Ghada Karmi ( ar, غادة كرمي, ; born 1939) is a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

-born academic, physician and author. She has written on Palestinian issues in newspapers and magazines, including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'' and '' Journal of Palestine Studies''.

Early life and education

Karmi was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

to a Muslim family. Her father, Hasan Sa'id Karmi was Palestinian while her mother was

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

; she was the youngest child with an older brother and sister. In her 2002 autobiography, ''In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story'', she describes growing up in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of

Katamon , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = בית רה"מ לוי אשכול ברחוב בוסתנאי 3 בשכנות קטמון בירושלים.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = House ...

, with its mixture of

Palestinian Christians Palestinian Christians ( ar, مَسِيحِيُّون فِلَسْطِينِيُّون, Masīḥiyyūn Filasṭīniyyūn) are Christian citizens of the State of Palestine. In the wider definition of Palestinian Christians, including the Palest ...

and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. Among the family friends and neighbors was poet

Khalil al-Sakakini Khalil Sakakini ( ar, خليل السكاكيني; 23 January 1878 – 13 August 1953) was a Palestinian Orthodox Christian teacher, scholar, poet, and Arab nationalist. Biography Khalil Sakakini was born into a Palestinian Christian family ...

and his family. Her family fled Jerusalem for Damascus in April 1948; their villa was taken by Israel. The family eventually settled in

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

, in London, where her father worked for the BBC Arabic Service as a translator and broadcaster. Karmi studied medicine at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, graduating in 1964. Initially, she practised as a physician, specialising in the health and social conditions of ethnic minorities, migrants and asylum seekers.

Academic career, activism and writings

Karmi was formerly married to someone she described in 2002 as a "quintessentially English boy" from a farming family near Bath. The

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

(Arab–Israeli war of 1967) led to the end of her marriage as her husband and their friends were all on the side of Israel. She became a supporter of the

Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and sta ...

and gained a "burning sense of injustice" around the events of her childhood, as she told Donald Macintyre of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' in 2005. Since 1972, she has been politically active for the Palestinian cause and gained a doctorate in the history of Arabic medicine from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. Karmi is an associate fellow at the

Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

in London, and a visiting professor at

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (formerly the City ...

. She is also vice-chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU). She delivered the Edward Said Memorial lecture at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in 2007. In her memoir, ''Return'', Karmi describes a visit to her former home in Jerusalem following an invitation from

Steven Erlanger Steven J. Erlanger (born October 14, 1952, in Waterbury, Connecticut) is an American journalist who has reported from more than 120 countries. He is the Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for Europe for ''The New York Times'', having moved to Bruss ...

, then the Jerusalem bureau chief of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', who realised his apartment was built onto the Karmi family's house described in her book ''In Search of Fatima''. The experience was painful for her and she wrote in ''Return'': "All I could think of were the many alien people who had lived in these rooms after us, and how each one erased more and more of our presence there."

Israel and Palestine

In an interview with '' Executive Intelligence Review'' (reprinted in '' Middle East Policy Journal''), Karmi stated that:

"There is actually nothing — repeat, nothing — positive about the existence of Israel, as far as the Arabs are concerned. You know, sometimes there are events, historical events, that happen against people's will. But, in time, they can find some positive aspect to something they didn't want to happen in the first place. This is not the case with Israel. On the contrary, as time has gone on, the existence of Israel has only increased the problems for the Arab region. It has increased the danger in the Arab world and is a threat not only to the security of the region, but the security of the whole world."

She also stated that:

"Israel, from its inception in 1948, has been given the most wonderful opportunity to behave itself, and it clearly has not done so. It's flouted every single law, it's behaved outrageously, it's made a travesty of international and humanitarian law. On what basis should this state continue to be a member of the United Nations?"

At the Palestinian Return Conference held at

SOAS SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

in January 2011, Karmi referred to the creation of Israel as involving the dispossession and theft of a whole country: "The only way to reverse that is on the basis of rights and justice; that is the

right of return The right of return is a principle in international law which guarantees everyone's right of voluntary return to, or re-entry to, their country of origin or of citizenship. The right of return is part of the broader human rights concept freedom o ...

of the refugees and the dispossessed and the exiles back to their homeland." She was then quoted as stating:

"If that were to happen we know very well that that would be the end of a Jewish state in our region".

At a protest as part of the Global March to Jerusalem held in front of the Israeli Embassy in London on March 30, 2012, Karmi stated "Israel is finished". She further stated: "Today, we are here together because we know, we understand what Israel is doing to Jerusalem" and that Jerusalem "does not belong to Jewish Israelis or to Jews. We respect all religions but we do not allow one group to take over this wonderful city." According to Karmi, Israel does not deserve to continue as a state and that "We have no alternative but to act. The only way we can stop Israel is to act against it, against its interests, against its

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and policies." In 2012, Karmi was criticized by Shai Afsai as an example of authors who treat the Zionist story " The bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man" as historical fact, which Karmi was said to have done in her book ''Married to Another Man'' and in other writings, although the story lacks a primary source. Other examples of authors given included

Avi Shlaim Avraham "Avi" Shlaim (born 31 October 1945) is an Israeli- British historian, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and fellow of the British Academy. He is one of Israel's New Historians, a group of Israe ...

and

Anthony Pagden Anthony Robin Dermer Pagden (born May 27, 1945) is an author and professor of political science and history at the University of California, Los Angeles. Biography Anthony Pagden is the son of John Brian Dermer Pagden and Joan Mary Pagden. Mr ...

. In 2017, ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' reported Karmi had said the word "untermensch", originally used as a description of Jews by the Nazis, could be legitimately used as a description of the relationship of Israel to the Palestinians at a conference held in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. Referring to an objection made against the use of the word, she said "about the use of the word 'untermesch'. Untermensch's equivalent in English is sub-human. And sub-human is how people in Gaza feel they are being treated by the Israeli army." According to her, the Jewish population in Palestine were "groups of foreign immigrants trying to behave as though they were indigenous" and "It is a foreign community who just turned up." The creation of Israel was a "a stitch up from beginning to end" by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

Selected bibliography

Books

*Al-Hassan, Ahmad Y.; Ghada Karmi & Nizar Namnum (eds.) ''Proceedings of the First International Symposium for the History of Arabic Science 5–12 April 1976. Volume II. Papers in European Languages.'' Aleppo: University of Aleppo, Institute for the History of Arabic Science, 1978. *Karmi, Ghada: ''Multicultural Health Care: Current Practice and Future Policy in Medical Education'' British Medical Association, London, 1995, *Karmi, Ghada (Ed.) with a contribution by

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''Whit ...

: ''Jerusalem Today: What Future for the Peace Process?'' Ithaca Press, 1996 *
Review of Jerusalem Today: What Future for the Peace Process?
by Andrej Kreutz, in Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Fall, 1999. *Karmi, Ghada: ''The Palestinian Exodus 1948-1998''. Ithaca Press 1999 *Karmi, Ghada: ''In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story''

Verso ' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. Etymology The terms are shortened from Latin ...

2002
A country of the mind
Guardian, Saturday 19 October 2002 (from Dr Ghada Karmi's memoir, ''In Search of Fatima'')
In Search of Fatima Fateful Days in 1948
from ''

Jerusalem Quarterly The Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) is the oldest independent nonprofit public service research institute in the Arab world. It was established and incorporated in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1963 and has since served as a model for other such inst ...

'' (from Dr Ghada Karmi's memoir, ''In Search of Fatima'') *
Review of In Search of Fatima
the Guardian *

by Sara Powell ''

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs The ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' (also known as ''The Washington Report'' and WRMEA) magazine, published eight times per year, focuses on "news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region".

'', December 2004, page 68 *Karmi, Ghada: ''Married to another man: Israel's dilemma in Palestine,'' Pluto Press, 2007,
Review
by Sonja Karkar, IMEU, 10 October 2007 **''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' Review by Trevor Mostyn 15 February 2008 p. 5

Articles

*"Why Arabs support Saddam" in ''

Middle East International Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ( ...

'' No 384, 28 September 1990, p.20 *"The 1948 Exodus: A Family Story" in '' Journal of Palestine Studies'' 23, no. 2 (Win. 1994): 31-40.
U.S. Embassy Move to Jerusalem Is Misguided and Illegal
January/February 1997, p. 14 ''

'' * ''The Tablet'', 11 April 1998 * in ''The Tablet'', 25 April 1998 *”Palestinians in Lebanon” in ''Middle East International'' No 591, 15 January 1998 (sic) 1999; pp.21-23 *"After the Nakba: An Experience of Exile in England" in ''Journal of Palestine Studies'' 28, no. 3 (Spr. 1999): 52-63.
Kosovars and Palestinians
''

'', 20 May 1999 7 June 1999 issue) * in ''Al-Ahram Weekly'', 2–8 September 1999 * in ''Al-Ahram Weekly'', 6–12 April 2000
The future of peace: A Palestinian view
31 October 2000, BBC * in ''Al-Ahram Weekly'', 22 February 2001 * ''Al-Adab'' (Lebanon), July 2002
The map must show a way home

, 6 June 2003
Edward Said and the politics of dispossession
9–15 October 2003 Issue No. 659 ''

Al-Ahram Weekly ''Al-Ahram Weekly'' is an English-language weekly broadsheet printed by the Al-Ahram Publishing House in Cairo, Egypt. History and profile ''Al Ahram Weekly'' was established in 1991 by the ''Al-Ahram'' newspaper, which also runs a French-lang ...

''
A very Arab obsession
20–26 November 2003, Issue No. 665, ''Al-Ahram Weekly''

22–28 January 2004, Issue No. 674, ''Al-Ahram''

''Dissident Voice'', 2 February 2004

20 February 2004, ''

CounterPunch ''CounterPunch'' is a left-wing online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly. ''CounterPunch'' is based in the Un ...

''
By any means necessary
''The Guardian'', 18 March 2004

17/ 18 July 2004, ''CounterPunch''

10 November 2004, ''CounterPunch''

11–17 November 2004 Issue No. 716, ''Al-Ahram Weekly''

25 August 2005, issue 757, ''Al-Ahram Weekly''

''The Guardian'', 5 January 2006

''The Guardian'', 15 May 2006

''The Guardian'', 2 January 2007 *Derek Summerfield, Colin Green, Ghada Karmi, David Halpin, Pauline Cutting, 125 other doctors

21 April 2007, The Guardian *Ghada Karmi (pro-boycott) Andy Charlwood (against the boycott)

11 June 2007, The Guardian
Weapon of the weak
13 July 2007, ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

''
A historic anomaly
17 July 2007, ''The Guardian''
Israel’s cost to the Arabs
September 2008, ''

Le Monde diplomatique ''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary com ...

''
Intellectual terrorism
25 October 2007, ''The Guardian''

29 October 2007, ''The Guardian'' *Colin Green, Asad Khan, Ghada Karmi, Chris Burns-Cox, Martin Birnstingl, David Halpin, Derek Summerfield

, 6 December 2007, ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles ...

''
A one-state solution for Palestinians and Israelis
30 May 2008, ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

References

External links

15 May 2008, Interview
on ''

Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Karmi, Ghada 1939 births Living people Academics of London Metropolitan University Academics of the University of Exeter Alumni of the University of Bristol Palestinian Muslims People from Jerusalem Historians of the Middle East Palestinian non-fiction writers Palestinian political journalists Palestinian women writers Palestinian women academics Palestinian women physicians PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners People from Tulkarm 20th-century Palestinian women writers 20th-century Palestinian writers 21st-century Palestinian women writers 21st-century Palestinian writers 20th-century Palestinian physicians