Khadra is no stranger to the hot conflicts, for he started his literary career with works on Algerian wars, then went to write about Kabul in his The Swallows of Kabul and Iraq in his The Sirens of Baghdad starts with the havoc that a Palestinian suicidal Attack causes. It ends with another Attack, this time by the Israeli occupying army in Jenin. In its hero's search for the truth about these attacks the novel raises issues of identity, violence, terrorism, integration, hatred and tolerance.
The Attack is a novel written by Yasmina Khadra, which is the nom de plume of the former Algerian army officer Mohammed Moulesshoul. The novel is translated from French by John Cullen. It is divided into 16 chapters and consists of 257 pages. The Attack was short listed for the Prix Goncourt and won the Prix des Libraires. An Algerian writer living in France and a story from the heart of Palestine and the occupied territories may sound an odd combination. Yet, the outcome reveals differing views as to how issues such as identity, violence, terrorism, integration, hatred, tolerance, the long-lasting Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the search of truth can be dealt with and interpreted in a narrative text.
You may have never been to the occupied territories, but novelist Yasmina Khadra makes you skillfully feel as if you were vividly witnessing the events. Besides, the descriptive devices Khadra uses throughout the novel allow the reader to gain a greater insight with regard to the characters, themes and setting of the novel.
The novel may be seen as a three-stage journey. The first stage starts in Tel Aviv where the narrator Dr Amin Jaafari, an Israeli Arab, is a surgeon. Dedicated to his work, respected and admired by his colleagues and community, epitomizes integration in its success. One night, a deadly bombing occurred in a local restaurant. Dr Amin worked tirelessly to help the casualties. Unfortunately his wife's body was found among the dead. All the evidence pointed out to the fact that Dr Amin's wife, Sihem, was the suicide bomber. Here starts the narrator's agony to search for the truth.
In the first leg of the journey, we meet characters such as Dr Kim Yehuda, who has a great admiration for her colleague Dr Amin. There is also Navid Ronnen, a police officer who likes and respects Amin Jaafari. Ronnen was very helpful in the beginning of Dr Amin's ordeal. These characters show a good sense of understanding and tolerance. Among the themes treated here, we can mention hatred, integration, identity, terrorism and tolerance, which are recursive throughout the novel.
The second stage of the journey takes us to Bethlehem where Dr Amin was hoping to put an end to his turmoil. Why Bethlehem? He came across a letter from his wife dated one day prior the attack and posted from Bethlehem. The letter reads:
What use is happiness when it's not shared, Amin my love? My joys faded away every Time yours didn't follow. You wanted children. I wanted to deserve them. No child is completely safe if it has no country. Don't hate me. Sihem (p. 69).
In Bethlehem, we are introduced to his step-sister Leila, her husband Yasser and their grandson Issam. Dr Amin's dialogues whether with Yasser or with a Palestinian movement leader are very revealing: 'What pride can you take in sending people to die so that others can live free and happy?' Dr Amin asked Yasser (p.121). He addressed the movement leader, 'My wife was an islamist?.. What tales did you tell her? How did you make a monster, a terrorist, a suicidal fundamentalist out of a woman who couldn't bear to hear a puppy whine?' (p.156). The other simply replied, 'We're not islamists, Dr Jaafari, and we're not fundamentalists, either… we are only fighting with whatever means we can to recover our homeland and our dignity.' (p.158).
Dr Amin's thirst for the truth unquenched, he moves on to the final leg of the journey, Jenin. Here the narrator takes us to his roots, to his identity. 'I have never renounced my family,' he reacted to his nephew's remarks (p.230). In his search of truth in Jenin, we encounter two generations: uncle Omr's and that of martyrs (Wissam, Adel and Faten). There is also a very important Jewish character, Zeev the hermit, an elderly man who criticizes Israel's politics of violence, seclusion and destruction against Palestinians and their land. The novel started with an attack and will end with another attack, but this time the attack is an Israeli one. After all this, will Dr Amin find what he came for in Jenin?
Apparently, having written about Algeria in the beginning of his career as a writer, about Kabul in The Swallows of Kabul, and about Baghdad in The Sirens of Baghdad has given Khadra the necessary tools to be well-rounded and extremely well documented to produce such a piece of writing only an insider can come up with. The writer has also transcended with his experience to explore such themes as terrorism, the current circumstances, identity, violence, hatred to name but a few examples in a more global dimension.
The narrator tells the story in a photographic description, leaving no room to ambiguity. A description through which the narrator/writer has displayed stylistic skills to make his readership understand what may seem incomprehensible.