Mornings in Jenin

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2006

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prelude-Part 1, Chapter

Part 2, Chapters 8-10

Part 3, Chapters 11-23

Part 4, Chapter 24-Part 5, Chapter 36

Part 6, Chapters 37-42

Part 7, Chapters 43-44

Part 8, Chapters 45-47

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Part 7, Chapters 43-44Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 7: “Baladi (my country)”

Part 7, Chapter 43 Summary: “Dr. Ari Perlstein 2002”

Sara expresses her wish to go to Palestine, and she and Amal travel to Israel. After four hours of questioning by authorities, they are met at the airport by David and his son, Jacob. The four go to visit Dr. Ari Perlstein. He is very happy to see them, and they listen to his stories of their family’s life in Ein Hod. He asks where Yousef is now, and Amal reveals that he is suspected as the terrorist who entered the US Embassy in Lebanon.

This is a shock to Sara and Jacob, but Ari, who has lived through the Holocaust, the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and Arab retaliation, is compassionate toward Yousef. He explains how Hasan saved his family’s life when they fled from East to West Jerusalem and were in danger from Palestinians.

They visit Jerusalem, and Amal finds it unimpressive, made only of stone. She compares it to the beautiful and humble olive tree in Jenin known as Old Lady.

Part 7, Chapter 44 Summary: “Hold me Jenin, 2002”

On March 31, 2002, Amal and Sara return to Jenin, where the people are preparing for an inevitable Israeli attack in retaliation for a recent suicide bombing in Galilee, (which was a response to an Israeli attack on Palestinians previously). Yasser Arafat is under siege by Israeli forces in Ramallah, and George W. Bush is calling for Arafat to “stop the terror” (292).

Amal and Sara visit Huda and hear about her family’s tragedies. They meet the silent, artistic Mansour. They go on to visit Ammo Darweesh and plan to visit Haj Salem. Amal is overwhelmed with memories and love everywhere she goes.

While visiting Huda on April 2, Jamil reports that the Israelis are coming in an hour. He only enters briefly but makes an impression on Sara. Huda, Mansour, Amal, and Sara hide in the safest room they can as the attack starts. They hear tanks, helicopters, bombs, the cries of children, and buildings being destroyed. They spend nine days in the cramped space. During this time, Amal opens her heart to Sara and tells her everything she hasn’t revealed before, including her love and sorrow over Majid. Huda shows them a letter from Fatima about how happy she was about her second pregnancy and Amal’s first, dreaming of the three families being together one day.

After seven days, the bombing stops. Soldiers enter the house and take away Mansour, blindfolded and handcuffed. The women stay inside for two more days until they run out of water. Amal leaves the house, believing that she hears an aid truck outside, but it is an Israeli military truck loaded with bodies. She recognizes Jamil’s body in the pile. Snipers surround her, and a soldier points his rifle right at her forehead. She looks him in the eye and feels compassion for him, one of so many youths “betrayed by their leaders for symbols and flags and war and power” like David and her brother (306). She hears Huda shouting and realizes Sara is wandering around too. She throws herself on top of Sara, thinking about her precious daughter and the grandchildren she and Majid dreamed of.

Part 7, Chapters 43-44 Analysis

Chapter 43 details Ari’s attitude toward the Palestinians who saved his life and his compassion for Yousef. That such tolerance and understanding exists within the context of historical atrocities, racial and religious conflict, and personal experiences of tragedy reinforces that hatred is not inevitable. Despite the many characters in the book who are irrevocably damaged by their ongoing trauma, Interfaith and Intercultural Relationships are possible. Ari’s opinion is presented as measured since he experienced Nazi violence as well as witnessing anti-Palestinian violence. While so many of the book’s Palestinian elders have died, Ari remembers the time before the Nakba and can provide a unique perspective.

Contrasted with Ari is Sara, part of the book’s youngest generation. Despite living in the United States her whole life, she feels the pull of her ancestral home, emphasizing The Importance of Home, Land, and Tradition. The role of memory and reconciliation is reiterated from the previous section, and visiting Palestine for the first time after so many years allows Amal to heal in ways she couldn’t before. She gets closure about Fatima and reconnects with Huda, and she finally reveals the truth about Yousef to Sara.

These moments of healing prepare Amal for Part 7’s final scene. Her character arc completes as she reaches her epiphany, experiencing compassion for the young Israeli soldier by realizing he is being shaped by larger forces, just like David and Yousef. She realizes the extent of her love for Sara and makes the greatest sacrifice by throwing herself on her daughter to save her from a bullet. There is irony in this development, as it’s only in a moment of crisis that Amal can express the depth of her love for Sara. Amal thinking of her grandchildren in her last moments suggests that Sara will carry the torch of hope into the future, just as Amal did for her parents.