More importantly, we have our lives. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. In the book, Refugee, who is the author? to go back for them. Invisibility serves as a type of protection for Mahmoud; as he puts it, being invisible is how he lives. Getting spotted by the Syrian army or the rebels battling them [is] only courting danger, Mahmoud says. We have to get on that ship. Tedros, the highest-ranking UN official, visited the country to check on earthquake victims. She trades her trumpet for gasoline in order to get the boat to start. A Syrian pop song blared from the radio, and young men and women danced and laughed alongside the taxi. He howled louder than a fighter jet, and his parents didnt even tell him to hush. When he sees a few United Nations representatives passing by the compound, he shouts and gets their attention. Josef Landau, a Jewish boy, is 12 years old at the beginning of the book, living in Nazi Germany in 1938. What happens to Isabels boat at the end of Chapter 14? You shouldnt be leaving Syria, said one of the soldiers. By tradition, ten or more Jewish men, a minyan, was needed for a public service. They pluck Mahmoud and, Mahmoud: Lesbos, Greece, to Athens, Greece 2015, 12 days from home (3). The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. It was like somebody was sitting on his chest. The refugees are welcomed in Austria, and Mahmoud's family takes a train to Germany. And why not? Only the TV wasnt there anymore. Just four years ago, their home city of Aleppo had been the biggest, brightest, most modern city in Syria. But, Mahmouds father has stopped joking, numb and broken from the beating he had recieved after standing up to a soldier. Get personalized recommendations. Struggling with distance learning? Like real people. He didnt even leave to go to the bathroom. No. I promise. With no one to overpay for it, the cane fields dried up, the sugar refineries closed, and people lost their jobs. When another dinghy passes by that doesnt have space for his family, he offers up Hana to them in order to ensure that she can survive. They only see us when we do something they dont want us to do, Mahmoud realized. Flying highest above them all, as if to remind everyone who was in charge, was the red-and-white Nazi flag with the black swastika in the middle. Then he folded his hands over his stomach and said a brief prayer before reciting the first chapter of the Quran, the most holy book in Islam. Yes, but they are all players for the Lions, and shes a little lion! The Lions was the nickname of the Industriales. Freedom! chanted some of the rioters. The first time, he and three other men had built a raft and tried to paddle their way to Florida, but a tropical storm turned them back. Back to their deaths. Mahmouds story gives a horrifying glimpse of the lives of 22 million people right now. Sell it, Isabel told him. They had seen Frozen in a movie theaterback when they could get to the now-government-controlled side of the city that had theaters. Amara, she said. Teachers and parents! On top of this, he deals with coping, loss, and hardship. My father just got out of a concentration camp. Google Maps told them it would be an eight-hour walk, and they split the journey up by sleeping in a field. Seora Castillo, Ivns mother, was dark-skinned and curvy, and wore a white kerchief over her dreadlocks. Two girls around Ruthies age wearing matching flowery dresses were leaning over the railing and giggling. But, I No, Lito protested. As another life boat passes by, Mahmoud and his mother grab ahold. Im just doing my job.. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. They didnt call it that then. Mahmouds dad kept driving. Mahmoud's baby sister. Ahmed and Nedhal werent his friends. Ive been talking to him on WhatsApp, Dad continued, holding up his phone. We cant stay here. People called out to one another in Arabic, and music from radios and TVs filled the air. Papi had already tried to flee Cuba twice. Josef caught his reflection in one of the windows. Aaron Landau is a well-known actor. 5.6 million refugees have left their home and 6.6 million more have been internally displaced within Syria.) The ships bulletin board announced that the first-class social hall would be converted to a synagogue, a Jewish house of prayer, which meant Josef might have his bar mitzvah after all. Lito! Sweat ran down his back. Gratz is a decorated author, having won numerous awards and appearing at #1 on the New York Times bestselling author for his books. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Thats when Mahmoud had realized that together, he and Khalid were bigger targets; alone, it was easier to be invisible. PDF downloads of all 1699 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. She was sure she had just heard the sound of breaking glass, but cars and bicycles kept streaming by under the bright sun on the Malecn like nothing had happened. Many Git commands accept both tag and branch names, so creating this branch may cause unexpected behavior. It felt like ages since hed been inside a synagogue. Freedom! Barrel bombs were filled with nails and scrap metal, and if you didnt have a wall to duck behind youd be shredded to pieces. You have to take us with you! Isabel said. I dont remember much about him, but I do remember he always wanted to be a grown-up. Too thin. A week into their stay on the St. Louis, Josef has his bar mitzvah. My darlings! He kissed the tops of their heads again and again, then jumped back. After leaving the car behind, Mahmoud and his family had followed the map on their phone, skirting cities held by Daesh and the Syrian army and the rebels and the Kurds as best they could. perspective of Refugee. Where would they go? Without these stupid armbands, without the letter J stamped on his passport, would anyone know he was Jewish? Or its a twelve-hour car ride, non-stop. Mahmoud watches as their own apartment building collapses. The men wore jeans and T-shirts and tracksuits; the women wore dresses and abayas and hijabs. Isabel fell into the water and swam the rest of the way to the boat, but her father was already climbing over the side. People had even broken into the Havana Zoo and eaten the animals, and cats like this little kitten had ended up on dinner tables. It was a marriage procession, Mahmoud realized. Search 51 Witzhave carpet installers to find the best carpet contractor for your project. Many guns and artillery. Hundreds of Germans have come forward to provide food, drink, and other goods. Josef, Ruthie, Renata, and Evelyne had to swallow their snickers as the steward reached down with his free hand and tried and failed to open the door. She stood on the wide promenade, where it seemed all of Havana was on display. He stepped back and held her at arms length. Everything the soldier was describing stood between them and Turkey. notice him, maybe pull him and his family out of line. And he had been beaten up as badly as Khalid. The others had already lifted the boat up out of the sand and were lurching toward the sound of the crashing waves. She was barefoot as usual and dressed in a tank top and shorts. As Josef dried his eyes, he realized he hadnt played like this, hadnt laughed like this, for many years. Mahmoud froze. As it passed, Mahmoud saw a young couple sitting in the back. I dont know. Without offering any additional details while the disturbance continues, Iranian official television reported that the death toll from protests following the murder of a 22-year-old woman in police custody has increased to nearly two dozen. He stood on Josefs armband, his eyes wide with surprise. They only see us when we do something they dont want us to do, Mahmoud realized., I see rocks! someone at the front of the dinghy yelled, and there was a loud POOM! He scared Josef too. Sometimes it was the back alleys; there could be fighters in the streets, who were always targets for the opposition. Well go without you. They left him pacing the room, muttering to himself. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. Well all go! Isabel cried. I dont know. But when he got her aboard, Ivn and his mother then reached their hands out for the two policemen who were chasing them. I wish I was your favorite song, he told Amara, so I could be on your lips forever. And seeing as there were so many signs around with El Presidentes head on them It was true. However, Mahmoud pulls Hana out of his mothers arms and someone takes her on board, saving her from drowning and the freezing water (many such travelers are unable to save themselves or their children. Amiel The connection between Isabel and Josef's story is that Lito was the police officer who jumped off of the U.S St. Louis to save Josef's father when he tried to commit suicide. See here, he told Mahmouds father, youll have to go over to Qatmah, and then north through Qestel Cindo. Mahmouds mother came out of the bedroom, where shed been folding clothes, and turned off the TV. Soon the whole boat was singing, and Lito stood and held out a hand to Amara, inviting her to dance. This gains a large amount of media attention, and Austrians greet them at the border with food, water, and medicine. I understand. The woman lurched out of the bathroom, looking even more green and desperate, and wobbled away. Mahmoud grapples with this question of whether it is better to be invisible or visible over the course of the novel as his family travels from Syria to Germany. Mahmoud has lived his life trying to be invisible since the civil war started because in Syria that is how he can stay safe. We can stay there until all this is over. The guards and officials threaten the refugees, but no one listens. Mahmoud had been doing his math homework at the kitchen table, but he automatically put his pencil down and went to the sink to wash up. He was thinner too. Waleed! Until 2011, when the Arab Spring came to Syria. Dont stop. Invisible, just as Mahmoud liked it. Please, take us with you!, At least take my sister! Mahmoud begged. She was only six years old. (Al-Assad took military action against the rebel Syrians and the war continues to this day, although now in a much more confusing form. No sirens rang. The group walks all the way to the Austrian border, where they are welcomed. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Grade: A. Entertainment Weekly Harrowing, timely. People Magazine Nothing short of brilliant. Kirkus Reviews, starred review Memorable and tightly plotted. Publishers Weekly, starred review They were men, mostly, many of them shirtless in the hundred-degree August heat, their white and brown and black backs glistening in the sun. Mahmoud By Refugee Action November 18, 2016 Refugee Voices In Syria, Mahmoud was a successful tradesman, living happily with his wife and four children in a big house in the country's capital, Damascus. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1699 titles we cover. He dies in a concentration camp. The guards stand down, unable to stop Mahmoud without causing a fight. Papis eyes were wide as he stood from the kitchen table. It barely qualified as a boat, but it was big enough for the four Castillosand maybe four more guests. Take me back. Ruthie clung to her brother. By train? There was blood in his hair, and the area around one of his eyes was already turning black. Isabel covered her ears and stepped away. More than half their village was on the sand, clapping, waving, and cheering on the boats. They used it on the door handles of cabins up and down the passageway on A-deck, then hid around the corner and waited. Well, Fidel is thickheaded, Luis said. Some people fled from the chaos, but more people raced toward it, and Isabel ran with them. It was just what the Brownshirt had told Josef. Which country are Mahmoud and his family in at the end of the chapter? Newspapers Review: Dailies highlight PM's meeting with Israelis, Abbas speech. He remembered the map of the world that hung in his classroom. He had white hair that he wore swept back on his head, and even though there was no food, he had a middle-aged paunch to his belly. Papi had to leave Cuba. His shoulder ached and his chest still seared with every hard, desperate breath, but the only thing that mattered now was getting to his mother. The ship was called the MS St. Louis. People also ask, Where does Mahmouds family plan go? A crown jewel of the Middle East. Well let you in maana. They were all quiet a moment more, until her father said, But I dont even have a boat. Isabel nodded. Papi hissed as she disinfected them with the iodine. Though the three harrowing stories span multiple decades and countries, all three children face a world that treats them as invisible. His eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. Isabel put her hands to her mouth but couldnt help laughing again with everyone else. (This displacement has been decided upon or forced for 55% of Syrians since the start of the war in 2011. Russia, Iran, and Sunni Muslims are allied to Al-Assad and they are fighting the rebels who are backed by Turkey, the Gulf Arab States, Jordan, and partially the USA. A wife! LitCharts Teacher Editions. They fell on him, hitting and kicking him for being a Jew, and calling him all kinds of names. Oh, turn it off, Papi said. He walked on along the promenade, looking for a steward he could tell about the bathroom stalls. Mahmoud has already had much experience dealing with the trauma of war, as the Syrian Civil War has already been raging for four years at the beginning of Mahmouds story. Through Azaz. The soldier opened the back door of the car and slid inside, pushing Waleed into the back of the station wagon. When the Jewish refugees are rejected from entering Cuba and it seems likely that the ship is going to take them back to Germany, Josef works with other passengers to try to take the ship hostage so that they can avoid this fate. Nothing else mattered in that moment but air. My husband is just eager to leave, she told the sailor. What do we do? What we should have done a long time ago. She was barefoot like always, and wore a tank top and shorts. Unfortunately, the boat runs aground onto rocks and pops, dumping all the passengers in the freezing water. They are reunited with, Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany 2015, 17 days from home, and other supplies. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. People caught criticizing Fidel Castro were thrown into jail and never heard from again. Dont take him! The Brownshirt scowled at the noise and gave the men carrying Aaron Landau a dismissive wave. Always quick to raise his hand in class, and always with the right answer. Mahmoud is doing homework, stopping briefly at prayer time, when a bomb hits their building. No! Isabel cried. Being invisible was how he survived. Josef couldnt wait for his bar mitzvah. What if they follow us? He was dusty and smelled like he hadnt had a bath in months, and the heat of the road radiated off him and his rifle like a stove. Isabel also deals with a fair share of trauma that expedites this maturity: two years prior, her grandmother Lita drowned during a cyclone in Havana, and on this boat trip Isabels best friend, Ivn, is killed in the water by sharks. bomb, though, you needed walls. Fatima Bishara Quotes in Refugee The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Fatima Bishara or refer to Fatima Bishara. All right, then. His teeth looked too big for his head, and when he smiled he looked like a cartoon squirrel. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. He hated that man. Pick it back up! The Simpsons! Im going to open my own law office, Seora Castillo said. They collapsed behind one of the lifeboats, panting and giggling. Just a sea of tents and a forest of electric poles and wires. He felt tears come to his eyes and wiped them away. Quickly now, children, Mama said. Assad and the Syrian army? It was a policewoman. With the trumpet in one arm and the kitten in the other, she ran the few blocks to the beach, where she banged on the door of a fisherman her grandfather knew. (LogOut/ A few hours later, they watched from the promenade as tugboats pushed the MS St. Louis away from the dock, and passengers threw confetti and celebrated and blew tearful kisses good-bye. Mahmoud is a twelve-year-old boy "with a long, strong nose, thick black eyebrows, and short-cropped black hair" (12).