Where the Line Is Drawn: A Tale of Crossings, Friendships, and Fifty Years of Occupation in Israel-Palestine

Shehadeh (Palestinian Walks) chronicles trips he has taken from his home in Ramallah, Palestine, into Israel over the past 50 years. The Palestinian author and activist often visits friends in Israel; during his travels he considers the differences between their lives and that of his family, who were forced to leave their home in Jaffa. The stories juxtapose everyday life with the Israeli occupation of the region, as Shehadeh visits family, attends a concert, goes to work, and is stopped and demeaned at border checkpoints for being Palestinian. Shehadeh intersperses his thoughts on the political situation in Palestine, including the Oslo Accords, the Nakba and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Throughout, he considers his friendship with Henry, a Canadian Jew who relocated to Jerusalem. Henry and Shehadeh's close friendship, estrangement, and reconciliation often mirrors Shehadeh's conflicted feelings toward Israeli-Palestinian politics and provides an outlet for his musings on the nature of friendship and political activism.