Raja Shehadeh, a prominent Palestinian author and human rights lawyer, has undertaken a two-year effort to preserve his extensive personal archives by transferring them to academic institutions abroad. The 75-year-old writer, who has authored more than 20 books, began maintaining detailed diaries in 1967 at the outset of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. His written records document significant historical moments, including his participation in peace negotiations with Israel, his legal work, and encounters with international figures.
Shehadeh’s diaries provide an intimate account of Palestinian life across multiple decades. The entries chronicle major events such as military operations in Ramallah during the Palestinian Intifada, offering personal observations of daily life under occupation, including reactions to curfews, military presence, and political developments. The writer used his diary practice as both a discipline for understanding his surroundings and a mechanism for processing frustration with Palestinian leadership regarding peace agreements and settlement expansion.
Concerned about the vulnerability of his archives stored in his Ramallah garage, Shehadeh worked to relocate the materials to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he has spent considerable time, and to the University of Exeter in England. The latter institution has made thousands of pages of the archives available online. Shehadeh cited historical precedent for his concerns, referencing the destruction of Palestinian documents and journals during previous periods of conflict, including events in 1948 and 1982. The Israeli foreign ministry did not respond to inquiries regarding these preservation efforts.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI