BAB EL CHAMS

In the beginning was Palestine, and the story of Younès began, known as Abou Salem, known as the Man, said to be the father of Ibrahim, fighting the English from the age of 16, still fighting, but retrenched in the Lebanon, illegal in his own country ; the story of Nahila also began, married to him when she was twelve, breast-feeding their first child, born during the villagers’ exhausting trek towards the North, fleeing their burning homes, Nahila whom he met secretly in a cave in Bab El Chams, in Galilee.
Again it is the story of Doctor Khalil, abandoned by his mother in the shambles of the refugee camps, who, in Beirut, rescued Younés in a deep coma, lulling him with the tragic story of his people ; and yet again it is that of Chams whom Khalil loved and was executed by his companions