ageel is a visiting professor of political science at the University of Alberta, a columnist for the Middle East Eye, and the editor of Apartheid in Palestine (UAlberta Press).
Barbara Bill. Barbara Bill has experience with several international humanitarian organizations including six years in Gaza. She currently resides in New South Wales, Australia.
Ilan Pappe.
“The Women's Voices From Gaza series is exceptional, offering insights into modern Gaza’s social history. It will attract a wide readership in Palestine studies and gender studies, as well as individuals interested in the Palestine question.” Rema Hammami, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Birzeit University
Foreword, Ilan Pappe xv
Acknowledgements xxiii
Introduction xxv
Come My Children
1 / Childhood: Growing Up in Gaza 3
2 / The British Mandate and School Days 21
3 / Marriage and Relations with Palestinian Muslims 39
4 / Business and Life Before and After the 1948 Nakba 51
5 / Palestinian Resistance Against the British Mandate 59
6 / The Egyptian Administration and the Israeli Occupation 71
7 / Yusuf, the United States, and Palestine 85
Chronology of Events in Palestine 107
Notes 127
Glossary 145
Bibliography 149
Hekmat Al-Taweel. Hekmat Al-Taweel was a native Palestinian Christian from Gaza City.
Ghada Ageel. Ghada Ageel is a visiting professor of political science at the University of Alberta, a columnist for the Middle East Eye, and the editor of Apartheid in Palestine (UAlberta Press).
Barbara Bill. Barbara Bill has experience with several international humanitarian organizations including six years in Gaza. She currently resides in New South Wales, Australia.
Ilan Pappe.
“The Women's Voices From Gaza series is exceptional, offering insights into modern Gaza’s social history. It will attract a wide readership in Palestine studies and gender studies, as well as individuals interested in the Palestine question.” Rema Hammami, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Birzeit University
Foreword, Ilan Pappe xv
Acknowledgements xxiii
Introduction xxv
Come My Children
1 / Childhood: Growing Up in Gaza 3
2 / The British Mandate and School Days 21
3 / Marriage and Relations with Palestinian Muslims 39
4 / Business and Life Before and After the 1948 Nakba 51
5 / Palestinian Resistance Against the British Mandate 59
6 / The Egyptian Administration and the Israeli Occupation 71
7 / Yusuf, the United States, and Palestine 85
Chronology of Events in Palestine 107
Notes 127
Glossary 145
Bibliography 149
