Sahar Khalifeh Essay

For our group presentation, we researched and found that Sahar Khalifeh had many limits because of her gender, that there were plenty of differences between Judaism and Islam, and the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Since Sahar Khalifeh was a girl, she felt constrained and unacknowledged. She was born into a family of five daughters. Her parents wanted a son so they could pass on their legacy. She gained confidence through writing and was able to divorce her husband from an arranged marriage. The dutiful nature of women is shown throughout the novel because Khalifeh grew up around it. In this day and this country, I am happy to say that there is little discrimination between sexes. Males are not the dominant sex anymore. Women have accomplished quite a lot. Although there are some similarities between Judaism and Islam, such as the fact that they are …show more content…
The head banging done by the little girl “against the metal support of the shop awning” also symbolizes the loss of strength of the Israelis (158). Metal has a connotation of being strong and stable, however, since she bangs her head against it, she attempts to either hurt herself or remove its strength. The Israelis are growing tired of treating the Palestinians this way because their people are also getting hurt in the process. Nevertheless, they keep going because they do not have a choice. The surrounding Arab nations would take over all of their land and they would be left with nothing. This paragraph gives more insight on the side of the Israelis. Also, the awning usually provides protection from the sun or rain, and by attempting to remove the stable metal support, one would be letting all of that in. This symbolizes that the little girl tries to let in the Palestinians and their side of the story. She removes the protection of the Israelis because both of them need equal protection. If one side does not have it, the other should not