Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance and resistance has produced the best literature in the world. Palestine is no exception. The writers there have produced inspiring and soul-searching literature. Unfortunately, Pakistani readers are not aware of much of this beautiful literature, except perhaps Mahmoud Darwish and Edward Said. Mahmoud Darwish’s poems have been translated by Late Raja Farooq Hasan into Urdu and Edward Said’s The Question of Palestine was translated by Prof. Shahid Hameed.

In the 1960s of last century, the youth in Lahore and other cities would take out solidarity processions to support the liberation struggle of people of Palestine. They were familiar with Palestinian literature too. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, thing have changed; the youth unfortunately is not as aware of the occupation of Palestinian land and Israeli atrocities. It has also become a ‘Muslim’ issue rather than a national liberation struggle.

In this milieu, the re-publication of the book by Dr. Hanan A. Awwad is a valuable and timely contribution for which veteran writer Fakhar Zaman deserves full marks.

Dr Awwad is a scholar, writer and poet. A Palestinian woman with extensive firsthand knowledge of the strife torn history of her people, she was born in Jerusalem. She is an impassioned advocate of universal freedom and human rights. .Her writings have been published in Arab newspapers and journals. She is an MA in Arab Literature and Humanities. She also got another Masters from McGill University, her thesis centered on ‘Arab causes in the Fiction of Ghdah al-Samman’. Her PhD was ‘image of women in the works of Ghassan Kanafani’. She has also taught at the McGill University.

As a writer and poet, she has addressed a wide range of issues, including political analyses, the nature of Arab literature, the revolutionary role of Palestinian Women, especially during the Intifada, and the question of Palestine itself.

She has published several works on the Image of Arab Women Literature and political evolution of the Palestinian nation. Her works have been published in many languages including French, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Finish and Japanese. She is a member of various professional unions. A founder of the Union of Palestinian writers in occupied territories, she was elected its Secretary General in 1996 and is a founder of the Palestinian Union of Journalists. In 1992, she founded the Palestinian PEN.

There are three sections of Episodes of the Siege. The first section includes a message from Venezuela President who writes in his message: "I can feel the beauty of innovation, the poetic style, the deep meaning and the touch of grief exuberantly plentiful in hope and aspiration".

Fakhar Zaman in the preface writes: "It was the desire of Hanan that her book may be published from Pakistan. Her association with the iconic leader Yasar Arafat and her poetry which is a great work by a wordsmith. She is history in herself and she has also described the most important period of human struggle for freedom in a very lucid and comprehensive manner. The period of siege that she has dealt with at length leaves an indelible mark of suffering, endurance and courage."

Awwad is witness to a crucial period of Palestinian history. Her book is a social, historical, political and cultural comment which will open new avenues for researchers, scholars and students.

The second section is called ‘Poems I write with my Blood’. Since the writer is a devotee of Yasser Arafat, one finds his presence in all her writings, particularly the poems. The book is also dedicated to him.

The third section is about Resistance Literature. Anybody who is interested to know about Palestinian literature and writers may start reading from from this part. The book under review is a beautiful addition to the resistance literature created by the Palestinians. The author has taken part in the struggle. She is witness to the siege of president house by Israel. Basically, the writer has captured those moments in the first part of the book. The second part comprises the poetry and the last part is about resistance literature.

The writer visited Lahore in 2013 to attend the International Peace Conference. One must give credit to Fakhar Zaman for getting this book published in Pakistan by Sang-e-Meel on the desire of the author and making the Pakistanis aware of the writing of a Palestinian writer.

This book is a must read for students of literature, history and politics.