The Trinity of Fundamentals
Reviews
An amazing fictional (but based on the authors life) piece highlighting the life of solitude that many Palestinian revolutionaries, or party members had to engage in during the time period building up to, and during, the first intifada. Through Kanaan's internal dialogue we see the contradictions and eb's & flows between revolutionary dedication and the "human-self". Which to me, acted as a necessary grounding for seeing my role in the struggle and for my view on discipline through hardship.
Historical context: In the 70's and early 80's it was common for Palestinians to turn themselves into authorities when called upon. Until many political parties realized this was hindering their ability to build up organizational capacity so they made the decision to put many of their high ranking members into hiding (and deem telling party secrets an act of treason), hence Kanaan's placement. This structural longevity allowed for the first intifada to take place, with an organized connection to the masses.
I appreciated the dialectic between the revolutionary self embodied by devotion to a collective and party and the individual self expressed in Kan'an's personal desires and ambitions. Tragic in many areas but on the whole an inspiring account of steadfastness.
This is novel is packed full of the emotion of many years spent living in isolation, on the run from the military in the occupied West Bank. Jumping around chronologically between safe houses, he wrestles with his machismo and is plagued by internal conflict.
The book is often poetic, and is very raw and emotional. He is flawed, and the story presents his feelings honestly. Mostly takes place in the 80s, and the story of how it was smuggled out of prison piece by piece is almost as captivating as the book itself.
Highlights
Her happiness would not push her fears aside nor will her fears dominate over her happiness. She too would live her own contradictions.
Indeed, it is plausible! For the sake of salvation from the army of boots that terrorized your daughters, everything we revolutionaries do is plausible. If the expulsion of a people is possible then everything that could put an end to this travesty of history at our expense becomes plausible, no matter how mad it seems.
How strange is man: at moments of peace all he can remember is his weakness, his hesitancy, his impotence. During the battle, however, he discovers that he has heroic-even indescribable--strength. When a human being is fighting for his life, as he sees it, with a deeply rooted determination and conviction in the justice and legitimacy of the cause for which he is fighting, he is transformed into a strange being in his strength and conduct. Under normal circumstances, Kan'an would not have done what he did in his den even if he had been promised all the treasures of the world, The smoke that choked him, the sudden flare of flames and kerosene that nearly burned his face-none of that dissuaded him. Inside a human being is a huge capacity to bear suffering. He had come to understand this on several occasions throughout the course of his secret life.
Listen, I am a revolutionary and Marxist fighter who is confident that one day we will win and gain our rights. This gives me strength and makes me refuse to submit to terrorism and the conduct of you and your soldiers. Do not think that this will be of any use to you, for you do not scare me.
For years, Kan'an had sown in his mind the values of confrontation and steadfastness, and it seemed to him that the time for their harvest was near. The second door was about to collapse. Kan'an would not collapse from their blows. His trust in his party and in the struggle would not be wrenched from his heart!
Kan’an philosophized his position on death in this peculiar way and put a halt to any further thoughts about death. He concluded that some people die for a reason, others for none at all— it is best, then, to look for a good reason to die.
I hope that you will understand my position, even if it entails difficulties for you. I have chosen my path in life, the path of resistance in the name of our people and the freedom of our homeland… What sort of a man would I be if I remained an idle spectator while our homeland was occupied and out people enslaved and I did nothing…
Bear up, Kan'an. Endure. If it is your duty to become acquainted with this house and life, then do it and endure. Your party and your experience make you a revolutionary. Can that be done without sacrifice? Bear up, then. Being revolutionary requires certain things, so do them. Show tolerance. Have you not read about the lives of great revolutionaries? What have you offered so far compared to them?…You are committed to the revolution, so be a man and pay the price without being frivolous. The revolution changes you, so help it do so by accommodating yourselves to its logic. Dont allow your nerves to turn you into a counter-revolutionary, a knife that stabs you in the back.