Transcolonial Maghreb: Palestine as a Metaphor

(MENAFN- Morocco World News) Souffles-Anfas,which appeared in the sixties and considered Palestine as its first source of inspiration after June,1967.

Harrisonalsoexaminestwo different Algerian texts. Oneis aplay by Kateb Yacine entitled,'Mohamed arfad valiztek' (Mohammed pack your bags),andthe other is Ahlam Mosteghanemi's trilogy of novels,Dhakiratal-jassad(Memory of the flesh),Fawda'al-hawas(Chaos of the senses). According to Harrison, Palestine plays an important role in Ahlam Mosteghanemi's three novels in the sense that it functions as a mirror reflecting the image of Algeria and its contradictions. Palestine isusedto express the desire for emancipation in a Post -colonial era.

The second part is entitled,'Jews, Arabs,and the principle of separation.' In this part, the researcher starts by shedding light on thementionof the Arab-Israeli conflictin the works of the Tunisian sociologist Albert Memmi. Shethen continuesto discuss the Abrahamic tongues by making reference to the works of AbdelkebirKhatibi, Jacques Hassoun,and Jacques Derrida.

Concerning AbdelkebirKhatibi, Olivia C. Harrison chooses his book 'Vomito Blanco,' which is a good example ofKhatibi's positionregardingthe Palestinian-Israeli conflict through his letter addressed to Sartre in which he criticizes him a lot for his indifference towards this conflict. In the same book,Khatibicriticizes the French intellectuals whomostlyconsider Israel as a victim and Arabs as oppressors. For Jacques Hassoun, the writer deals with his thoughtsthrough his book written together withKhatibi,and which is entitled,'Le Meme Livre (1985)' (The same book). This book is acollectionof correspondences witnessing the relationship between Jacques Hassoun and his identity from the Arab-Israeli conflict perspective.

As for Jacques Derrida, he ismentionedin this book through his call for peace between Palestinians and Israeli settlers.

The Moroccan Jewish writer Edmond AmranELMaleh,who used to criticize Zionism,is also discussed in this book through his essays and fiction.

Harrisondevotes the last section of the book to the relation between Palestine and the Syrian Intifida by focusing on Samar Yazbek's 2012 memoir of the Syrian uprising. In this respect,shestresses that this book gave importance to the poetic image of Palestine in being a metaphor by which it is possible to make a comparison betweenthetyrannical post-colonial systemofthe Syrian regime and Israel.

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