Dying at the edge of memory

Dying at the edge of memory—what happened there, on that land that was once home to them and later became a cause and a conflict? That land, before it became a cause and a conflict, was like everything else, embracing all backgrounds and religions. Promises were made, conspiracies were hatched, and friends were led between foreign powers, an empire of patronage, and desperate minorities. The rift occurred, and the culmination exploded into delusions of racism, sectarianism, prejudice, and conflict. On that Palestinian land, in the city of Hebron, Jews were being called upon to fight against Turkification as they fought against the promises of their elders to their own people, fighting for their homeland with blood before religion. A woman defied the newly formed hostility towards Jews by breastfeeding a Jewish child, a child who had briefly been a neighbor. A teacher in a progressive Russian school rescued two Palestinian women, their hands clasped together by labor for the pashas. This novel chronicles the philosophical and social dynamics of Hebron at the end of Ottoman rule in the Levant, the movements rejecting Turkification, and the beginnings of Arab dissent towards liberation movements. It does so through a compelling plot that encapsulates the richness of this ancient history and the repercussions of its unfolding events. The novel presents a period that has not been adequately documented in the history of the Palestinian city of Hebron. It addresses the political and social transformations the city witnessed at the end of Ottoman rule in the Levant, and the uprising of the revolutionary movements that sought self-determination, known as the Committee of Union and Progress. The novel also depicts the birth of Arab dissent towards liberation movements, most of which supported the Young Arab League, and explores social life in Hebron during that period, illustrating how these structures have persisted to this day. It is for this reason that history is written within this novel.