Excerpts from Daughter of the Olive Trees

Written by Sumaya Farhat-Naser
Published in 2003

"Everywhere...there are checkpoints. Soldiers bar the way and carry out inspections; they are a serious obstacle to everyone on the road."

What is life like for Palestinians living under the occupation of the Israeli government? Born in a tiny village called Birzeit near Jerusalem in 1948, the same year that the state of Israel declared its independence, Sumaya Farhat-Naser never experienced the freedoms of her ancestors who had lived in Palestine for centuries. The year she was born nearly 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes to escape the increasing Jewish population that forced them off their land and sometimes raided their villages and burned their homes.

Sumaya Farhat-Naser and her family did not flee. Her village was located in an area commonly called the West Bank. In 1948 the...