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Jalan-Jalan Di Palestina: Catatan Atas Negeri Yang Menghilang (2008)

by Raja Shehadeh(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Gramedia Pustaka Utama

review 1: Admittedly a bit of a dry book as the author focuses on land law in Palestine. However, the details revealed through his experiences in Israeli courts and from his walks in Palestine were fascinating to me. Nowhere else have I read such a clear analysis of what actually is happening on the ground in the West Bank in terms of settlements and the fight over the land.Without going into the nitty gritty of land use law, the following sums it up fairly well:"We were aware that the main argument the Israeli military was using was that non-registered land in the West Bank was public land. This could be used to settle Israeli Jews. The implications were calamitous. According to this interpretation of the land law, the only non-registered land that truly belonged to Palestinians wa... mores that over which they could prove use either by living on it or continuously cultivating it for a period of not less than ten years [this was in about 1979]. All the rest was public land. This would render Palestinians living in the West Bank squatters, not rightful owners. The only rightful owners, according to the Israeli government's version of law and history, were the Jews, who could trace their entitlement to the land from time immemorial, just after the dinosaurs became extinct. Legally, this position was unsustainable. And yet it was not being challenged. Most Palestinians boycotted Israeli courts, where these challenges could be presented. The settlers could comfort themselves that they were not taking anyone's private land to establish their settlements." Land in Palestine (including that which is now considered Israel) began a formal registration process in the late 1930's, according to the author. It became a protracted process which included legal documents being filed in Amman, Jordan as well as in the village where the land was being registered. After the six-day war in 1967, Israel suspended all land registration. As a result, many landowners were unable to produce documents showing registered ownership under the new system. The author goes on to explain that, although Jordanian land law continued to be in force in the West Bank, long-term lease registrations were done with the Israeli Land Authority in Tel Aviv. In effect, "the ideological position that the West Bank belonged by divine edict to Israel was given full force in secular legal terms and through elaborate administrative arrangements that ensured that the land was annexed to Israel in every aspect except by name."Many people seem to believe that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about religion. It is not and never has been. It has always been about the land and this book goes a long way in explaining why the land is so important to both sides of the equation. The author also touches on how the continuous obstacles Palestinians encounter has caused those who could leave to do so. He describes a talented young couple with the means to start outsourcing IT companies "similar to those which helped Ireland and India jumpstart their economies". But the corruption of the new Palestinian leadership in place after the Oslo accords made it impossible for them to succeed and so they emigrated to Australia. He ends the book with a conversation he has with an Israeli settler he encounters on one of his later walks in Palestine. It was impossible to take the walks he had in the past because of the settlements, security wall, and "Area C" in the West Bank, which is forbidden to all Palestinians. Yet he took a chance and walked through a little populated part of "Area C". The conversation does an exemplary job of illuminating the viewpoints of each side: the Israeli who believes the land is given to him by God and the Palestinian who does not want to give up his right to the same land.
review 2: Sudah lama tidak memperbaharui entry di Goodreads ini. Sedikit komentar mengenai buku yang ditulis Raja Shehadeh dalam perjalanannya berpetualang di negeri yang menghilang, Palestina. Raja Shehadeh mencoba menuliskan apa-apa yang nyatanya masih indah dipandang mata, sebuah negeri yang indah yang kini sedang ada dalam pertikaian atas nama keyakinan dan ambisi.Palestina, seperti yang kita ketahui, hanya sebuah negara dengan konflik yang semakin memanas saja. Di sana sini, anak kecil mati. Dimanapun, bisa terlihat orang yang tewas karena membela negara, atau berkhianat pada musuh. Dalam buku ini, segala yang dituliskan menjadi sangat kontras, begitu bertolak belakang dari apa yang sebenarnya terjadi.Sang sultan, mencoba menuliskan bagian Palestina yang tidak terlempar ke publik, dalam catatannya yang dibukukan menjadi sebuah biografi, sekaligus jurnal non-fiksi, seperti apa yang dilakukan oleh Gus Weng dalam perjalanannya menuju Afghanistan, negara konflik lainnya.Buku ini patut dibaca, sekedar untuk mengembalikan nurani atau mungkin pemahaman atas perang dunia.[Ayu] less

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