The condition of refugees in the pandemic era - Four questions for Susan Abulhawa

Palestinian-American writer and political activist Susan Abulhawa was born to refugees of the Six Day War of 1967, her experience of forced migration led her to write the novel Mornings in Jenin, a tale of a family’s compulsory displacement from Israel and their subsequent trials as refugees in Palestine. Now translated into 30 languages, the novel tackles war, loss and the struggle to maintain family ties. Abulhawa’s second novel, The Blue Between Sky And Water, revisits the harrowing theme of life in the refugee camps, and is told through the eyes of 4 generations of Palestinian women.  Against The Loveless World, which has been shortlisted for the Palestine Book Award was published earlier this year. In 2001, Susan Abulhawa founded Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-governmental organisation established to sustain Palestinian children’s Right to Play and uphold the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In place of her in-person conference, programmed earlier this year, an online interview is now available. Discussing dislocation, exile and displacement and drawing parallels between the spiritual trauma and isolation of the Corona Virus Pandemic and forced migration, her polarising, heartfelt and emotional talk covers American society’s collective discontent and the loneliness of isolation, whether imposed by governments or personal experience.  

Interview by:

Clara Raffaele Addamo studies migration policies in Italy and Europe and their impact on foreign immigration in mountain territories. She loves to discover different cultures and undertake new experiences.

Andrea Membretti is a sociologist researching migration and local development in mountain areas all over the world at the Eurac Institute for Regional Development and the GLOMOS centre. He is the scientific coordinator at the Horizon2020 MATILDE project, assessing the impact of migration in rural and mountain territories in Europe.