{"product_id":"before-the-flood","title":"Before the Flood: A Gaza Family Memoir Across Three Generations of Colonial Invasion, Occupation, and War in Palestine","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe social, political, and historical context of the current Israeli-Palestinian War told through the stories of the author’s family and village.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ramzy Baroud's sensitive, thoughtful, searching writing penetrates to the core of moral dilemmas.\" Noam Chomsky\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA profound exploration of Palestinian history and resilience through the personal stories of the author’s family—the al-Badrasawis. Beginning with intimate details of village life in Beit Daras prior to the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eNakba\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Ramzy Baroud vividly portrays the rich cultural heritage, deeply rooted traditions, and daily struggles faced by ordinary people whose lives were radically disrupted by the violent upheavals and ongoing conflicts driven by British colonialism and Zionist aggression.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBaroud weaves together past and present, illuminating how historical forces shaped the collective consciousness and steadfast resilience of the Palestinian people. His storytelling reveals not only the harsh realities of occupation, displacement, and loss but also the extraordinary courage, faith, and solidarity that underpin a powerful and enduring spirit of resistance, encapsulated in what the author refers to as the Palestinian “longue durée.” Ultimately, Baroud aims to humanize and reclaim Palestinian narratives from distorted portrayals, highlighting their perseverance and the universal quest for justice and liberation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat People Are Saying\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"a-section a-spacing-small a-padding-small\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\"In this devastating account, journalist Baroud (\u003cem\u003eThese Chains Will Be Broken\u003c\/em\u003e) traces multiple generations of his Palestinian family tree as each confronts the Israeli occupation. He begins with family matriarch Madallah Abdulnabi’s childhood in idyllic Beit Daras, from which she was forcibly expelled during the 1948 Nakba. Baroud depicts the expulsion with haunting imagery—“hundreds of women and children rushed to the southern road where sunflowers were in full bloom”—and harrowing flashes of carnage (“two little sisters shot holding hands”). These vivid descriptions clarify how the Nakba’s trauma continues to resonate through subsequent generations, particularly as Baroud turns toward the Gaza branch of his family. He catalogs their experiences of “imprisonment, torture, and loss,” including those of Madallah’s son, Ehab al-Badrasawi. In 1987, to the dismay of other family members, Ehab, then a “scrawny” 11-year-old, participated in the first intifada, which erupted after “an Israeli had deliberately run over Palestinian[s]... waiting by a bus stop.” Later, Ehab joined Hamas after Israeli forces killed his younger brother Wael. The book hurtles toward October 7 with mounting horror as both Ehab’s son and nephew join the fight, and it comes to seem as if Wael’s death had “sealed the fate... of the al-Badrasawi family.” It’s an indelible depiction of the generational trauma that defines the Palestinian struggle.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eBefore the Flood\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a heart-wrenching and searingly personal chronicle of a homeland and a people. More than a family memoir, it speaks to the soul of Palestine across generations. It dismantles Zionism's colonial fairytales and lays bare the moral core of our resistance, born, as it is, of profound love for our ancestors and the sacred dignity of home. A moving testament to the power of memory and life's stubborn impulse for freedom.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003esusan abulhawa, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAgainst the Loveless World\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"As a historian of colonization, I found this brilliant work clarifying the history that has gone from colonization and land theft to outright attempted genocide. Deeply researched and highly readable,\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eBefore the Flood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eis a must read, leading to action and protest.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eRoxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Ramzy Baroud aspires to nothing less than to tell the story of Palestine on Palestine’s own terms. In \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eBefore the Flood, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eform and content realize perfect symmetry in revealing how the individual plight of all Palestinians is emblematic of a broader, collective condition—one of harrowing loss, yes, but also rootedness, joy, and the galvanizing constancy of steadfast defiance that will inevitably stamp out history’s transient oppressors. A poetic genealogy of resistance that transmutes personal loss into communal edification, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eBefore The Flood \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a masterpiece of Palestinian revolutionary literature.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eOmar Zahzah, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/leftwingbooks.net\/products\/terms-of-servitude\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTerms of Servitude\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eBefore the Flood\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e reminds us that humanity comes first; that it is this priority that in the most fundamental way possible is what drives the Palestinian resistance.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eRon Jacobs, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eCounterpunch\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"a-section a-spacing-small a-padding-small\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eRAMZY BAROUD \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a Palestinian author, historian, and academic whose work focuses on Palestinian history, liberation, and people's history. His books include \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSearching Jenin, The Second Palestinian Intifada, My Father Was a Freedom Fighter, The Last Earth\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThese Chains Will Be Broken.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e His book, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eOur Vision for Liberation\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, brings together voices shaping the Palestinian struggle today. Baroud holds a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and has taught mass communication at Curtin University. He is a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Zaim University. His academic contributions extend to numerous books and journals, and he has lectured at leading universities worldwide. His work has been translated into multiple languages, solidifying his role as a key voice in documenting Palestinian history and resistance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eILAN PAPPÉ\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (Foreword) is an Israeli historian, socialist activist, and author of many books, including \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e; \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eA History of Modern Palestine\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e; \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e; and with Noam Chomsky, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eGaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Seven Stories Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44505496027229,"sku":"9781644215289","price":29.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0826\/1213\/files\/BeforetheFloodAGazaFamilyMemoirAcrossThreeGenerationsofColonialInvasion_Occupation_andWarinPalestine.jpg?v=1781373093","url":"https:\/\/leftwingbooks.net\/products\/before-the-flood","provider":"Leftwingbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}