Jerusalem Notebook

Blog Posts

The West Side Story The Nakba as Experienced by a Jerusalem Child

The trauma of losing home and familiar ways of being in the world lingered with author Nina Bazouzi Cullers for decades after her family left Qatamon for the Old City. Book review.

What Is Jerusalem? Stories from the Old City: Matthew Teller’s Nine Quarters of Jerusalem

Matthew Teller’s biography of Jerusalem’s Old City goes beyond the surface to offer history as well as the lived experience of its Palestinian residents today.

The Origins of an Iconic Jerusalem Art Form: Armenian Ceramics

We review the book Feast of Ashes, by Sato Moughalian, which chronicles the origins of the Armenian ceramic tradition in Jerusalem, first introduced there by the author’s grandfather, a refugee from the Armenian genocide. 

The West Side Story Resurrecting Lifta, a Microcosm of Palestine pre-1948

A recent book describes the cultural heritage of the depopulated Jerusalem village of Lifta and the struggle of its displaced residents to thwart state plans to erase its remains.

What Is Jerusalem? How an Armenian Boy Who Narrowly Escaped the Genocide Captured the Soul of Pre-1948 Jerusalem through His Lens

The Armenian boy who was sold as a slave would provide Jerusalem with a treasure of historic photographs.

Book Review: Determined to Stay—A Deep Dive into the Nightmare That Is Childhood in Silwan

Silwan’s children are systematically attacked and terrorized to pressure families to leave the area, but the community is rallying to protect them.

The West Side Story Book Review: Karmi Memoir Tells Jerusalem Story of Loss and Rediscovery

A woman’s attempt to reconcile her English and Palestinian identities leads her to Jerusalem to search for the Qatamon home her family left in 1948.

Who Are the Palestinians of Jerusalem? “I Wasn’t Born There; I Never Lived There, but I Was from There”

A Palestinian woman returns to Jerusalem to rediscover and reclaim her mother’s city for her.