No fair! Why is all the fun in NYC? The official book launch of Fast Times in Palestine is coming up tonight. And Pamela Olson has invited everyone!
Being an enamored fan of this book I mentioned I’d be following up with a few more excerpts. Before I leave you with another brief vignette I wanted to reiterate why I think this is an important book. It’s extremely accessible and I don’t use that word lightly. Its inviting pace coupled with historical data and personal stories make this a book that will resonate with a multitude of readers whether young, old or in between. It brought back lots of memories for me (lying in bed hearing Israeli rockets or whatever it is they shoot off the coast at night to remind you of their constant presence) and tugged at my heart, but this book also makes for a perfect primer for those otherwise reluctants (like friends or parents that just don’t ‘get it’). Because Olson’s voice is young, fresh and inquisitive she doesn’t just sway, she touches and captures.
First the party invitation, then an excerpt from the book:
Join me and host Noor Elashi for the OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH of Fast Times in Palestine! The program will include a presentation, interview, readings, Q&A, book signing, lots of laughs, and FREE Mediterranean Food (including mini-musakhan, my favorite Palestinian dish).
Time:
Thursday, July 7 at 7pmPlace:
The New School’s fabulous Wollman Hall
65 West 11th St. (at 6th Avenue), 5th Floor
New York, NYRSVP: Facebook or projectpalestinenyc@gmail.com
Below is a segment from Invasion Party:
Yasmine invited an even mix of foreigners and Palestinians to our house one evening. It was a going away party for a Norwegian woman who was taking a new job in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, the weather was perfect, and we congregated in out little overgrown front yard under a fig tree to drink Taybeh beer and eat barbecue chicken pizza from a restaurant called Angelo’s.
…………………..
We were still talking about the Wall when we heard a sudden commotion. I glanced up and saw Yasmine ushering guests into the house as if an unexpected thunderstorm had broken out. Behind her an Israeli army Jeep, its yellow lights flashing, pulled up next to our house. Yasmine shut the door once everyone was inside. Soon we began hearing muffled explosions. Our guest took it in stride for the most part, vainly making guesses as to how far away each explosion was and what kind of damage it might have done.
I was terrified. Israeli soldiers had just killed a professor and his son in Nablus with no repercussions. Professor Salah had been joking around with his family, assuring them everyone would be OK, just minutes before he and his son were killed. If the Israeli army bombed our house, they could probably blame faulty-top secret intelligence, or claim a wanted man was hiding among us, and that would be that. For all I knew there might actually be a wanted man in a neighbor’s house, and he might get flushed out and seek shelter in ours.
The American man turned to me. “This is odd. Incursions like this are pretty rare in Ramallah these days.”
“Why?”
“Well, this is where the centers of power are located, and most of the press and ex-pats. The foreign aid money flows thru Ramallah, so it attracts the most qualified and connected people. If business is good here, it gives us less of an incentive to rock the boat.”The army Jeep stayed next to our house for the rest of the night, blocking access to the main road. I stayed up with our trapped guests as long as I could, then I went to my room and tried to figure out where I could put my bed so it would have the slimmest profile in case a bullet happened to slice through a window. I soon gave up because I was too scared to do anything but pass the window quickly and lay down on my bed as flat as I could. I woke several times with a clod sweat, groggy with dreams, half expecting the house to blow up at any minute.
The Jeep was gone the next morning, and so were our guests. When I got to work, I learned that six people had been arrested, three of whom worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. All were taken to unknown places. Arafat’s compound was surrounded again. Someone said two houses were demolished, several doors blown down, and two children injured. Details were sketchy because a curfew had been in place during the incursion, which meant anyone who ventured outdoors risked being shot on site.
For more information about the book, click here.
To read Chapter One of Fast Times, click here.
To purchase the book on Amazon.com, click here.
To purchase the eBook, click here.
Olsen has also been helping the Gaza Freedom team edit their book and turn it into an eBook, check it out
[This post updates the original party announcement 2 days back]
