When some people meet with a private or public catastrophe, the foundations of their faith are sometimes shaken, causing the pillars of their beliefs… - Fadwa Tuqan

my reticence and lack of involvement in the political uproar did not mean that I had no sensitivity to it, or did not live under its curse, which hangs constantly over our heads. Like many others, I stood perplexed at the reality around us. With hearts burning from the pain and tragedy we had known, we continued searching, in vain, for a meaning to all that was happening around us. The reality we were living every moment of our lives was one of sheer pain and misery. (p188)

I withdrew my eyes to take a look inside myself. My heart said: "This is life: every minute one is reborn, leaving behind a personality different from the present one"...the river of my life goes on and, after that destructive experience, I'll never allow an obstacle to stand in its way. (p180)

Dear refugees! How cruel for people to die as strangers in a strange land! Only in the land of our ancestors can we have a sense of growth in our humanity and of accord between ourselves and life around us. (p184-5)