Author(s): Raja Shehadeh

History | Palestine & Israel

A subtle psychological portrait of the author's relationship with his father during the twentieth-century battle for Palestinian human rights.


Aziz Shehadeh was many things: lawyer, activist, and political detainee, he was also the father of bestselling author and activist Raja. In this new and searingly personal memoir, Raja Shehadeh unpicks the snags and complexities of their relationship.

A vocal and fearless opponent, Aziz resists under the British mandatory period, then under Jordan, and, finally, under Israel. As a young man, Raja fails to recognize his father's courage and, in turn, his father does not appreciate Raja's own efforts in campaigning for Palestinian human rights. When Aziz is murdered in 1985, it changes Raja irrevocably.

This is not only the story of the battle against the various oppressors of the Palestinians, but a moving portrait of a particular father and son relationship.

Review: Praise for the author:

'Palestine's greatest prose writer' - Observer

'Going Home cements the author's reputation as the best-known Palestinian writing in English' - Guardian

'Luminously clear-sighted ... By turns lyrical, witty and shrewd, Shehadeh is an excellent walking companion' - Prospect

'Shehadeh is a great inquiring spirit with a tone that is vivid, ironic, melancholy and wise' - Colm Toibin

'Raja Shehadeh is a buoy in a sea of bleakness' - Rachel Kushner

Author Biography: Raja Shehadeh is Palestine's leading writer. He is also a lawyer and the founder of the pioneering Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq. Shehadeh is the author of several acclaimed books published by Profile, including the Orwell Prize-winning Palestinian Walks. He lives in Ramallah.