www.palestinesociety.org When Raja Shehadeh first started hill walking in Palestine in the 1970s he was not aware that he was travelling through a vanishing landscape.
The hills would have seemed familiar to Christ – until the day concrete was poured over the flora and irreversible changes were brought about by those who claim a superior love of the land.
These seven walks, described in the book Notes On A Vanishing Landscape span a period of twenty-seven years, in the hills around Ramallah, in the Jerusalem wilderness and through the ravines by the Dead Sea .
Each walk takes place at a different stage of Palestinian history. Today, many Palestinian natural treasures have become impossible to access. By preserving them, at least in words, Raja Shehadeh invites a new perspective on the future of an endangered land.
A recent review in the Sunday Telegraph pointed out that ‘Shehadeh writes beautifully, infused with a lyrical, melancholic sense of loss. An important record of a land marked by conflict this is changing everyday’
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