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Susan Abulhawa (1970—) is a Palestinian-American writer and political activist. Born in Kuwait, her parents are from At-Tur, a neighborhood on the Mount of Olives, east of the Old City of Jerusalem. Made a refugee by the Six-Day War of 1967, Abulhawa experienced a turbulent childhood growing up between the United States, Jordan, Kuwait, and Palestine. She graduated from Pfeiffer University with a degree in biomedical science and established a career in medical science. In July 2001, Abulhawa founded Playgrounds for Palestine, a non-governmental children's organization dedicated to upholding the Right to Play for Palestinian children.
Against the Loveless World opens with Nahr, a Palestinian woman, in solitary confinement facing a sentence in an Israeli prison known as "the Cube." The novel follows Nahr through her memories as she chronicles her upbringing in Kuwait, life as a refugee, personal traumas, and ultimately her journey to Palestine, where she finds love, political purpose, and radicalization against occupation. The story is a masterful blend of the married reality that “the personal is the political.” Derived from a James Baldwin essay, the book’s title emphasizes love and human connection as defiance against an oppressive world. |