The Bridge
In the opening chapter,
The Bridge, Mourid Barghouti recounts his experience of crossing the Allenby
Bridge, which connects Jordan to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The chapter
begins with a vivid depiction of the heat and tension on the bridge, where
Barghouti, after 30 years of exile, makes his first physical return to
Palestine. His journey across the bridge is laden with personal memories and
the symbolic weight of returning to a homeland that has been changed by
occupation.
Barghouti vividly
recalls June 5, 1967, the day the Six-Day War began, which led to the Israeli
occupation of the West Bank. He had been preparing for his final exams at Cairo
University when the war broke out. His Latin exam was interrupted by the news
of war, and this marked the beginning of his long exile. Reflecting on that
day, Barghouti remembers how his dreams of returning to Ramallah after
graduation were shattered, and instead, he became one of the displaced
Palestinians.
The chapter is rich in
sensory details as Barghouti describes the Jordan River, the sounds of the
bridge, and his internal reflections on the significance of crossing back into
his homeland. He questions whether he will be able to actually return or if
something will go wrong at the last moment. As he walks across the wooden
planks, memories of family, his childhood, and the years of exile flood his
mind. He remembers the deaths of his loved ones, particularly his brother
Mounif, who died before he could see Palestine again. This loss underscores the
tragedy of displacement and the impossibility of truly returning home after
decades of separation.
The bridge becomes a
powerful metaphor for the divide between Barghouti’s past and present, between
exile and homeland. As he steps onto Palestinian soil, Barghouti reflects on
how exile has shaped his identity and his sense of belonging. Even as he
physically returns, he knows that the displacement he has lived with for so
long will never truly leave him. The chapter ends with Barghouti acknowledging
that, despite his return, he is still a stranger in his own land, as the
reality of the Israeli occupation confronts him immediately with military
presence and Israeli flags. The chapter encapsulates the emotional and
political complexities of returning to a homeland that remains occupied and
transformed, where the scars of exile persist even in the face of physical
reunion.