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The novel “Thistles and Cloves” cannot be considered as a literary work. Its author himself did not write it for this purpose, nor did he display his technical abilities in plotting, narration, and suspense, but he sought honesty and informational integrity, as hadith narrators did, and if we cannot We read it only as a literary work, so what can we read in it?
Well, we can read Sinwar’s story in it, the events of his homeland, and his personal, intellectual and emotional journey, which is not isolated from what this country and its youth are going through, and what he tried and succeeded or failed in. This Hamas leader – (the captive young man) at that time – tells us how we arrived, and how He arrived here.
Al-Sinwar wrote his novel in the prisons of the Israeli occupation, and he made sure to use the title “prisoner” to introduce himself. This definition, alone, is an important introduction to understanding the symbols of the story, and what it means behind them.
The title by which he introduces himself on the cover is part of the story of the suffering that the pages of “Thistles and Cloves” narrate, a suffering that the writer knows, lives and depicts, and is known by his fellow prisoners who considered the novel a project that expressed them, so they participated in copying the pages and smuggling them out of the prison, thus participating in Experimenting with creative resistance, to convey a sound that was intended to be muffled.
Ibrahim chose to join the resistance, and he also chose to work in construction as a profession to earn a living. The symbolism of the profession chosen by the fighter is not hidden here, as he is a man who chooses construction, and his carrying out resistance work does not contradict that, but rather supports it.
With this expressive act coming from behind the walls in 2004, Al-Sinwar – and behind him his fellow prisoners who transferred the novel abroad – transformed the history of resistance into a living story that constitutes an important source of strength for the people of Palestine, which in turn provides a model of long-term struggle, in which the heroes share feelings of sadness and hope, and stories love.
We can see in this novel – apart from literary criticism – the features of leadership in a young man carrying a cause, who lives it as if he sees it even while he is in prison. Is it strange that the writer of this novel leads the struggle of the people of Palestine for freedom and liberation?
And for him to be the leader who confronts the brutal force of the Israeli occupation army, and leads the revolution of Palestinian minds for patient, long-term planning to develop the resistance force to achieve victories that the enemy did not expect?
The first thing we notice in the novel, in terms of leadership features in this work of fiction, is that the writer has a geographical imagination. He moves his heroes on the land of his homeland, which knows the characteristics of every inch of it, and what distinguishes every village or city. The homeland – for which he struggles – is interconnected in his imagination. The occupation was unable to change its historical features. The imagination of the leader writer preserves the true map of the homeland that has developed throughout history.
He also possesses a social imagination, and a memory that preserves the customs and traditions of his people, his moods and keys, his strengths and weaknesses, and what this people can do if properly guided.
He presents how this people are distinguished by their connection to their land, their ability to bear suffering, and their social solidarity. He presented this through the family that he chose to be the heroine of his events, starting from the Shati camp with miserable conditions in the Gaza Strip, and we see how this family withstood the ordeal, And her determination to overcome it.
We also see how the difference in opinions and political trends within that family did not push most of its children to search for an individual solution, through which they could achieve their personal happiness at the expense of their family. Only one person from the family did that in the events of the novel, and its members rejected him and worked to get rid of him.
The reader of this novel will not find difficulty in interpreting its symbols. The family is the homeland, its children are its children, and their intellectual tendencies are the opinions and efforts of the Palestinian arena. Their ultimate goal is one goal, and the writer uses his novel, through its two heroes, Ahmed (the narrator) and Ibrahim (the Hamas leader). The fighter), to explain his personal vision of reality, the nature of the battle, and the solutions.. Through them, he engages in a state of political and intellectual debate with other trends in Palestinian society, seeking to explain and clarify an idea to them, and present arguments to support it.
Here we notice the presence of Sinwar, the one who has the vision and the issue, more often than the presence of the novelist. The novel for him is the story of the homeland, and what he says in it is an attempt to explain his vision to the people of the homeland: (the Palestinian first, then the Arab and Islamic second); To gather them behind her.
The writer does not immerse himself in the complexity of the plot, narrative, or events; Because the goal is clarity of the message, and the narrative is the issue and the message.
Another note confirms that the novel is in fact a message to the nation (the entire nation) to understand the issue, as Al-Sanwar wants to explain it.. He – who is a student of the Arabic language at the Islamic University – chose to use classical Arabic alone in narration and dialogue, and when he is forced to use the Palestinian dialect, he repeats Explanation of the expression in Arabic. In my opinion, this is due to two reasons: The first: He – the son of the young Islamic movement at that time – wanted his message to reach all the Arab masses, so he would explain to them what they might be confused about, and the second: It was a reflection of his originality as a young leader (at that time), belonging to an Islamic movement that considered the classical language to be one of the most important. Identity components.
A society that exploits its sources of strength
The events of the story begin after 1967, depicting the life of a family in the Beach Camp in Gaza, in a house where rainwater falls from the roof onto the family in winter.
The eldest son (Mahmoud) studies in Egypt and returns as an engineer. He joins the Fatah movement. He is imprisoned and tortured because of this, but he leads the prisoners in a strike through which he succeeds in obtaining some of their rights. Then he comes out of prison to become a beloved symbol of the family’s struggle, but he remains… A fierce defender of Fatah's vision for the solution, especially the solutions that emerged during the period that witnessed the Oslo Accords.
The youngest son (Ahmed) is the narrator of the story, and he switches his gaze between his brother, who holds the ideas of “Fatah,” and the ideas of the Islamic movement held by his cousin (Ibrahim), until he is ultimately influenced by the ideas of the latter, and joins the “Hamas” movement.
There is Ibrahim, the other hero of the story, an active student leader who carries the ideas of the Islamic movement and presents its vision throughout the novel through his actions and words.
Ibrahim chose to join the resistance, and he also chose to work in construction as a profession to earn a living. The symbolism of the profession chosen by the fighter is not hidden here. He is a man who chooses construction, and his carrying out resistance work does not contradict that, but rather supports it. Ibrahim’s words remained sincere, influential, and inspiring throughout. He worked for a long time, and he chose to remain in Gaza without leaving it, despite the offers and temptations. Because he believes in the cause of his country.
The Palestinian mother is also present. We see how Umm Mahmoud plays an important role in preserving the family and pushing all its members to achieve success. She insists on choosing the wives of her sons, who will become part of her extended family by agreeing to marry in one room of the house and sharing the burdens of life. With the rest of the family.
At an important stage in the novel, Mahmoud Al-Fathawi engages in a debate with his cousin, Ibrahim, about the feasibility of the concept of “education and preparation,” which the Islamic movement adopts as a strategy for it. Then we discover from the events of the story how this strategy succeeded in preparing many young people to resist the occupation, and therefore it represents This concept is a key to understanding many events, and to understanding the vision of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in its struggle to liberate Palestine. It also helps us understand how we reached the “Al-Aqsa Flood.”
