What happened at that party was long hidden until a 2003 investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed the horrific events. The terrible events that took place at the party were long hidden, but an investigation conducted by the Israeli paper Haaretz in 2003 brought them to light.
The unit had earlier in the day captured a Bedouin woman who was at the party gang-raped and later executed. She was then buried in a shallow grave. Twenty soldiers were sentenced to prison, including the commander of the unit. Adania Shibli, a Palestinian author, was inspired by the investigation to write Minor Details (2010). The book tells both the story of the event and that of a fictional investigator who investigates the crime in Ramallah decades later.
Minor Detail is an eloquent but jarring novel which shows how the horrors from the Past still shape Palestinian society today. It has received a lot of critical acclaim, and was nominated for both the International Booker Prize (UK) and the National Book Award in the US. Shibli had to accept the LiBeraturpreis at Frankfurt Book Fair.
The award ceremony was called off. The organizers, LitProm, explained that this was due to the current situation in Israel and Palestine. They plan to schedule the event at a later time. has signed a letter to protest the decision. They felt that the decision was silencing a Palestinian voice. The book has received mixed reviews from the German press. Some have called it antisemitic and anti-Israel.
In my opinion, the award’s cancellation sends a wrong message by closing down conversations. Shibli’s new book provides insight into the current situation in Gaza and how language has been used to shape the conflict.
History of Dehumanisation
The IDF unit that was assigned in 1949 to secure the new border between Israel and Egypt by eliminating Palestinian “infiltrators” is the subject of Part of Minor Detail.
In 1948, a year before the events described in the book, the newly independent Israel had taken over 77% the Mandate for Palestine territory. Over 700,000 Palestinians fled and were permanently displaced. Tens of thousands sought refuge in Gaza Strip.
Israelis call it the War of Independence. The Nakba is what Palestinians refer to as the “catastrophe”.
Adania Shibli, a Palestinian author, was inspired to write her book by an investigation conducted by Haaretz in 2003. Hartwig Klappert
In Minor Detail, the commander of the unit describes the Negev desert as “a barren desert that is prey to Arabs’ neglect and abuse, including their animals. Under Israeli control, he claims, the desert will flourish and become a center for learning, culture, and development. Shibli’s words echo those of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion in his declaration from 1954: “For those that make the desert blossom, there is space for hundreds, thousand and even millions.”
Shibli’s choice also draws on the tendency of Israel’s supporters and politicians to use a language of progress (technological or similar) when seeking support from the west. It is most common to see this in the celebrations of Israel today as ” startup nation“.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, said that the war between Hamas and Israel was a struggle between “children of light and children of darkness” and between humanity and jungle law.
This kind of dehumanizing speech – extending beyond the Hamas attack to include a wider comment on the Palestinians – is used by the Israelis to justify violence. It is nothing new. Minor Detail shows how such tactics have been used in Israeli warfare for a long time.
Shibli records the thoughts of the commander in a close third-person narration. He hears her “crying, babbling and incomprehensible fragments” when he first sees her after the first rape. He sees the barking as Arabic.
Yoav Galant, Israel’s Defence Minister, recently made a connection between Palestinians and animals. He declared that Israel is “fighting against human animals” when enacting an “complete siege”, which has cut off Gaza from water, fuel and food.
In Minor Detail, dehumanising language and treatment is the precursor to the murder of a Palestinian girl. Similar language was used to prepare for the mass killings of Palestinians following the Hamas attack against Israel.
Acts of Memory
The second half is set in the present day. Shibli describes a Palestinian woman’s efforts in Ramallah, West Bank’s capital de facto, to discover the story of the girl.
Shibli’s protagonist, who is not named, is shocked by the “minor fact” that the rape occurred 25 years before she was born. The rape may not seem like a big deal, given the violence that Israel is committing every day. But Shibli’s protagonist (who remains anonymous) is struck by the “minor detail” that it took place 25 years before her birth.
In spite of the restrictions placed on Palestinians‘s freedom of movement, she embarks on a journey to the Israeli archives of Tel Aviv, the north-west Negev, and finally the outpost. Her old maps show her the results of Israel’s 1948 depopulation project, as they direct her to roads and villages that no longer exist. She sees the desert full of bananas, mangoes and avocados that is a testament to the commander’s success.
It is impossible for the protagonist to bring back a life that was lost during the Nakba. This act of memory also reminds us that we are responsible for every victim killed in Israel or Palestine this month.
Minor Detail illustrates how the current events in Gaza have their roots in a longer history of violence between Israel and Palestine. To understand the current situation, we must take into account this history.