In its issue of today, An Nahar newspaper published a review on the latest novel ‘Bint el Khayata’ by Jumana Haddad, activist for human rights, freedom of expression and gender equality. The novel, An Nahar wrote, speaks of the anguish of women in the Middle East inspiring them to break free from the bitter reality forced on them and from the suffocating weight of inherited norms which turned into a curse over time. Throughout the story, Haddad remained certain that there are matters which are impossible to realize, including disciplining the authoritarian human intellect and moderating equality between people. The novel portrayed the lives of four women coming from different countries and backgrounds in the region, from Aleppo, Jerusalem, Damascus and Beirut. The characters also represented four generations who shared similar fates and faced the harsh conditions of war, immigration and displacement, rape, poverty and hunger, An Nahar said. On the blurb of her book, Haddad wrote: “I am Armenian, Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian. I am the grandma, the mother, the daughter and the grandchild. I am … the cycle that began and ended in its suicide. How many more dead I have to count and how many lives I have to inherit before I deserve the light?”. (An Nahar, December 20, 2018)
