Education as Liberation in Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life

Abstract

This paper aims to examine how Nusseibeh uses Education to fight oppression, advocate for peace and make sure that the struggles and history of Palestinians are not forgotten. Education acts as a powerful symbol that represents coexistence, survival, defiance and hope in traumatic conditions in Sari Nusseibeh’s memoir Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life (2007). This paper delves into Nusseibeh's seminal work to explore how education transcends its conventional role as a mere transmission of facts, emerging as a dynamic force for societal transformation and individual empowerment within the Palestinian context. It focuses on how education acts as a tool of liberation for the Palestinian people. Nusseibeh believes that complete freedom comes through educating the people and that it can be a powerful tool for change. Nusseibeh uses education both as a means of challenging the structural injustices brought about by occupation and as a vital way of affirming the basic human rights of the Palestinian people.