The Mosaic Rooms invites you to join Raja Shehadeh, to celebrate the launch of his new book. Whilst researching his family history, Raja discovered a great uncle who had also been a writer entangled with the authorities, and who, like Raja, had dedicated his life to the freedom of the Palestinian people. Najib was a journalist and romantic living in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire. When he voiced his opposition to Ottoman participation in the First World War, a death sentence was put on his head. So he fled, living on the run and off the land for nearly three years.

The quest for Najib, the details of his life, and the route of his great escape consumed Raja for two years. As he traces Najib’s footsteps, he discovers that today it would be impossible to flee the cage that Palestine has become. A Rift in Time is a family memoir, but it is also a reflection on how Palestine – in particular the disputed Jordan Rift Valley – has been transformed.

Author of Strangers in the House and the award-winning Palestinian Walks, Raja Shehadeh is the most celebrated Palestinian writer working today.

Raja will be in conversation with British-Palestinian filmmaker Omar Al-Qattan.

Fri 04.03.11
6.30-8.30pm, FREE

Places are strictly limited, please RSVP 020 7370 9990, info@mosaicrooms.org