Longings for Jerusalem

In the wake of “In the Land of Israel: Essays,” by Amos Oz, 1983. Salman Masalha || Longings for Jerusalem It’s been many a day since first I came to Jerusalem in the 1970s. After all these years I’ve learned that their number can be considered as the blink of an eye in comparison to all the years of the city that falls and rises, falls and rises...

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All Clear

Salman Masalha ALL CLEAR Amir hadn’t laughed so hard for quite some time, and certainly not upon hearing an announcement from the Home Front Commander. With his forces alert on all fronts he had learnt on his own flesh, the country’s flesh, the meaning of the Jewish experience. The more he tortured her, the more pleasure she felt and burst into...

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Tribal Tribulations

Salman Masalha Tribal Tribulations On May 2nd, 1860, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a Jewish boy was born to Jacob and Jannet in the city of Pest, which later joined Buda to form Budapest. They called him Theodor. Young Theodor wandered in many places and settled in Vienna where he studied law, a profession in which he never worked. This young...

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The Cat, the Cross and the Cream

Salman MasalhaTHE CAT, THE CROSS AND THE CREAMIs the Israeli cat trying to guard the cream? Or are we going to get lost in Nazareth? And what is the connection between all this and the people that is vanishing as the end of the millennium approaches? Are you confused? This is a sign that you are on the right track.Once upon a time in the land of the...

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The City of the Walking Flower

Salman Masalha The City of the Walking Flower Here, on the watershed of the winds, between reality and imagination, between the utopia of the celestial spheres and the doom of the underworld, stands Jerusalem. The city is a pile of stones that separates sea from sea, tomorrow from yesterday, the green from the desert, and, above all,...

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