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archytas's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This is a thoughtful study of women imprisoned for leading the armed struggle against Israel, most imprisoned in the 1970s and 1980s, based on case study interviews. Abdo draws spare portraits of these women, allowing them to speak about what is important to them. While there are differences among the women, they are united in their exceptional determination, demolishing stereotypes of passivity. The book is organised thematically around what motivates the women, with the later chapters looking more at gender issues, including the difficulties the women face after release.
The book does feel a little like it is of another era, with the primarily secular armed focus of the struggle, and I was relieved in some ways by the afterword in which Abdo struggles with the relevance of a book as the occupation worsens and the divide between Gaza and the West Bank grows. But the book is important in preserving a record of the motivations of Palestinian resistance and a reminder of the centrality of women to a fight in which few often want to acknowledge their agency.
The book does feel a little like it is of another era, with the primarily secular armed focus of the struggle, and I was relieved in some ways by the afterword in which Abdo struggles with the relevance of a book as the occupation worsens and the divide between Gaza and the West Bank grows. But the book is important in preserving a record of the motivations of Palestinian resistance and a reminder of the centrality of women to a fight in which few often want to acknowledge their agency.
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