Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir, With a New Afterword (Paperback)

"Abu Sitta's memoir conveys a still burning sense of outrage at the injustice of the dispossession of the Palestinians and the denial of their rights—a personal and collective Nakba without end."—Ian Black, The Guardian "Much more than a personal memoir. This is a book that should be a mandatory study for young Palestinians and all those who believe in the justice of their cause and their right to return"—Middle East Monitor "This is a highly readable book, much recommended to anyone with an interest in Palestinian history. More than that, it is a significant piece of documentation, recounting events and ways of life which have largely been forgotten or erased."—The Electronic Intifada "The events of 1948 have been told elsewhere, but rarely with the immediacy and poignancy of this child's-eye view."—Hilary Wise, Middle East Eye "Mapping my Return brings to life the human stories that lie behind a few square kilometres of the land of Palestine."—Karl Sabbagh, Palestine Exploration Quarterly "Abu Sitta has ensured that the keys to the Palestinians' stolen homes will inevitably reopen the never forgotten doors."—Al Jazeera “A giant in his field.”—Mickey Muhanna, Afikra "The spirit of Dr. Abu Sitta's Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir mirrors precisely the dynamic quintessence and will of its creator in a word—sumoud—a compelling steadfastness to his homeland Palestine and to the right of return of every Palestinian."—The Palestine Chronicle "Abu Sitta's account is a valuable contribution to Palestinian political and social history."—The Jordan Times "This memoir is crucial to understanding why and how the Palestinian question has not been put to rest."—Al-Ahram Weekly "This book's most important contribution to scholarship may lie in Abu Sitta's subtle refutation of the notion that Palestinian refugees were passive victims of an unwelcome fate. . . . As a comprehensive account of nearly a century of Palestinian history, [Mapping My Return] is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the experiences and records of Palestinian refugees."—Anne Irfan, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies "[Abu Sitta's] narrative joins the growing genre of accomplished and illuminating Palestinian memoirs. He juxtaposes world-shaking and very personal events in an accessible, well-researched account."—Nancy Gallagher, Middle East Media and Book Reviews Online "This book is a wonderful mixture of autobiography, history, and politics. It is both riveting and very moving. Salman Abu Sitta weaves very skillfully his personal story with the broader story of the Palestine tragedy. . . . A really outstanding Palestinian memoir which deserves the widest possible readership."—Avi Shlaim, author of The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World "A highly recommended work from a well-known scholar that will appeal to anyone seeking to understand this story."—Dina Matar, author of What It Means to be Palestinian "A valuable and unique addition to the genre of Palestinian autobiographies in English."—Rochelle Davis, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University "In a life lived intensely, with unflagging curiosity and vocal outrage at the injustices that have beleaguered his people, Salman Abu Sitta is to be celebrated for his tenacity, intelligence and ability not to lose heart despite all the odds. This accessible and informative book describes all that he has lived through as a Palestinian, both on his own land and as a refugee. It also presents very clearly the fundamental need for the 'right of return' to be enshrined in any just and lasting peace in the region."—Selma Dabbagh, author of We Wrote In Symbols: Love and Lust By Arab Women Writers "Salman Abu Sitta has the broadest experience and longest tale to tell of any Palestinian I have ever met and this comprehensive history and geography of the land and its people should be on everyone's bookshelf."—Baroness Jenny Tonge “An extraordinary engineer and scholar.”—Edward Said