Interview on The Book of Disappearance and Palestinian Literature

Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem’s novel The Book of Disappearance, published in Turkish translation, examines a world where Palestinians suddenly disappear, through the perspective of Alaa from Jaffa and his Israeli neighbor Ariel.

The Theme and Emergence of the Novel

Published in its original Arabic in 2014, Ibtisam Azem’s novel The Book of Disappearance focuses on a world where Palestinians suddenly vanish and the aftermath of this event. The author, born in Tayibe and working as a United Nations correspondent in New York, later had her work translated into numerous languages.

The Silent Nakba and Its Relation to Reality

With a period approaching three years in Gaza, the disappearance in the novel is read differently today, and the author does not view it as a dystopian fantasy. This situation is evaluated as an echo of the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 and the ongoing silent Nakba.

Remembering and Forms of Resistance

The interview emphasizes that remembering is a form of resistance. Ibtisam Azem states that the transmission of memory was interrupted by the Nakba, and that remembering does not mean being trapped in the past but encompasses the effort to build a different future.

The Silent Majority in Israel

Through the character of Ariel—who criticizes the 1967 occupation but does not question 1948—the novel examines the complicity of the reasonable majority in Israel. It questions the position of those segments who do not commit crimes directly yet benefit from the privileges of the system.

Interest Shown in Palestinian Literature

Ibtisam Azem expresses that it is deeply disturbing for Palestinian literature to receive international attention only during moments of great catastrophe and destruction. The author also emphasizes how naming policies determine whose history is made visible.