PALESTINE Memories of 1948 - Photographs of Jerusalem | Page 11

Foreword
Salim Tamari
Professor of Sociology, Birzeit University; Research Associate, Institute for
Palestine Studies; Editor, The Jerusalem Quarterly
Chris Conti has managed to skilfully bring together some riveting narratives of exile and
survival from the war of 1948. A few relate to prominent figures like Latin Patriarch Michel
Sabbah, writer Feissal Darraj, and advocate Fuad Shehadeh – but the majority are ordinary
Palestinians who originally came from Jerusalem or made the city the centre of their lives.
Those survival stories are not narratives of heroic resistance, common to the hagiographic
literature, but they present us with the subjects’ defiance and steadfastness against all odds.
The stories include satirical, mundane, and tenacious reactions to oppression and exile –
with the city of Jerusalem as the backdrop to their predicament. The intimate and austere
photography of Altair Alcântara provides a poignant reminder that the consequences of
1948 are still with us today.
Salim Tamari
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