Short Fiction as a Mirror of Palestinian Life in Israel, 1944–1967

Jamal Assadi, senior lecturer (A), chairs the Department of English and the Department of English for Academic Purposes at Sakhnin College, where he also occupies other key offices. Dr. Assadi previously worked at various colleges in Israel and at An-Najah National University, Nablus. He received his Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom. In addition to numerous articles in professional journals, Dr. Assadi is the author, co-author, editor/co-editor, and translator of a dozen of books on American and Arabic literature, most notably: Acting, Rhetoric and Interpretation in Selected Novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Saul Bellow (2006), A Distant Drummer: Foreign Perspectives on F. Scott Fitzgerald (2007), The Road to Self-Revival: Sufism, Heritage, Intertextuality and Meta-Poetry in Modern Arabic Poetry (2011), The Story of a People: An Anthology of Palestinian Poets Within the Green-Line (2011) and Ibrahim Mālik: The Culture of Peace and Co-existence (2015). He is also a writer of children’s stories. Saif Abu Saleh is a lecturer of Arabic literature at Sakhnin College and the principal of Technological High School in Sakhnin. Dr. Abu Saleh received his M.A. from Haifa University and his Ph.D. from Tel-Aviv University. Dr. Abu Saleh is a notable scholar of the Arabic literature movement in Israel between 1948 and 2000.

“This significant book monitoring and documenting a critical stage in the history of modern Palestinian literature preserves Palestinian short stories which would have remained kept in old newspaper archives and unexplored corners of ignored libraries. Furthermore, it offers scholars and readers a comprehensive critique of these stories illustrating the circumstances under which these short stories were written and discussing the various literary trends and streams that influenced their artistic structure and contents.”—Mahmoud Ghanayem, Professor of Modern Arabic Literature, Tel Aviv University; Chairman, Arabic Language Academy, Israel

• Acknowledgments – Introduction – The Palestinian Short Story: Beginning, Growth and Approaches – Language and Style – Content: Themes and Motifs – Abu Deeb [pseud.]: "A Scene from Life" – Rashid [pseud.]: "Um Khalil" – Emile Habibie: "Dalia: A Story from the Very Bottom of Reality" – ‘Aref Al-‘Azzounie: "The Victim: Every Day’s Story" – Anonymous: "Crime or Penalty?" – Michael Awad: "My Friend, Abu Hassan" – Michael Awad: "In the Poor Neighborhoods" – Mohammad Khass: "Two Hundred Humans Work the Earth, Eat with Flies and Breathe in Disgusting Smells" – Mohammad Khass: "Long Live Qirqash" – Mohammad Khass: "We Are from the Dear Land" – Ali ‘Ashour: "A Strange Story, Indeed! An Israeli Story" – Tawfiq Mo’ammar: "A Military Court" – Belal [pseud.]: "October 29th" – Abu Esam [pseud.]: "And the Bullets Mowed Down the Sons of My Village" – Zaki Darwish: "I Am Not Alone" – Zaki Darwish: "Dignity" – Najeeb Susan: "Bewilderment" – Deeb Aabdie: "Um Shaker" – Mohammad Naffa’: "Nur’s Red Placard" – Mohammad Naffa’: "The Grandchildren" – George Gharieb: "By God, I Have Never Betrayed You Except Once" – Riyadh Husain Mahmoud, "The Mortgaged Ring" – Anonymous: "Such Are the Dreams of Our Children!" – Salem Haddad: "The Dust of the Alleys" – Tawfiq Zayyad: "Mahmoud Does Not Retreat".