Behind the Wall: Life, Love, and Struggle in Palestine

'Behind the Wall: Life, Love, and Struggle in Palestine’ is a new book by Rich Wiles, a photographer from Hull and activist in the West Bank. It brings together for the first time in one volume a collection of Rich Wiles’ articles of everyday life for Palestine’s refugees, told in their own words.

The vignettes are based around refugee camps in the area of Palestine currently referred to as the ‘West Bank’. Also included is a small selection of intimate black and white photographic portraits taken by the author. The foreword is eloquently written by Ali AbuNimah.

'Behind the Wall: Life, Love, and Struggle in Palestine’ will be released in the US in January 2010 and in the UK in February 2010. Wiles will be in the UK through February and March 2010 and is taking bookings for book launch events. The book is already receiving excellent advance reviews:

John Pilger - “Palestine is the most important issue for humanity because its justice is so long overdue, and its people have been so betrayed, yet it exemplifies a courage and endurance no oppressor can kill. In his superb collection Behind the Wall, Rich Wiles captures these qualities in the struggles and faces of those who will not allow us to forget.”

Ilan Pappé - “A moving insight into the individual experiences of life under occupation and imprisonment. The book allows the people themselves to speak about their horrific experience and their remarkable struggle for survival and normality against all odds. A most valuable and humane contribution to a better understanding of the Palestinian plight in the face of an escalating Israeli brutality and inhumanity.”

Jonathan Cook - “Rarely has the Palestinian experience of occupation—its everyday frustrations, cruelties and injustices—been captured better than in these richly varied and very human stories told by Rich Wiles. Too often the voice of the Palestinians is denied or overlooked: this book seeks to correct that additional indignity by reminding the reader that behind Israel's Wall a people continues to demand the freedoms most of us take for granted.”

Ahdaf Souief - “Rich Wiles's work is exemplary. Clear-sighted and passionate, he provides the frame and the focus for the Palestinians to tell their own stories. These are stories that the world needs to hear.”

Ramzy Baroud - “Behind the Wall is a book of powerful stories, conveyed most eloquently by the author and told by ordinary people describing their extraordinary existence. Rich Wiles’s captivating narrative transcends politics and rebuffs the very desensitizing nature of news related to Palestine and Israel. Instead, Behind the Wall delves into the heart of the conflict—the disaffected Palestinians—including the original refugees of 60 years ago and their descendants, who continue to struggle for rights and recognition. Their undying resilience will endure until rights are restored, justice is delivered, and freedom is attained. Until then, those refugees, feeding on memory and hope, will continue to exist behind the Wall. While they may be physically trapped, their stories don’t have to be. Rich Wiles’s book is a most admired effort at getting the story out. This book must be read, and forever remembered.”

Behind the Wall: Life, Love, and Struggle in Palestine - by Rich Wiles.
Published by Potomac Books.
US/UK Release - January/February 2010
ISBN - 978-1-59797-439-4
To arrange a book launch event in your area, or for further information, please contact Rich Wiles: richimages02@hotmail.com

For further details please see: http://www.potomacbooksinc.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=209193