Imagining the future of Palestine through science fiction

How do we write about our experiences in a society where literature and art are so heavily censored and speaking the truth is dangerous? This is the challenge faced by authors in Palestine, living in a country where the threat of death hangs over everything they do. 

Their most recent solution is to turn to the science fiction genre as a way of challenging the current political climate in Palestine and conveying the horrors of the Arab-Israeli conflict to the rest of the world. The new anthology, ‘Palestine + 100’, features twelve authors’ visions of what life in Palestine will be like in 2048. This is one hundred years after the Nakba Palestinian exodus saw more than 700,000 Palestinians having to flee from their homes. They all use metaphors and draw dystopian parallels to reflect the political and social oppression they are experiencing. This groundbreaking anthology is the first collection of science fiction from occupied territories. 

Extremely influential Palestinian authors have been included in the anthology, demonstrating its significance and prestige

The stories in ‘Palestine + 100’ have a wide range of visions of what the future will look like. Some of them, such as Majd Kayyal’s addition to the collection, offer a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict with his story discussing two parallel worlds occupying the same space. This is a metaphor for the two-state solution which has been advocated by international peace organisations wanting to see an agreement. Saleem Haddad’s story argues for a “right of digital return.” This reflects the political principle of the Palestinian right to return, which claims that Palestinian refugees have a right to go back to the property that they had to leave, in what is now Israeli territory. 

Extremely influential Palestinian authors have been included in the anthology, demonstrating its significance and prestige. Manbooker Prize international nominee Mazen Maarouf writes about the lone Palestinian survivor of a nanobot attack in the year 2037, kept in a glass box because of radiation but unable to be killed. This perhaps can be seen as a metaphor for the bravery and defiance of Palestinians fighting against the regime. 

They have often felt as though their place is to write hard-hitting fiction that is relevant solely to the past and present

Basma Ghalayini, the editor of the anthology, writes in the introduction that sci-fi has never been particularly popular as a genre for Palestinian authors because it is a luxury that they cannot afford to escape into. They have often felt as though their place is to write hard-hitting fiction that is relevant solely to the past and present. The use of sci-fi has, however, opened up a new arena of creativity and protest for Palestinian authors. 

“Everyday life, for them, is a kind of dystopia” argues editor Basma Ghalayini. Saleem Haddad argues that Palestinian writers are often expected to write about the current reality, but Palestine is the perfect setting for dystopian literature. He said that writing his story Song of the Birds’was a “liberating way to explore current problems.”

‘Palestine + 100’ will be published by Comma Press, known for releasing ‘Iraq + 100’ which was a collection of stories set one hundred years after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This was named one of the Guardian’s Best Sci-Fi Books of 2016. 

This allows people all around the world to see the struggle of the Palestinian people, to feel those struggles as if they were their own

Science fiction is so effective for Palestinian writers because it gives them a space to talk about the past, present and future without the fear of censorship. The use of metaphors and what may seem so far removed from what we know is powerful at highlighting and exposing the oppression experienced by the Palestinian people today. This book will undoubtedly put these Palestinian authors into public consciousness and make them more internationally renowned. 

Never before has a depiction of a dystopian future been so relevant and visible in modern reality. The collection is so powerful for readers because it is so eerily and tragically accurate. This allows people all around the world to see the struggle of the Palestinian people, to feel those struggles as if they were their own.

This anthology is so important because it has the power to change the reality for the Palestinian people. It should create empathy and inspire change. People across the globe will see the devastation in Palestine in a different light to that of the news. Literature, once again, has become an outlet for authors to protest against their grim reality.