Under the Nakba Tree: Fragments of a Palestinian Family in Canada by Mowafa Said Househ (review)

Reviewed by: Under the Nakba Tree: Fragments of a Palestinian Family in Canada by Mowafa Said Househ Grace Brandt Under the Nakba Tree: Fragments of a Palestinian Family in Canada. By Mowafa Said Househ. Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University Press, 2022. 216 pp. CAD$24.99 paper. Under the Nakba Tree: Fragments of a Palestinian Family in Canada, by Mowafa Said Househ, paints a raw account of Palestinian identity through a collection of family and personal vignettes, memories, and stories. Beginning with the invasion by Israeli Defense Forces into Palestine in 1948 and the subsequent expulsion of Palestinians, followed by the First Intifada and the Gulf Wars, and concluding with Househ's own travels throughout his ancestral homelands, Under the Nakba Tree takes the reader through the turmoil and upheaval that reverberated throughout the Middle East to Canada. Househ centers his memoir around two questions: What makes a home and where is home? These questions allow Househ to center his narrative around larger themes of displacement, separation, solidarity, and survival. Househ poignantly describes the racism, prejudice, and social othering experienced by Palestinians and other Middle Eastern groups who settled in Canada during in the latter half of the twentieth century. In chapter 10 Househ unpacks the media portrayals of Arab Muslims in Canada. He contrasts the physical violence committed against Arab Muslims with the simultaneous social disregard by stating, "What many people in our targeted community found just as frightening as the actual violence, was the silence. We were either too visible, and a target, or we were invisible, becoming mere shadows, or nothing" (100–101). Deemed outsiders and targets by their Canadian communities, Househ and his fellow Middle Easterners became subjects of a pan-Arabism that would soon sweep the community at the turn of the twenty-first century. Drawing on personal and family experiences to further contextualize international events, Househ works to construct a body of primary sources through stories told by his father and mother, as well as stories he personally lived. The work is acutely reflective of Househ's individual actions and attitudes throughout his life, as well as the decisions and opinions of the Arab Muslim communities in Jordan and Canada. By structuring the book into four parts—the four cardinal directions—Househ highlights the importance of direction and location throughout the immigrations and exiles he and his family experienced during several lifetimes. The book is also nonlinear at times, which reinforces Househ's perception of time when he claims, "Time is fluid when you live in the immediate state of exile and memory" (25). Househ uses his father's stories in a twofold manner: to break the chronological structure of the text and to reinforce the larger shared experience of exile and solidarity in Jordan and Canada. Mowafa Said Househ provides an intriguing narrative with an engaging structure that is clearly a significant contribution to a growing body of literature and research surrounding the life experiences and worldviews of Palestinians. However, the work leaves readers wondering what larger roles women had in different environments—refugee camps, Canadian communities, mosques, schools, and businesses. Grace Brandt Department of History University of South Dakota Copyright © 2024 Center for Great Plains Studies

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