In A Rift in Time: Travels with My Ottoman Uncle, Raja Shehadeh (Palestinian Walks) invites readers into a "momentary... respite from the terrible confines of the dismal present" by retracing how his great-great-uncle Najib Nassar escaped from arrest under the Ottoman Empire. Shehadeh poignantly brings to life a historical moment not often considered in contemporary discussions, expressing sadness for what might have been and hope for what may yet be, even if it does not happen in his own lifetime.
Shehadeh blends Nassar's personal story; political shifts surrounding World War I that affected Nassar, an outspoken political journalist; his own present-day experiences; and the political situation affecting the landscape today. In addition to lamenting the homes and villages destroyed during the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 war, Shehadeh highlights how the fracturing of a region once unified under the Ottoman Empire and defined by religious diversity into separate nations with strict borders and visa regulations made re-creating Nassar's journey almost impossible.
As a Christian Palestinian, Shehadeh understands the region's complexity. He presents viewpoints from individuals past and present, commenting on each with sharp intellect and empathy. He provides context for Arab views of the Ottoman Empire, attitudes of Muslim Arabs toward Christian Arabs, and depictions of Palestinians who stayed on their land as brave resistance fighters or cowardly collaborators. Above all, he takes a long view of the land, which "has been there for centuries," to unequivocally condemn colonial and Zionist destruction of land and people and assert that it "will be there long after all of us are gone." --Dainy Bernstein, freelance reviewer