Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood

Ibtisam details a pivotal year in her life marked by loss as she watches her brothers begin their formal education and symbolically begin the transition from childhood to adulthood and sees her beloved Zuraiq slaughtered. Ibtisam’s memories of her trip to balad reveal more details of Palestinian culture and values as well as the far-reaching impacts from the Six-Day War.

Basel and Muhammad’s school life seems harsh to Ibtisam with its fights, severe teachers, and rampant infectious illnesses, but it does not diminish her drive to get an education. Studying the boys’ lessons at home brings her closer to them and inspires her. With her description of the words and letters in the boys’ schoolbooks, which “were planted with words that opened up like rows of flowers, each with a different shape” (109), Ibtisam emphasizes again the powerful effect that written language has for her even at this early age. Her comparison of language to the natural world suggests that Ibtisam feels language has a living, organic quality. While Zuraiq literally tries to eat the lessons Ibtisam gives him, Ibtisam figuratively eats them up, eagerly learning all she can.

Ibtisam’s graphic, uncompromising descriptions of Zuraiq’s death and her brothers’ circumcisions are emotionally challenging for readers. Ibtisam, Basel, and Muhammad love Zuraiq and consider him a “part of [their] family” (131), much as Father is fond of the mother goat. The siblings suffer from both the loss of their beloved pet and from Father’s lies and betrayal. This traumatizing experience contributes to the loss of their childhood innocence: The three become more aware of the harsh realities of life and death and lose trust in their parents.

Circumcision is also something the children do not initially understand. It is knowledge that the adults do not share other than to say circumcision is a religious practice. The reality of the circumcision is frightening to Ibtisam. From her childhood perspective, it is anything but a celebration. Instead, she helplessly witnesses her brothers being violated and injured. The experience also excludes Ibtisam: it symbolically starts the boys on the path to manhood, as villagers comment, “circumcision turned boys into men” (125). It is something Ibtisam cannot share and reflects the difference in gender roles, which will only become more pronounced as the children grow. The loss of Zuraiq and the boys’ turning to each other for consolation after their circumcisions, makes Ibtisam feel forlorn. Though the school day does not separate Ibtisam from her brothers the way she imagined it would, she feels that their circumcisions do mark a change in her relationship with them.

Both the circumcision ceremony and the family’s visit to their home villages illustrate elements of Palestinian culture that inform the family’s values and behavior. These events also reveal how the war affects culture and traditions. In Nabi Samuel, Father reveals how important family life is in Palestinian culture. Family represents Palestinians’ heritage and identity. Father knows the names of everyone who lived in his village—all their extended relatives—even if they have left. He stops to honor the graves of his parents, showing his respect and acknowledging his connection to them. Relatedly, Father feels deeply connected to the land. He still owns fields there, though his ownership may be threatened by Israeli appropriation; a potentially emotional, financially devastating impact of the war. Grandma Fatima also shows her connection to her heritage and the land, curating her orchards and treating the trees and fruits like her “children.” The flowers on Grandma’s embroidered dresses, like those of the other women at the circumcision ceremony, follow ancient Palestinian tradition, detailing exactly what village she comes from. Her identity is tied to a sense of place. Grandma Fatima, like Mother when the family fled to Jordan, still wears the key to her old home that she was forced to leave during the 1948 war. While the wars may take the Palestinian people away from their places of origin, they cannot take the place out of the person. The importance of Palestinian connection to homeland and heritage is also evident in Rasa’el Shawq, or “Letters of Longing,” the radio show Mother listens to, in which displaced persons emotionally try to communicate with those back home in the occupied territories. The show reveals the passion of those separated to reunite with family and return to their homeland.

Finally, Ibtisam reveals again how religious faith informs the family’s values and actions. Father prays over Zuraiq and chickens before slaughtering them. The boys’ circumcision is a Muslim tradition, following in the footsteps of the prophet Abraham. Mother lets water sit in a bowl engraved with prayers—taset al-raifeh—to absorb the words and help heal Ibtisam after her fall into the icy trench. Each example illustrates how their faith is a part of their daily life. Father’s religious empathy extends to others. He says a prayer for the unknown soldier when he finds a bullet-pierced helmet. While Father believes that God can do anything, young Ibtisam considers God with a child’s literality: She wants to know God’s origins and what He looks like. She does not yet have an adult sense of faith.