A Rift in Time: Travels of My Ottoman Uncle

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Researching his family history,  Raja Shehadeh discovered a great uncle, who like himself, was a writer and who through journalism, like Shehadeh had battled to change the plight of the Palestinian people. Shehadeh’s uncle lived at a time that we know through the actions and writings of T E Lawrence, here is the other side of that history, a fracturing land, the ending of the Ottoman empire and the European powers ready to carve up territory between them.

Alongside the retelling of this story, the author is walking his land trying to follow the path taken by his great uncle as he tried to evade the authorities. Now there are barriers, wire, mines and borders to overcome and if, by chance, the route can be followed, the Israelis have obliterated so many villages and small towns, it is only almond trees that can give some hint of what was once there.

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About A Rift in Time: Travels of My Ottoman Uncle

Raja Shehadeh is the most celebrated Palestinian writer working today. To his surprise, when researching his family history, he discovered a great uncle who had also been a writer entangled with the authorities, and who, like Raja, had dedicated his life to the freedom of the Palestinian people. Najib was a journalist and romantic living in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire.

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