When The Bulbul Stopped Singing

A Diary of Ramallah under Siege

A diary of life under siege in Palestine, from the Orwell-prize winning and National Book Award-longlisted author and human rights activist

'Palestine's greatest prose writer' Observer

'Shehadeh is a great inquiring spirit with a tone that is vivid, ironic, melancholy and wise' Colm Tobin

Battered by repeated suicide bombs, the Israeli army invaded Palestine in April 2002 and held many of the principal towns, including Ramallah, under siege. A tank stood at the end of Raja Shehadeh's road; there were Israeli soldiers on the rooftops; his mother was sick, and he couldn't cross town to help her.

Shehadeh - winner of the 2008 Orwell Prize and a finalist for the 2023 National Book Awards - kept a diary. This is an account of what it is like to be under siege: the terror, the frustrations, as well as the moments of poignant relief and reflection on the profound crisis gripping both Palestine and Israel.