i'm a mom, a writer, biologist, occasional dare devil, proud Palestinian, poltical junkie, human rights activist, part warrior part coward, and generally grateful to be alive.  I write medical manuscripts for a living.  The pharmaceutical and medical communities call me "ghost writer".  It pays the bills.  The rest of what I write sustains my soul. 

THE SCAR OF DAVID
The Scar of David is historical fiction about a Palestinian family from the village of Ein Hod, which was emptied of its inhabitants by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948. It is told in the first person by Amal, who is born into that family in a UN-administered refugee camp in Jenin, where her family would eventually die waiting, or fighting, to return to their beloved Palestine. Set in lap of one of the 20th century’s most intractable political conflicts, this novel weaves through history, friendship, love, frayed identity, terrorism, exhaustion of the spirit, surrender, and courage. Three massacres and two major wars provide five corners to this novel: Sabra and Shatila, Southern Lebanon, 1982; US embassy bombing, Beirut, 1983; Refugee camp of Jenin, West Bank, 2002; The Naqbe, Mandate Palestine, 1948; and The Six Day War, Middle East, 1967. During the family’s eviction from their ancestral village, Amal’s brother Ishmael is lost in the mayhem of people fleeing for their lives. Just a toddler at the time, Ishmael is raised by a Jewish family and grows up as David, an Israeli soldier. During the 1967 war, Amal’s eldest brother, Yousef, comes face to face with David, his brother the Jew. Yousef recognizes his brother by a prominent scar across David’s face. The title of this story takes its name from this scar, and assumes other layers of meaning as it is told.