'Beirut Fragments' captures the horror Israel keeps inflicting on Lebanon
'Beirut Fragments' captures the horror Israel keeps inflicting on Lebanon Submitted by Belen Fernandez on Tue, 10/13/2026 - 07:16 Jean Said Makdisi's reissued memoir recounts bombardment, siege and civilian resistance in scenes painfully familiar from Gaza and Israel's renewed assault on Lebanon Two women walk through a West Beirut street devastated by Israeli shelling during the siege of the…
Beirut Fragments : A War Memoir by Palestinian writer and scholar Jean Said Makdisi recounts the bombardment, siege and civilian resistance of Lebanon in vivid detail. The memoir, originally published in 1990, has been reissued amid Israel's renewed assault on the country. Born in Jerusalem and raised in Cairo and America, Makdisi died in Beirut.
Her family suffered greatly during the Nakba, yet she acknowledges her privileged upbringing may not represent the Palestinian experience. Makdisi's journey took her to the United States for college, where she faced intense questioning about her views on Jews and Zionism during a panel discussion. After graduating, she married a Lebanese man and moved to Beirut.
Despite traveling to Lebanon multiple times after 2006, the 2006 war remains one of her most defining experiences.
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