“In My Mother’s Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home”
Virtual Event — Thursday, August 26: 5-6:30pm PT / 8-9:30pm ET
FREE, Register Now! www.mecaforpeace.org/MonaHalaby
Join Middle East Children’s Alliance to celebrate the release of Mona Hajjar Halaby’s new book! Mona is a long-time friend and supporter of MECA and a member of Joining Hands, the group of Bay Area women who founded the annual Palestinian crafts bazaar and co-organize it with us each year.
MONA HAJJAR HALABY is a Palestinian-American educator, writer and social history buff, who lives in California, USA. She is the author of In My Mother’s Footsteps: A Palestinian Refugee Returns Home, which interweaves the story of her mother’s life and her own sabbatical year teaching conflict resolution in Ramallah. She has created a Facebook page focused on photographs of Jerusalem during the first half of the twentieth century, entitled “British Mandate Jerusalemites Photo Library,” and has also collaborated on the interactive documentary www.jerusalemwearehere.com.
In My Mother’s Footsteps is a moving and heart-rending journey of a daughter discovering her roots and recovering her mother’s beloved past. It’s also an intimate and tender account of daily life for Palestinians as never seen before. Letters from her mother make this a memoir of two voices; the inspirational resilience of the Palestinians shines through.
“‘Refugees are like seeds that scatter in the wind, and land in different soils that become their reluctant homes’ my mother once told me. As a small child, I looked up at my mother and clutched her hand. The puffiness of her palm reminded me of a loaf of warm pita bread, and when she laced her fingers into mine like a pretzel, I felt safe. I would have walked with her to the ends of the earth.”
From Goodreads Reviewers:
“A beautifully written story told with honesty and passion…It will jerk those tears right out of your head…Surely one of the best books of 2021.”
“Informative, powerful, moving…Her descriptions of the places she visits in Palestine are exceptionally evocative…I felt transported to the streets of Jerusalem and Ramallah, almost as if I was walking alongside her…[She] summarizes the outcome of her journey: ‘Unbeknownst to me, in the process of recovering from my mother her beloved past, I had found it for myself.'”