The challenge of writing short stories about Palestinians, says Saeed Teebi, is doing it without being miserable.
“I had to find a way to explain what it’s like to be a Palestinian in the West without being didactic, without being miserable about it,” says the first-time published author. “And the solution I came up with is to explore it through the eyes of a western person being introduced to a Palestinian.”
Teebi is referring to Nadia, the non-Arab character in a relationship with a Palestinian immigrant living in Toronto, in Her First Palestinian — a story that explores Palestinian identity and how it is perceived by westerners.
It made the shortlist of last year's CBC Short Story Prize and became the titular tale in Teebi’s debut collection of nine shorts, released last month.
A collection of stories with as much variation between them as there is common ground, Her First Palestinian paints moments in the lives and experiences of Palestinian immigrants and refugees in their adopted country of Canada. The tales are not linked and are entirely fictional, but the emotions felt by the characters are “100 per cent real”, says Teebi.
He weaves his stories patiently, interspersing quiet moments of sharp wit and humour throughout in an almost sardonic look at the reality of what it is like existing as a Palestinian in the West. He averaged about a story a month over the period of a year, save for the last story, Enjoy Your Life, Capo, which took several months of writing.
Following the Sheikh Jarrah evictions in May last year, Teebi wove the events into his story while personally processing how he felt about what he was seeing coming out of Palestine — trying to distance himself, compartmentalise and find perspective while simultaneously feeling a lot of traumatic emotions; just like the main Palestinian character in the story.
It is surprising that — save for a short story he wrote in his early twenties — Teebi is only, now, in his forties, sitting down to write rich and complex tales, humanising Palestinians and making them relatable in a way that’s rarely seen in fiction about the diaspora.
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He spent the past two decades toying with the idea of writing, thinking about the characters he wanted to create and the emotions he wanted to articulate. As a lawyer and father of two, life didn’t leave much room for pursuing personal passions, but being stuck at home during the pandemic allowed him to carve out one to two hours a day he could dedicate to finally writing down the stories he wanted to tell.
And the stories he felt compelled to tell, he says, are stories about Palestinians.
“I don’t see how I would write about any other people,” he says. “There is not enough writing about Palestinians. It’s already a fertile field for fiction.”
Choosing to begin his foray into writing with a short story collection allowed him to share a different experience of what it’s like being Palestinian in the diaspora — something the author knows only too well.
Teebi was born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait; his late father himself was born a refugee in Lebanon to parents who were forced out of Palestine. After a period in the US following the Gulf War, Teebi moved to Canada at 16, where he has been living ever since.
“There were so many Palestinian experiences that were not portrayed anywhere and I wanted to be able to give voice to them,” explains Teebi.
“Short stories can hopefully have a greater chance of connecting with a greater number of people, and because there are just so many stories to tell when it comes to Palestinians, it just made sense to start with a short story collection.”
That’s not to say he shies away from the idea of a novel. Teebi is already writing again, properly entrenched in a novel that examines immigrant ambition, full of Palestinian main characters experiencing “Palestinian things”. He says he's not just writing it for himself, but because he has something to say to an audience that he hopes can better understand the Palestinian experience.
“Palestinians are a population that has been made invisible in many ways. I wanted to make them more visible; I wanted to inject humanity in what is otherwise a news story that lacks humanity.”
If humanising Palestinians without purposefully tugging on heartstrings is what Teebi set out to do, he has accomplished his goal with aplomb. His stories — original, intelligent and finely nuanced — present characters who, although vastly different, are united in a uniquely Palestinian form of loneliness, one that stems from feeling out of place in a world that sees them as a nuisance.
Each of the characters hold themselves back in some way or other, perhaps not as physically oppressed as the Palestinians who live in Palestine, but certainly oppressed in that they feel restricted in what they can say or do, because of the weight of the history they represent.
Her First Palestinian will be launched on September 21 at the Toronto Palestine Film Festival’s opening night, where Teebi will be doing readings and taking part in a conversation with writer and cultural critic Huda Hasan. More information is at www.tpff.ca
Scroll through images of the Palestine International Book Fair in Ramallah below
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
HWJN
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
RESULTS
5pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Purebred Arabian Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Cup Conditions (PA) Dh 200,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Winked, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Cup Listed (TB) Dh 380,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Boerhan, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
6.30pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Group 3 (PA) Dh 500,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan National Day Jewel Crown Group 1 (PA) Dh 5,000,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Messi, Pat Dobbs, Timo Keersmaekers
7.30pm: Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan Racing Festival Handicap (PA) Dh 150,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Harrab, Ryan Curatolo, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alareeq, Connor Beasley, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Scorecard
Scotland 220
K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35
UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs
C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
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