When The Bulbul Stopped Singing

Battered by repeated suicide bombs, the Israeli army invaded Palestine in April 2002 and held many of the principal towns, including Ramallah, under siege. A tank stood at the end of Raja Shehadeh’s road; there were Israeli soldiers on the rooftops; his mother was sick, and he couldn’t cross town to help her.

Shehadeh – winner of the 2008 Orwell Prize and a finalist for the 2023 National Book Awards – kept a diary. This is an account of what it is like to be under siege: the terror, the frustrations, as well as the moments of poignant relief and reflection on the profound crisis gripping both Palestine and Israel.