Department of Political Science launches book by Rania Washaha commemorating her brother
In collaboration with the General Union for Palestinian Writers and the National Library of Palestine, the Department of Political Science in the Faculty of Law and Public Administration at Birzeit University organized a book launch for "Point-Blank Range" (Al-Masafa Sifr) by Rania Washaha, writer and administrative assistant at the department. The book launch took place in the Naseeb Shaheen Auditorium on June 1, 2023.
Published by the Al Dar Al Ahlia Bookstore, "Point-Blank Range" outlines the biography of Fadi Washaha, Rania Washaha’s brother and political science student at Birzeit University who was murdered by the Israeli occupation.
The event was attended by Dr. Beshara Doumani, president of Birzeit University; Dr. Mai Al-Kaila, minister of Health; Issa Qaraqe, former minister of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs; Raed Radwan, head of the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission; Murad Al-Soudani, Palestinian poet and secretary general of the General Union for Palestinian Writers; and a delegation from the Vietnam Writers’ Association. The book launch was also attended by Washaha’s family, public and literary figures, academics and many from the general public.
Washaha explained that writing this book saved her from the pain she and her family experienced following the murder of her brother by the Israeli occupation. She elaborated, “I channeled my pain into writing this book to commemorate my brother, who lived his life fighting for Palestine and dreaming of freedom.”
She added, “The book tackles his personal, political and social life. I interviewed Fadi’s childhood, adolescence and prison friends as well as everyone who witnessed his life events. The book traces how Fadi was relentlessly pursued and arrested by the Israeli occupation. Like other Palestinian martyrs, he believed in living a dignified life. Fadi believed that fighting the occupation and rejecting its existence is the simplest right of the unarmed Palestinian who stands strong against the oppression of the Zionist machine.”
In May 2021, Fadi was shot in the head by the Israeli occupation forces as he was protesting the Israeli attack on Gaza, passing away two weeks later. Fadi spent ten years in Israeli prisons, eight of those while being enrolled at Birzeit University. He was murdered before completing his degree.