"I Believe in Miracles:
A Collection of Palestinian Poems"

By Sue Hunter

This book of poems reflects a personal emotional journey taken by Nahida, a Palestinian refugee and exile. In it she describes the horrors of daily life in Palestine, and her feelings of anger, sorrow, and hope. There have been many books written about Palestine, packed with information and statistics, but these poems bring home the reality in a far more direct way.

The author and her family were forced to leave their home in 1967, in the 6-day war, when she was 7 years old. As the oldest of 5, later 7 children, she helped her mother care for the younger ones through the years of living as refugees. As a result some poems are from a child's viewpoint, while one in particular, "Will I ever grow up again?" spells out - "Life on hold/ My internal clock is shattered into pieces/...I was seven/ I am seven/ I will be seven...Until the day of my return..."

"Palestine, The True Story" contains photographs of Palestinian families, and scenes of death and destruction perpetrated by the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank. The text describes what it feels like to be a Palestinian father, grandmother, child, living in constant fear: the feeling of shame at being unable to protect loved ones, the sense of being raped and traumatised, sometimes leading to madness: the guilt felt by exiles for being relatively safe. In writing these accounts Nahida is not asking us to sympathise, but to try to understand. As with the poems, the final message is one of determination to live life as fully as possible and to keep hope alive.

Though the subject of Palestine's occupation and oppression is of course distressing, the power and variety of these poems leaves the reader not depressed but moved. Besides the stories of cruelty and grief lie images of lyrical beauty. There is righteous anger here, but no hatred or bitterness: Nahida's humanity and love for all people is humbling and inspiring.

"Palestine, The True Story" by Nahida Izzat Ghaith, £8.99 at News from Nowhere.
Website for Nahida's poetry collection: www.poetryforpalestine.org.uk