When the Israeli army invaded Palestine in April 2002, many of the principal towns, including Ramallah, were held under seige. Lawyer and human rights activist Raja Shehadeh’s diary of the time, published as When the Bulbul Stopped Singing, vividly portrays the feelings of terror and powerlessness he and others experienced during this violent incursion into their homeland. In this extract from the diary, read by Laura Strack, Shehadeh writes of his worries about his brother’s young family as they are illegally held hostage in their own home by a group of Israeli soldiers. 

Thanks to Laura for this impassioned reading