After the Egyptian revolution had come and gone, the Arab Spring had had its say and General Abdel Fattah al Sisi was installed in Cairo, Jack Shenkar tried to take stock of what he had seen.
“All narratives of revolution are outstripped by events; this one has been completed at a time when the counter- revolution is in full flow,” writes Shenkar in his recently published The Egyptians. He was one of almost 40 writers, poets and artists who showcased their work this week at the Palestine Festival of Literature.
The six-day festival, which is in its ninth year, is holding sessions in eight cities throughout Israel, Gaza and the Palestinian Authority, including in Haifa, Jerusalem and Nablus. Its final event takes place tonight in Ramallah and will include Ahmed Masoud, founder of the Al Zaytouna Dance theater, and iconic South African author J.M. Coetzee.
