Hekmat Al-Taweel (1922-2008) was a native Palestinian Christian from Gaza City whose narrative provides an unfamiliar perspective on Muslim–Christian relationships in Gaza, highlighting shared history, culture, customs, and traditions. In relating her life story, continuing education after marriage, volunteer work, activism, and aspirations, she invites readers to understand her experiences in a way that contradicts widespread Western orientalized stereotypes of Arab women. She also shares insights into life in Gaza during the British Mandate period and the 1948 Nakba and its aftermath. This is the third book in the Women’s Voices from Gaza Series, which honours women’s unique and underrepresented perspectives on the social, material, and political realities of Palestinian life.

Hekmat Al-Taweel was a native Palestinian Christian from Gaza City.

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Ghada Ageel is Visiting Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta and a columnist for the Middle East Eye, London. She holds a PhD and MA in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter (Britain) and a BA in Education from the Islamic University/Gaza. Dr. Ageel is the recipient of several awards and scholarships including The Phillips Grant (UK, 2013), The Jerusalem Studies’ Scholarship of the University of Exeter (2002 and 1999), the Higher Education Award of the Ministry of Education (Palestine, 1996) and the Hebrew Language and Literature Scholarship (Gaza, 1993). Her research interests focus on rights-based approaches to forced migration, Palestinian refugees in comparative perspective, oral history, women's studies, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the permanent status issues involved in the Middle East peace process. Dr. Ageel's work has been widely published in several newspapers, magazines, and journals worldwide, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Hill, CNN, BBC, The Guardian, Journal for Palestine Studies, Palestine Chronicle, MATAN Magazine (Hebrew) and many Arabic newspapers throughout the Middle East. Dr. Ageel has a diverse background, and distinctly inter-disciplinary knowledge, including almost 20 years of first-hand experience in the fields of education, research, consultancy, management, NGOs operation, journalism, disaster management, and communications. She has also worked with several institutions in the UK (University of Exeter, the Guardian Newspaper, Hoping Foundation), US (Institute for Middle East Understanding, the Academy for Educational Development and Interfaith Peace Builders), Canada (The Canadian Red Cross and University of Alberta) and in Palestine (International Cooperation South-South, The Palestinian Abraham Centre for languages and NHK).

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Barbara Bill lived and worked in Gaza for six years and currently resides in New South Wales, Australia.

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Ilan Pappe's profile page