In This Place Together

A Palestinian's Journey to Collective Liberation

By: Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, Sulaiman Khatib

Narrated by: Paula Simmons

A narrative meditation on joint nonviolence, opening a window to the questions of power, multiple narratives, and imagination that touch on struggles for justice everywhere.

As a Palestinian youth, Sulaiman Khatib encountered the occupation in his village and attempted to fight back, stabbing an Israeli. Imprisoned at the age of 14, he began a process of political and spiritual transformation still unfolding today. In a book he asked Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, an American Jew, to write, and based on years of conversation between them, Khatib shares how his activism became deeply rooted in the belief that we must ground all work - from dialogue to direct action to healing - in recognition of the history and humanity of the other. He reveals how he became convinced that Palestinian freedom can flourish alongside Jewish connection to the land where he was born.

In language that is poetic and unflinchingly honest, Eilberg-Schwartz and Khatib chronicle what led him to dedicate his life to joint nonviolence. In his journey, he encountered the deep injustice of torture, witnessed the power of hunger strikes, and studied Jewish history. Ultimately, he came to realize mutual recognition, alongside a transformation of the systems that governed their lives, was necessary for both Palestinians and Israelis to move forward. Still, as he built friendships with Israelis and resisted the occupation alongside them, he could not lose sight of the great power imbalance in the relationship, of all the violence and erasure still present as they dreamt forward together.

Intimate and political, In This Place Together opens us up to the dangers and hopes of working with others across vast differences in power and experience. And it opens a new space, shapes a third narrative, and finds another world that can exist - though it’s often hard to see - inside this one.

©2021 Penina Eilberg-Schwartz and Sulaiman Khatib (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An engaging, hopeful lesson in how changing the conversation can actually change history.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

“A poignant, beautifully told story of a young man wanting to help create a bridge between Palestinians and Israelis. Best suited for those interested in Jewish and Middle East studies and contemporary social history.” (Library Journal)

“This bold story of an all-too-ordinary Palestinian boy, prematurely made into a man, narrated by a white American Jewish woman, tells the Palestinian story while opening a myriad of taboo topics, without closing any. No matter the angle from which you enter this book, you will exit it slightly upended. For that alone, I invite you into the constructive uneasiness that many more will need to feel before any change on the ground bears fruit that we can all taste equally.” (Sam Bahour, activist and co-editor of Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians)

“Penina Eilberg-Schwartz, a Jewish American, anti-occupation activist, tells Khatib’s story in a work of radiant contradiction and persistent discomfort.” (Booklist)

Powerful Memoir of One Palestinian Fighter

Of the many books I've read about Palestine and Israel, this one is the deepest, most troubling, and the one that offers the most hope. Riveting, complex, filled with unforgettable stories, heartbreak, and caring. Highly recommended.

highly recommend

compelling story that I left feeling so much better informed about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and full of big personal questions about what I believe about peace in my life. Complex, but simple... a beautiful read.
I wish that the reader had more warmth, but I was thankful to have an audio option.