videos
Weeds don't Perish
by Hanna Braun
Imprint: Garnet Authors: Hanna Braun ISBN: 9781859642641 Binding: Hardback Publication Date: 31 October 2011Encompassing major world events over eight decades, Hanna’s journey from child immigrant to passionate campaigner makes this memoir’s interweaving of personal and political events unique.
Frankie Green – writer, musician and political activistWeeds Don't Perish is a memoir which combines the political with the personal aspects of the life of someone growing up in Palestine in the 30s and 40s, and living there and in the new state of Israel until 1958. It is a powerful and thought-provoking account of a life lived both in Germany and Palestine before settling in Great Britain.
The GuardianHanna’s journey to anti-Zionist activism is the story of a courageous individual defying the strictures of loyalty to tribe and choosing instead to uphold principles of common humanity, human rights and anti-racism. She continues to bear witness, now in the form of this stunning memoir.
Diane Langford – author of Shame about the Streetand Left for DeadWeeds don’t Perish is the story of Hanna Braun; a passionate, wry, rebellious woman with a zest for life, that throws a new light on the historical Israel-Palestine conflict.
Her story begins in 1937 when her Jewish family are forced to flee Berlin to escape persecution. Hanna finds herself living in Palestine aged ten, and is swept away by Zionist ideology, joining the Haganah at the behest of her uncle. The childlike innocence with which she enthusiastically adopts this new belief system is replaced by the slow realisation that racist views and political segregation dominate her new homeland. As she witnesses first-hand the Arab revolt against the British mandate, the growth of Jewish settlements encroaching on Palestinian land, and the atrocities of Deir Yassin, Hanna begins to question her allegiances, and ultimately betrays them.
Her later years are filled with love and laughter, as Hanna moves to England, becomes a wife and mother, and finds her true calling teaching English and Dance to students in Zimbabwe. But they are also marked by painful experiences, as she encounters more ethnic and racial intolerance wherever she goes, and comes face-to-face with her past, confronting the reality of being a child of war whilst visiting holocaust memorial sites around Europe.
Like the proverbial weed however, Hanna has never given up and refuses to be beaten. Instead, she continues to this day to fight passionately for causes close to her heart – human rights and equality for all.
Readers Reviews
Related Books
Children of Catastrophe
Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to AmericaA great deal has been written over the years addressing the Palestin...
Brownies and Kalashnikovs
A Saudi Woman’s Memoir of American Arabia and Wartime BeirutFadia, a Saudi...
The Diary of T.E. Lawrence
While travelling in Arabia during 1911‘Up about 4.30. Left about an hour later for Nizib. Road took me up hills at first, and then ac...
A memoir expressive of an unusually honest and vital personality, as well as fascinating memories of life in Nazi Germany and in the early days of the State of Israel, followed by an account of Hanna's life in London and travels around the world.
The book is full of quirky and amusing personal memories and stories. But it also has a very serious side in its frank portrayal of the painful early experiences of the writer as a refugee from Nazi Germany to Palestine. As a child, Hanna underwent three name changes and discovered that the father she loved was not her real father. Instead her real father was a man she hated, who nonetheless became her mother's husband after her real father had to leave the family.
These very difficult early experiences probably caused the bipolar episodes which Hanna experienced in later life and which she writes about unflinchingly.
At the same time, Hanna's early understanding that her mother's first husband, despite not being her biological father, was nonetheless her real father, because she loved him and he loved her, probably contributed to her later hatred of racism. In particular, Hanna rejected Zionism because of its injustice towards the Palestinians, and the last part of the book is about her work in London as a Palestinian solidarity activist.
In between, Hanna writes about her love of dance and choreography - in particular world folk dancing - and her teaching of English and Dance in Zimbabwe and in Turkey and her travels around the world. The vitality of spirit which enabled her to surmount her problems shines through the book.
Everyone who likes reading autobiographies which really take you into another person's mind, personality and experiences will enjoy this book.
- Login or register to post comments
]