Bareen Siddique’s Reviews > Fast Times in Palestine > Status Update

(01/22) A word I learned from my book is the arabic word "Shebab". This word means a group of young men or a young man in general. I choose this word because the author was able to incorporate this word when talking about the rich culture and language along with describing tragedies and atrocities that took place. The "Shebab" are the ones who are affected by the constant bombings but also are the culture.

A literary element I found in my book today was logos. Throughout this memoir, Olson uses a variety of logos that is extremely effective when describing the Palestinian struggle from day to day life. The pure shock factor when reading these statistics was almost a play on pathos and was effective when getting across the point of atrocities that are constantly perpetuated on Palestinians.

The author used both pathos. and logos as an appeal in the story. Using the case of an 11 year old old who was murdered in the middle of the street for no reason, really harping on the atrocities committed by Israel and using logos by citing the sources and using factual articles and evidence to get her point across.

Why is there so much negative stigmatism around Palestinians' and why hasn't any country begin to do something to stick up for the mistreated civilians or the thousands taken as prisoners for no proper reason? Since October 2023, society has just now opened their eyes to the atrocities that have been committed for many years, but why now? Why not before?

The best part of my reading today was the progress I was able to make and the refreshing view of a western perspective on Palestine. The middle east is always demonized or stigmatized and to see someone from America, specifically someone from the south, have a properly balanced, proportionate but equitable viewpoint on the ongoing disparities in and around Palestine is relieving and enjoyable!

What surprised me the most as I read today was the ability the author had to recognize her privilege as a American, white women in the Middle East and her ability to adapt and accept the practices of the cultural around her. Having the ability to respect while not completely understanding is an admirable skill.

Since the book is focused on the middle east, I got to learn about certain cultural aspects that I otherwise would not have known. The word I learned was "nargila", a tobacco/hookah product that is used to smoke by vaporization of the substance. Ex: Tobacco, Cannabis, etc.